Backing up your data to the cloud is becoming a more popular option that is being explored and undertaken by the majority of businesses. Therefore, the data backup market has become more competitive with hundreds of companies all offering a backup service that will get your data offsite. Due to the competitiveness of the market, companies have cut corners with the aim to reduce their costs and therefor offer the end customers a lower price. A couple of examples of this is storing data on cheap hardware and re-branding home user backup solutions into a business solution. One of the most overlooked aspects of a solution is whether a replication system is in place.
When someone is looking for a cloud backup provider to back up their data, the primary objective is to find a solution that will work and is within their budget. In most cases, little or no consideration is taken for whether the offered solution has a replica system in place.
Having a replica system in place offers both the service provider and customer several advantages and peace of mind that if anything did happen to the primary system, a switch can be made to the replica system and therefore allowing backups and restores to run as if nothing had happened.
If a service provider is utilising cheap hardware to store the data on, the likelihood of them suffering from hardware failure is drastically increased. In this event and with no replica system in place, you are left with a data backup solution that cannot connect to a system and therefore backups and restores cannot run. You are then reliant on the service provider replacing the hardware as quickly as possible. This could take days or even weeks and therefore leaving you highly exposed to potential data loss which could have an unprecedented impact on the running of your company.
There are also other scenarios that could result in the primary system becoming unavailable. Such scenarios could include the hardware vendor releasing a firmware update that isn’t stable or workmen cutting through power or fibre lines. There could also be some sort of disaster experienced where the primary system is located, affecting the telecommunication infrastructure in the entire area.
If you are currently utilising a cloud backup solution in which a replica system isn’t in place, it is worthwhile checking to see what contingency plans that the service provider has in place if anything was to happen to the primary system in which your data is kept on. There are a number of scenarios that can take the primary system offline and therefore meaning that you cannot backup you data and run restores.
In order to ensure that downtime of a system is kept to a minimum, making sure that your backup provider has a replica system in a geographical separate location is vital. By having this in place, the likelihood of you being able to run backups and restore data with very little disruption is drastically increased. If they do not have a replica system, you are putting all your eggs in one basket where one event or problem can take your entire backup system down and leave you unable to backup and restore your data for an extended period of time.
Do you know if your backup provider has a replication system in place? Do you consider this as an important aspect of a cloud backup solution?
