Many small businesses have been enticed to dump their pain-in-the-neck tape backup system for a no-hassle online backup service. Though the internet based system may appear better, the tape backup actually provides a better, cheaper backup solution.
First let me define what I mean by "internet based backup service." That is any backup system that installs on your network and automatically uploads your data to an offsite location. These systems have several faults which should eliminate them from consideration by all but the smallest companies. Consider the following weaknesses:
It takes too long to get your data: When you have a data loss its helpful to recover from that loss quickly. Many internet based systems can take up to 48 hours for large data recoveries. The internet is just not fast enough to move large amounts of data (25GB+). They are much slower than a restore from a tape.
A single lost email can take 12 hours to recover: If a user erases a folder or an email from Outlook it is a nightmare to get back with most online backup services. Their recovery process would take a skilled technician 10-12 hours and require extra software and hardware to complete. it takes only minutes with the typical system configured by GCS using an external drive and tapes!
Internet based services are too expensive: The cost of an internet based service is usually much higher than GCS' typical system. A robust "normal" backup system with an LTO2 tape drive, 10 tapes, a cleaning tape, an external hard drive and Symantec Backup Exec would be cheaper than a comparable internet-based service in as few as 18 months. The expected lifetime of GCS' typical system is about 3 years!
Annual Archival: Everyone has a set of files they need rarely. What if they weren't there? If you use an online backup service and these files were lost more than a few weeks ago they are lost forever. You can prevent this with an annual archival. At the end of each year make a full backup to tape and NEVER reuse those tapes. A tape can last 30 years!
When it comes to backup systems you're much better off with a typical tape-based system. It is the lowest cost, fastest to restore, and most reliable system available. It is also a BIG PAIN IN THE NECK! As soon as a better solution is invented I'll be the first to post it here.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
A business should not use online backup services!
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2 comments:
You article ignores Disaster Recovery. Online backup services are slow to restore sure, but if you lose your building and data with it, the business is toast.
When was the last time you went into a small business and saw GOOD offsite tape rotation, maintenance, verification and testing practices? It is exceedingly rare...
I agree that online backup services are not the panecea to solve all small business data issues, but they can be effective for recovery after a disaster.
Ease of backup is certainly a consideration. Backup solutions need to address 2 very specific needs: 1) recover from user error or system failure; 2) recover from disaster. Too often I have seen businesses with tape backup solutions that simply aren't working, and they don't know it. An online, offsite system is monitored, hosted in a proper data warehousing environment, and immediately available for small restore issues. Large scale restoration can be accomplished by having your offsite company provide a USB hard drive with your backup on it via FedEx. I think you unnecessarily risk your clients data by suggesting that they just use tape backup.
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