The best traits of cloud backup options
Nothing’s worse than losing data. How many times have you encountered the harrowing realization your HDD was failing? All that info, potentially lost, if you don’t act fast. Worse, do you even have the time in that scenario? Is there a backup available? You take that anxiety and expand it to business networks and the issue worsens. Companies, organizations, and enterprises faced with data loss are looking down a barrel of thousands and damage, if not millions.
Naturally, most are not comfortable with that prospect, and thus turn to backup solutions. Cloud backup is a popular, agile remedy when facing down potential data loss. And considering the influx of serious natural disasters brought on by climate change, coupled with the onslaught of malicious attacks/ransomware, there’s plenty reason to be concerned about data. So, if you’re interested in investing in a cloud backup model, great! The only problem is, how in the world do you know what service works best for your enterprise model?
Picking the right cloud backup model
Ignoring cloud options, everyone should have a BDR plan. A business needs to know what the fallback is in case of a breach, hardware failure, natural disaster, connection loss, and anything else which could cause loss of sensitive information. It’s the how of it which determines success (or failure).
Cloud backups typically work by backing up data as soon as changes. It’s saved to a cloud storage server, which will vary (usually managed by a cloud provider). A very simple example would be with SaaS (software as a service) programs you take advantage of, like Microsoft. Whenever document changes are made, they’re saved to Microsoft’s servers. That’s the idea behind cloud backups, but with data on a larger scale.
So how do you choose the right one? It comes down to the needs of the business. A few reflective questions can help assess this.
What is your need and/or want to protect?
Data covers a wide variety of categories. Are you aiming to back up your entire server space? Information on HDD or SSD’s respectively? What’s the quality and sensitivity of the data? Not all information is the same, so you need to know which data silos to prioritize and protect.
Though, we can suggest focusing on the most valuable data.
What is the needed frequency of your backups?
There’s no exact rule for how often a backup should occur, as it largely depends on the enterprise. Arguably, larger companies should keep routine backups on a consistent basis, each week or every few days. Of course, performing large backups, even with a cloud model, can be a monumental task. It’s a question of how and what, such as using automated options to perform the data backups.
What’s the current state of your data storage?
Assessing where your data is stored will help you migrate to a cloud backup solution, assuming you opt-in for one. Is it all on physical discs and/or servers? Or do you also use data centers? You’ll want to know how well your current storage methods can integrate with cloud backup models.
Do you have the infrastructure and bandwidth for cloud storage?
A critical thing to remember is that cloud storage is all driven by bandwidth transmission and internet speeds. The good news is, most ISP providers have excellent coverage and enough speed for a business, even with fiber options. But still, you want to be sure you have the speeds to actually manage routine backups at your desired pace. For example, if you need to create cloud backups of immense data pools on a daily basis, you’re going to need high internet speeds that don’t disrupt company operations.
Do you possess enough capital?
Cloud options are typically handled by third-party providers. Make sure you have enough capital to cover the expenses, preferably under plans that work with you rather than against.
Are there regulatory stipulations involved with your data management?
Data protection is a serious concern, and with the surge of remote working-based attacks, federal agencies like CISA are stepping up their process. That means regulatory actions could relate to data and cloud storage. If this includes you (such as a healthcare practice under HIPAA)
With questions and categories like the ones suggested, you can now create basic guidelines for what you need out of a cloud provider.
Here’s a hypothetical example:
Our business constitutes two buildings that deals with sales and records. We need this information backed up weekly. In the event of downtime, we would need this data recovered within 24 hours.
That’s a simplification, of course, but you see how the criteria help.
