All posts by Damien Garvey

BTL Cloud Backup Product Features – Part II

November 1, 2016 Damien Garvey

In Part I, we discussed BTL’s sought after features like, agentless architecture, encryption, DS-Client, DS-System, and how to speed up LAN restorations. Here in this Part II series, we will further discuss BTL cloud backup’s great features.

IT Administrators are also armed with Service Level Agreement management and Budget Allocation and Capacity Management interfaces. Also included are features such as Email Message Level restoration; Bare Metal Restoration; Client System monitoring and SNMP integration.

BTL cloud backup solution is available to all Channel Partners, enabling Managed Service Providers (MSP) to deliver IT services to their clientele without the need to buy, install or manage any infrastructure.

BTL cloud backup users will be able to store and access their data in a secure, hosted environment, eliminating their need to purchase and host their own hardware and software infrastructure, utilising BTL’s vast infrastructure on a pay-as-you-go basis, allowing the end user to manage their budget while taking advantage of operating expenses, rather than the typically taxed capital expense budget.

BTL is not just a cloud backup and recovery company. It is more than that. It provides beyond its flagship data backup and recovery product, allowing users to sign up for a disaster recovery and business continuity services. BTL’s DR and BC will allow companies to be ready to continue their daily routine in case of a natural or man-made disaster.

No one is immune to data loss. Data could be lost at any time. At some point or another, organisations could suffer data loss. Although no one really wants to ever use a disaster recovery solution, BTL is always ready and available to minimise the impact of any downtime, by deploying its secure and cost-effective DRaaS solution.

BTL offers a real opportunity to its Channel Partners, especially those with limited resources of their own. Partners can ensure their clients have 24×7 access to their data, along with round-the-clock customer support, without having to make major investments in their own infrastructure or staffing. At the same time, they will be building their recurring revenue base, a true win-win opportunity.

Some additional features of BTL, powered by Asigra, include:

User friendly;
State of art Data Centres;
Granular levels of control;
Potential for customisation;
Simple to install and maintain;
LAN Speed disaster recovery;
Cost effective simple licensing;
24 x 7 x 365 days technical support;
Secure, reliable, scalable and infinitely integrated;
Initial-no-bother disk or wire based legacy system seeding;
Ability to geo-locate and remotely wipe lost or stolen devices;
Non-invasive and almost invisible backup and recovery systems;
Innovative, adaptive with sophisticated testing in real world scenarios;
On-premise Exchange data protection with Exchange Web Services (EWS) Backup Set;
Faster backup by retrieving only changed blocks in VMs from one backup session to another;
Data protection enhancements for Microsoft Hyper-V, including incremental backup for virtual machines in both standalone and cluster Hyper-V server configurations;
Supports Oracle Linux as an installation platform for DS-System, Backup Lifecycle Management (BLM) Archiver, and Remote Virtual Disaster Recovery (RVDR);
New support matrix additions and updates, including: VMware 6.0, Windows 10, backup and data restore on Oracle 12c, backup for Oracle Database on Solaris 11, and bare metal restore for the Windows 2012 R2 Server core.

To learn more about BTL, please visit www.backup-technology.com

BTL Cloud Backup Product Features – Part I

November 1, 2016 Damien Garvey

Cloud backup software has come a long way. Today, the average software has powerful and sophisticated features. One of the best breeds of software in the cloud backup space is Backup Technology Limited (BTL) software. BTL’s software is powered by Asigra, a leading cloud backup enabling company since 1986. The most striking feature of BTL is its agentless architecture. Professional data administrators will always appreciate the advantages of BTL’s software. Security is never compromised, as it comes with encryption key that can save and recover data to and from the vault systems. The complexity and size of problems are thereby minimised; upgrades are centralised from the vault system, and data backup and recovery becomes a streamlined process. Furthermore, licensing is easy to set up, as a single license acquisition takes care of all the future needs of the organisation.

BTL manages file databases intelligently. Every single file of the database is identified and managed by proprietary algorithm, and the end-user can remain completely unaware of the intricacies that enables the backup of different kinds of data files, from multiple operating system environments, using a single interface.

