Data backup strategy: Using the cloud for disaster recovery
Very few businesses would be able to function effectively without their systems up and running – but just how reliable are your recovery solutions and how robust is your data backup strategy?
Very few businesses would be able to function effectively without their systems up and running – but just how reliable are your recovery solutions and how robust is your data backup strategy?
Your business doesn’t only need protection against a potential disaster, a malicious attack, or a catastrophic error – an action plan for getting up and running again as quickly as possible is crucial too. Speed of recovery can make a huge difference. Take too long and your business quickly begins to lose money and customers – and risks potentially long-lasting reputational damage. These are just some of the reasons why so many IT leaders are now actively investigating how cloud backups could save their business.
The 3-2-1 principle of data backup
This is the most commonly followed principle. It recommends that you make 3 complete copies of your data, store 2 of these copies locally but on different storage types, and you also store 1 copy offsite – either in a different physical location, or in the cloud.
Backing up your data to the cloud gives you additional protection as it is isolated or “air gapped” from your other systems, and it satisfies the offsite storage element of the 3-2-1 principle.
Cloud backups and business continuity
There are numerous advantages to moving business systems and software into the cloud – however there are some specific advantages that can enhance your data backup strategy and your plans for disaster recovery. For starters, moving to the cloud effectively means that the IT headaches associated with back-up and recovery planning can be simply resolved. It also allows for a much faster and more effective response should the worst happen. And finally, it’s a very cost-effective solution and could save you thousands of pounds in lost revenue should disaster strike.
Let’s take a look at each of these in turn.
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Relying on an onsite solution? Why backing up data to the cloud makes sense
Where do you currently back-up to? A local back-up is the cheapest option but does have limitations, not least the fact that a disaster which impacts your on-site systems can potentially also impact your backup when that’s held on site too. Some businesses opt to backup manually on site and then periodically store a copy securely elsewhere. This is severely limited in terms of how up to date the data held would be if it had to be called upon to get systems up and running again after a major outage.
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Paying for an offsite backup? Cloud based recovery solutions are more cost effective
A more robust option than a local backup is to set up a duplicate system at a second separate location. For large corporates with multiple sites, this can be a viable choice, however the biggest issue with this is cost. A duplicate site with duplicate servers and backup protocols requires serious investment, including in the ongoing resources needed to keep two sites running at all times. A cloud solution is much more cost effective than a duplicate second site.
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Cloud offers a much faster recovery solution
It’s common for businesses to backup once a day, but if disaster strikes a few hours after the last backup happened, then a significant amount of data, transactions and customer information would be lost. And if it then takes several hours or even days to get systems up and running again, you still have to allow for the time required to upload all the information from the backup. Restoring data from the cloud is a much quicker process than restoring from tape, disk or other media storage.
Verifying your backup data
Many organisations will have a backup process in place, it is not so common for them to test these backups to make sure that they can be used to restore data when needed. Cloud backups are tested and verified as part of the process, and any anomalies can be identified and addressed.
Cloud backups will also have standard backup periods – from fifteen minute intervals through to daily, weekly, monthly and yearly backups – so you can revert back to the last usable version of your data more easily – or retrieve that lost file that was accidentally deleted 3 months ago.
Protecting your data against cyberattacks
While it is impossible for any organisation to be 100% protected against malicious attacks, it is possible to reduce the impact of the aftermath. Having reliable and tested backups means you can restore your systems back to a previous version before the attack or event occurred. However, you must only restore tested and verified backups that don’t contain the malicious code that brought your business to a standstill in the first place. And, while this doesn’t exonerate the organisation from reporting the breach to the relevant body, it does reduce the impact on its ability to operate, minimising the impact of lost productivity and revenues.
Disaster Recovery (DRaaS)
When time is of the essence, a disaster recovery solution could make all the difference. A cloud-based disaster recovery service (DRaaS) is the ‘gold standard’ because it provides the opportunity to get up and running again in a matter of minutes. DRaaS creates a secure ‘mirror’ of your systems in the cloud at frequent intervals. Because this includes your infrastructure, not just your data, you can simply log on and run systems directly from the cloud rather than waiting for the physical recovery to take place.
It’s food for thought isn’t it? When effective on-premise backup and disaster recovery requires such a significant investment in time, resources and money, it makes sense to move to the cloud. Not only will a cloud infrastructure provide a good value and effective solution for these issues – it also opens up a whole world of other business benefits.
For more information, download the Access Guide to Data Backup and Recovery or talk to our cloud hosting specialists about your journey to the cloud.
