Virtually everyone involved with computers has heard that it’s important to back up their data. Unfortunately, many people ignore this aspect of protecting the information on their home computers. They don’t realize the value of backups until suffering an unexpected data loss.
In the modern business world, it’s impossible to over-emphasize the importance of implementing reliable backup and recovery procedures. Companies cannot afford extended outages to critical systems. The cost of unavailable systems can be more than a business can stand.
Backups have evolved along with the computing environments they are designed to protect. What was once only done on-premises with dedicated hardware can now also be accomplished over the network using cloud storage and services.
Legacy Backup and Recovery Procedures
Organizations that rely on the data resident in their computing environment have long understood the need for backup and recovery procedures. They need the potential to recover failed systems in the event of a disaster. Data may also need to be retained for extended periods to address regulatory compliance.
Traditional legacy backup involves executing procedures that copy data from disk storage to physical tapes or cartridges. The media is then stored in onsite or offsite facilities to be used if a recovery is necessary. Specialized hardware such as tape drives, backup media, and a tape library are used to create the backups. These items are expensive and require continuous management and maintenance.
Restoring a single system or file requires accessing the tape containing the backup. This may be done through a manual process or an automated tape library. If the requested data is stored offsite, it can take a substantial amount of time to complete recovery. Productivity and business objectives are impacted until the recovery is done.
Disaster recovery using legacy backups is a tedious and time-consuming procedure. Typically, backup tapes need to be shipped to a recovery site where the technical staff sequentially recovers business-critical systems. In the case of large computing environments, this process can take days. Businesses can suffer significant financial losses during this time.
Emerging Threats to Corporate Data Assets
Hackers have always posed a threat to a company’s valuable data assets. But the increasing prevalence of cybercrime demands that businesses take robust measures to protect their systems and data. An important step to take is to develop more effective and efficient backup and recovery plans to address the possible disruptions caused by a cyberattack.
Phishing attacks are a popular tactic of cybercriminals. This attack tries to trick users into divulging login credentials so the perpetrator can gain unauthorized access to systems or data resources. In some cases, the goal is to steal data. In others, it’s to plant ransomware in an attempt to financially extort their victim.
Ransomware is a particularly nefarious form of malware that encrypts a victim’s hard drives or storage devices, making them inaccessible to systems and users. Cybercriminals usually demand payment in cryptocurrency in exchange for encryption keys. Meeting their demands may or may not result in regaining access to the data. After all, they are criminals and may not give you the keys.
The ability to quickly recover business-critical systems offers the best defense against ransomware. Companies need to have recovery plans in place that can be implemented immediately in the event of a ransomware attack. Rather than being forced to negotiate with cybercriminals, a business should adopt a proactive approach to defending against ransomware.
Other types of cyberattacks can also cause data loss or corruption that require fast recovery. Unfortunately, doing business in 2022 requires companies to protect themselves with effective backup and recovery solutions.
Changing Business Requirements Drive Backup Evolution
In addition to protecting against the threat of cyber attacks, changing business requirements have led to the need for new backup and recovery techniques. Companies need to provide greater resiliency to avoid disruptions to the systems required to run their businesses.
Cloud-based backup solutions offer companies multiple benefits when compared to traditional methodologies. These advantages are driving greater adoption of cloud backup and recovery services.
- Enhanced resiliency is achieved by simultaneously storing cloud backups in multiple physical locations. This eliminates the chance of backups being lost in a data center disaster.
- Capacity concerns are eliminated with a cloud backup solution. Companies no longer need to plan for tape usage and provision the appropriate resources. Backup capacity can grow with the business without the capital expenditures associated with legacy solutions.
- Flexible recovery is facilitated with cloud backups. Customers can restore over the network and recover to physical or virtual infrastructures on-premises or in the cloud. This can be a critical factor when recovering from a large-scale disaster that may have destroyed a planned recovery site.
- Backing up remote systems is becoming more important to address the needs of the mobile workforce. Cloud-based backups are available through an Internet connection and enable workers to back up and restore systems from any location.
Cloud-based backups address the evolving needs of modern businesses.
Selecting a Backup Solution for Your Business
Choosing the right backup solution for a business can be challenging. Multiple products and vendors want to address your company’s backup and recovery requirements. In some cases, there may be several alternatives that meet all your objectives in a backup and recovery solution. In other instances, your unique requirements may demand the capabilities of a specific tool.
An experienced partner like VAST can help you choose the best backup solution for your company. They understand the importance of data protection to your business and will help tailor a plan that meets your requirements. VAST has expertise in the technologies necessary to protect your physical, virtual, and cloud environments.
VAST partners with the top public cloud providers as well as industry-leading backup vendors like Veritas, Nutanix, and Cohesity. After evaluating your backup requirements, VAST will assist in developing the right mix of products and services to fully protect your valuable data. They will help your company take advantage of the full range of backup solutions to keep your data secure.