How does all this happen? BTL’s cloud backup technology consists of two components: the DS-Client, and the DS-System. The DS-Client is installed on a dedicated Windows, Macintosh or Linux server and target backup machines are identified. The DS-Client also allows versioning, which means that backups can be available for a quick restore.

Using standard APIs on the target machines, the system automatically logs into the backup system and captures the data securely. The DS-Client, then processes, compresses, encrypts and transmits the data from the target machines using delta blocking and common file elimination technologies, commonly knows as de-duplication. The system is very intelligent in that it runs un-interrupted in the background, segregating corrupted files; correcting them or marking them for re-try at a later date.

The DS-System is at the core of Asigra Cloud Backup technology. It is installed in an enterprise or service provider data center, or in an IaaS cloud. The DS-System efficiently aggregates data from all remote DS-Clients and maintains, manages and validates the online backup repository.
BTL allows the use of Local Restore tool in order to speed up LAN restorations. Depending on your needs, you can use such tools, as:
• Long Term Storage Policy Making Tool — is a discovery tool to automatically ascertain characteristics of primary data, Client and System Monitoring, Email Message Level Restore, Bare Metal Restore capability, and SNMP Integration.
• File Summary Tool — provides both a synopsis and detailed scanned file information. The report is easily modified with several filters allowing a group of files to be specifically analysed.
• LAN Discovery Tool — identifies the characteristics of data, such as when the last time it was accessed, its age, and file size. This will help the user to make business decisions about how they want their data stored and recovered.
In Part II of this series, we will further discuss BTL’s main features in details.

Should you Trust your Data to the Cloud?

October 6, 2016 Damien Garvey

For those who are extremely nervous about entrusting their valuable mission-critical data to strangers over the Internet, Backup Technology Limited (BTL) Cloud Backup is a very reliable option! You can trust your data to BTL professionals without a qualm. BTL has years of experience and a proven track record in data security. The client testimonials and partner stories say it all. If you are still not convinced, here is how BTL works on data security for you.

Your data is secured against access in three ways:

Data is encrypted once at the point of transmission and again at the point of storage. This double encryption makes unauthorised access difficult and even fruitless.
BTL uses superior technology to ensure that your data is backed up quickly and efficiently, and optimally.
Your data is made highly available by replication/mirroring for disaster recovery.

Encryption:

BTL protects data by deploying a 256 bit cryptographic, powered by Asigra, an industry leading cloud backup technology.

The 256 bit cryptographic feature is installed when the BTL software agent is installed on server or computer you want to backup. The installation process prompts the user to input several character strings. The string is then, converted into a 256 bit encryption key and is made available only to the user. It is never transmitted over the Internet and is not stored on the servers of the company. Users are expected to secure this key against deletion and access by unauthorised personnel. Since the data is stored in an encrypted format on the server, the availability of the key is an imperative. Loss of the key implies loss of access to data stored on the servers.

BTL software kick starts when you begin to transmit information over the Internet for secure, encrypted storage on BTL servers. The agent software installed on your computer communicates with the BTL server, using SSL (Secure Socket Layer) technology that deploys its own encryption protocol. This results in a double encryption of the data you finally store. This technology is similar to the technology that is used by banking companies to secure bank accounts of their customers.

High Availability

BTL ensures that customer data is stored securely for high availability and disaster recovery. They monitor the data centres 24/7 with advanced bio-metrically controlled access. Backup generators and redundant Internet connections are used to ensure that customers are never locked out of the server storage if the encryption key, user name and password are available with them. Files in storage are constantly reviewed for ease of restoration, maintenance of user logs, and optimisation of versioning controls.

Software Features

BTL’s technology backs up data, differentially or incrementally at the block level after the first full backup. Users can configure the software to apply to specific data sets as per company policy or on the basis of the importance of the data. This enables users to backup more files during an available backup window and optimise on storage space. Users can also set BTL Cloud Backup and Recovery solution to backup a number of versions of files for compliance and archiving regulations.

