Tag Archives: Disaster recovery

01.28.15
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Server Replication Using Cloud Computing Is Not The Total Solution for Disaster Recovery

Cloud computing is providing opportunities for faster disaster recovery processes. These opportunities are causing companies to leap before they they have considered all aspects and objectives of their Disaster Recovery processes.

Restore BackupWith cloud computing, the data backup can be accomplished by encapsulating the entire server through virtualization. Then this virtual server can be copied to the off-site location. This seems to be a very attractive alternative to the traditional method of disaster recovery due to its ease and speed. However, there are further considerations that must be considered.

Richard Cocchiara, who is CTO and the Managing Partner of Consulting for IBM’s Business Continuity & Resiliency Services states in an article called Cloud computing causing rethinking of disaster recovery “So in addition doing replication of data to another server, we still recommend backup because you can recover individual files to a point in time.”

There are real life situations that require the ability to “look back in time”. Data backup and recovery strategies must meet company policies regarding regulatory requirements, data breaches, ability to respond to court orders, and more.

Consider that data is not only to be backed up for protection of a catastrophic event, but, it also needs to be restored in different ways for different purposes and meet varying requirements. This requires coordinated strategies and testing. Data Backup strategies must be planned and tested to assure all company requirements regarding data retention and recovery are met.

When the term “cloud” is mentioned, we visualize an “all or nothing” scenario. We think that the data must be replicated to its backup site. We also imagine that the management of the DR processes and the data together must be in the cloud. But, these models are not the only that are possible.

In the case of data backup and recovery, for instance, the data can alternatively remain within the customer’s network and deployed off site at the customer’s choice location. The DR processes can be managed in the cloud. The data does not have to be in the cloud with the data backup administration. These two entities can be distinct.

There are Data Backup/Recovery Managed Service Providers that provide remote management of the Backup process, along with professional Disaster Backup and Recovery consultation. To further discuss the subject of cloud data backup and recovery management, contact Salvus Data Consultants.

 

08.07.14
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Resilient Data Must Stand Up to More Than Just a Catastrophic Event

To say that data is resilient is more than just saying the data can be recovered after a catastrophic event. Resilience must also take into considerations processes that are ongoing and may be taking a toll on the data’s stability over a period of time. This is especially true of Big Data. Data that is a combination of internal business processes data and data from outside sources, such as Social Media.

resilient dataData should be treated as we treat our own bodies. We exercise and eat well to have a backup of energy and muscle to take over when our body might tell us that some repetitive motion, or lack of motion, has caused harm.

Just as our bodies, data can be slowly eroding in its quality due to an incorrect assumption by a systems analyst or an unknown error in applications code. But, in the case of data, where is the reserve? The answer is in the data backup. Resilience exists only if you have the ability to go back to a time before the errant processes began to erode the value of the data and then selectively recover.

There was no event that occurred, or, disaster that rung bells and stopped applications. There was only a slow erosion of data quality that now needs to be reversed so that the data provides value into the future.

These are the scenarios that professional data backup and recovery specialists consider.  These nuances cannot be overlooked and ignored. As we have stated in an earlier blog  ENTERPRISE DATA BACKUP IS MORE THAN JUST BEING ABLE TO GET THE DATA BACK, there are real life situations that require the ability to “look back in time”. To be able to just restore data from last night’s backup is not sufficient.

Salvus Data Consultants assist companies in evaluating your data backup and recovery processes to ensure that all scenarios are considered to ensure your data is resilient, not just backed up. Then Salvus can manage your entire backup and recovery processes remotely without your data ever leaving your control.

07.31.14
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Consider an MSP for Data Backup That Knows Tivoli Storage Manager

Outsourcing data backup processes is an approach that should be considered. Outsourcing to an American Managed Service Provider is often the preferred choice; especially if the data can remain within the control of the company and only the backup and recovery procedures are performed remotely by the data backup and recovery MSP.

IT managed servicesA major benefit for a business outsourcing data backup is to free up the time of the IT staff to focus on core business strategies instead of training on the new Backup and Recovery techniques and then spending hours each day looking at logs and emails. The Storage Administrator can be released from the endless cycle of repeating the same tasks over and over again. And, the processes can be designed and performed by experts in the field of data backup.

In the search for an outsourced Data Backup and Recovery provider, a company should look for having direct access to a team of senior certified consultants which utilize top rated backup and recovery processes and software platform.

IBM’s Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) provides a platform to resolve both tactical and strategic backup solutions. Salvus Data Consultants is an MSP that provides IBM’s TSM backup environments. IBM Tivoli Storage Manager is a data protection platform that gives enterprises a single point of control and administration for storage management needs. It is the flagship product in the IBM Tivoli Storage Manager family. As stated by IBM, “TSM enables outstanding efficiency, simplicity and scalability for virtual, physical and cloud backup environments of all sizes.” TSM’s flexible deployment options include cloud services, integrated appliances and capacity-based solution bundles.

So, the data can remain within the customer’s control while the management of backup and recovery processes can be handled remotely by the MSP. The customer’s IT staff is released from becoming data backup and recovery experts.

When considering a new approach to your Data Backup and Restore, consider outsourcing to an American MSP that will partner with you in the design and execution of a proactive strategy. Contact Salvus Data to explore the benefits that an experience data backup and recovery MSP can provide your business.