Whether you run a big corporation or a small business or you are an IT service providers, BTL offers a secure cloud based data backup solution, combined with a robust partner program, the efficiencies of full web-based account management, and an industry leading technical support team. Visit: www.backup-technology.com

Best Practices to Avoid Data Breaches

July 18, 2016 Damien Garvey

Most businesses do not have a pre-defined strategy to follow when sensitive information is stolen from their system. The complexities caused by data breaches are underestimated. Companies follow fortress approach and use encryption security, firewalls and proxies to keep intrusion away from sensitive data. However, once a data breach has taken place, what counts is the work done prior to the breach. It would be very difficult to do much after the breach.

Preparation

Companies need to plan ahead and get ready to answer the important question: “What do we do after a data breach” well ahead of time. Companies need to avoid data breaches, but if they find themselves in the unfortunate situation of a data breach, they should not underestimate the effects of the breach.

Remember that cyber attacks are not what they used to be a decade ago, they have evolved, but information governance programs have not changed much.

Triage and Mirage

It is an essential part of an information governance policy to make arrangements against data breaches. For an effective information governance policy, companies must have an all-inclusive understanding of their sensitive data, so that they can be proactive throughout the data breach. Knowing where sensitive data resides will prove to be very challenging, as companies have a lot of data in their network systems, but data breach readiness does not need an all-or-nothing approach.

There is no need to create data map as companies are bound to work at the content level to recognise things such as payment card information, personal health information, and personally identifiable information. When mission critical information is used or updated, make certain that the data is placed in specific repositories with backup options, as well as security provisions. Data masking, dual factor authentication and strong password are significant security layers that can be used. Moreover, masking can scramble data in order to make social security numbers or credit cards invalid, acting as deterrent and traps against cyber attackers.

Careful Data Sharing

Controlling user access privileges to data repositories is equally important as data breach preparedness. File sharing improves collaboration and efficiency, but makes the data available to potential breaches and also makes the data accessible to all, including unauthorised people. File sharing is one of the least secure locations in the network, as permissions are not strictly enforced in many cases. At times, file shares are made available to everyone by default, allowing everyone in the company to access those files.

Permission forms, compensation statements, account numbers, customer records and HR records could easily be exposed to the wrong person if shares are not properly setup. Therefore, caution should be exercised when file sharing is setup, including the ability to automatically purge out files after a period of time.

Manual or Automated Approach

Though breach preparedness appears to be a straightforward procedure, businesses need to know about automated scanning and human approach. If AI and scanning technology are used on computers that are not connected with in the network, it can allow companies to lock down, move or find sensitive files. Obviously, you can not trust all employees, and as a result, the likelihood of insider threats is much more higher than an outsider threat.

Despite the fact, employees play a central role in breach preparedness, and therefore, they should be given a regular training to cope with various situations. Companies need to arrange training courses for fresh employees and refresher courses for experienced staff.

In the long run, awareness and education help people in understanding how and when shadow IT (cloud storage and restricted access to data) can be used. While working on an information breach preparedness plan, organisations should adopt a careful attitude so that employees cannot use shadow IT and other risky applications inappropriately.

During and after a data breach, experienced and qualified employees are expected to perform their jobs immediately. In case, emails are not accessible due to data breach, users often select, though not recommended, Gmail, Google Drive, or other public email clients to continue business activities. The company management is responsible to inform employees not to use any third party system while the company’s servers are down because of the breach.

The Role of WAN Accelerators in Cloud Backups

June 27, 2016 Damien Garvey

As some cloud backup companies fold and close, many more new ones are opening doors. The cloud backup market has become very much crowded; and many are trying their best to differentiate themselves from the crowd. Some of the new entrants are offering sophisticated hybrid cloud backup services, which makes it very difficult to compare the different options. However, many buyers consider the speed of data transfer to the cloud as one of the most important features to consider.

Data transfer speed can be greatly improved by WAN acceleration.

WAN Acceleration is a technology that is used to improve the effectiveness of data flow across a Wide Area Network (WAN). On the other hand, WAN Accelerator is a software or appliance that improves bandwidth in order to make the user’s experience more effective on WAN. Many believe that the speed of data transfer is limited to the speed the Internet connection of a company. Although this is true, technologies and software of the backup vendors play a role in increasing cloud replication speed with the help of WAN acceleration. Therefore, how do WAN accelerators work? How does the vendor improve throughput? What are the things to explore in order to select the best service provider?

Here are some of the questions that companies should ask to find the best solution:

1 – How Does the Vendor Recuperate from Disruptions of Network?

Due to packet drops and network hiccups, the transfer of information is not an easy task. Thus, it is necessary that selected vendor offers an updated technology that can replicate all data to the cloud. Matured cloud backup services, that are using traffic optimisation, deploy resilient-resumption technology allowing them to quickly recover and maintain operations even when the system experiences some kind of network disturbance or packet loss.

2 – Does the Vendor Throttle Bandwidth?

Administrators use traffic technology to specify the bandwidth that can be consumed by backup traffic at different hours of the day (such as, high bandwidth during non-business hours and low bandwidth in business hours). Best vendors will use dynamic maximum transfer unit (MTU) to optimise throughput by sizing the amount of sent on each request, depending on the network connection of the company.

3 – How Does the Vendor Deduplicate the Data?

Sending data across WAN is not an effective way to accelerate data transfer. In order to improve the transfer of data across the WAN, data scientists came up with dedulication process. Duplication helps in reducing the bandwidth of WAN by more than 90%. Despite the fact, most of the vendors make use of source-side type of deduplication to make certain that the used appliance maintains single file version. However, not all cloud vendors dedupe the information over the WAN (to ensure that replicated information does not already exist in the cloud backup repository).

The best of the breed cloud backup vendors use block-level deduplication over the WAN. Such technology checks the cloud repository to enquire whether a specific block is present in cloud backup or not. In case it is available, then it is not copied to the cloud. Conversely, if the block does not exist, it will be copied and transferred to the cloud.

You will be a well informed cloud backup consumer if you ask the above questions on network optimisation and WAN acceleration.

Understanding Archiving Logic and Data Tiering

June 6, 2016 Damien Garvey

The data generated in your company resides in electronic format. Over time, it will reduce in its value, stop being easily and actively accessed and eventually become ready for archiving. Archived data is data that requires to be retained in the data centre merely for either legal or historical reasons, and not for the purpose of operation.

Why Archive?

There are many reasons for arching data, but the most obvious reason is to reduce overheads. Gratuitous access to the huge volumes of closed or least value data does not contribute any thing to the value of current operations of your company. In order to make it easy for your firm to make use of the electronic dimension effectively and efficiently, data should be identified and archived.

Archiving Logic

Cloud backup service providers make use of standard application archiving logic using a customised support in order to archive data. The data is archived to separate database or table space by the basic application. Customisation leverages native application archiving routines and replace, extend or even to recreate application archiving logic that can match particular business practises. This allows you to select the most suitable architecture option for your needs.

Meta Data

The referential integrity, transparency, and end user’s support, as well as archive view are maintained through the archive itself. Some of the service providers commission integrated synchronisation, single console operation, and space recovery. Meta data in the archived data is made to be reused and extend the archiving venture for search capabilities. In addition, meta data assists in compliance.

Server Loads and Bandwidth

Today, newer cloud archiving technologies have integrated tiered archiving into data protection and recovery solutions. An easy tiered archiving model creates 2nd or 3rd tier archives off the backup copies of the file servers or even the mail boxes that are stored in the main backup tier, reducing the bandwidth and server loads of small and medium size companies.

Stub File

The original backup tier is handled as the first tier and the data is transferred based on the time stamps from tier to tier. In order to indicate the new storage location of the archived files, a stub file will be retained in the first tier. The requirements for tiering may be client specific.

Modern Day Tiering

Contemporary cloud based tiered storage architectures are more sophisticated and in most cases depend on the understanding of the file system, where the data will in the end reside in. Users require the freedom to switch service providers or even from one platform to another or control and manage file systems within different tiers of storage from dissimilar hardware.