While the simplicity of the public cloud has won over many SMBs, there are quite a few companies out there still running data centers. Those data centers need to be backed up. With that in mind, here’s a quick guide to what you need to know about data center backup in Elk Grove.
1. Datacenter back is a lot more demanding than cloud data backup
If you’re working in the public cloud, you’re going to need to back up your business data (which can be quite a challenge). In a data center, however, you not only have to back up your business data, but also your digital assets as a whole (e.g. operating systems and applications plus the relevant configuration data, host data, and management consoles), plus your physical assets. This is a whole lot more to manage and hence it’s vital to have an appropriate strategy supported by robust processes and the right tools.
2. Your strategy starts with the why
Although the term “data center backup”, understandably, focuses on the action of backing up your data, it’s important to remember that the act of backing up your data only has meaning if it serves a business purpose. That business purpose is essential to allow you to get back into production quickly after a failure.
Most of the time, that’s probably going to mean recovering after minor issues, such as accidental deletions or the corruption of data. It is, however, possible that you’re going to need to rely on your data center backups in more difficult situations, including business continuity and disaster recovery.
This means that your strategy needs to start from the end. In other words, you need to think of your worst-case scenario and then decide how quickly you need your data back online and how up-to-date that data needs to be, and then work back from there to determine how you’re going to achieve those goals.
3. It’s vital to keep track of what you need to back up
You can only look after an asset if you know that you own it. This means that you absolutely must have thorough records of both your physical and digital assets, especially your data. The reason why it’s particularly important to have a complete overview of the data you hold is that most companies, even SMBs, are likely to hold data that has legal implications. This means that it needs the highest level of protection. That’s not to negate the importance of protecting other assets, it’s to highlight the importance of understanding the relative levels of risk.
In particular, it is to highlight the importance of effective data custody. The fact that you are running a data center means that you should know where your local servers are based. If you’re taking physical media to off-site storage then you will need to know where that is. If, however, you are taking your off-site backup to the cloud, then you will need to know where the cloud servers are located.
You will also need to know who has access to your data and where they are located. Again, in the case of your staff, this is going to be obvious. If, however, you are using IT services vendors, then it’s strongly recommended to check where their workers are physically based. For example, if you’re looking for a data center backup vendor in Elk Grove, then it’s advisable to check whether the vendor is located in Elk Grove (or at least near Elk Grove) or if they just offer services in Elk Grove (but are located elsewhere).
You need to be prepared to invest time and money in getting the right tools- Provide a Strong Tag
Hardware-based solutions and cloud-based solutions (Backup-as-a-Service) may be perfect for users with light-to-moderate needs. They are both simple, convenient, and affordable. Hardware-based solutions used to be the preferred option because they generally came with integrated storage, but these days BaaS is often seen as more robust.
Most companies, however, are going to need at least one software solution (or a hybrid solution which is part software and part BaaS). Software solutions allow for the maximum degree of control and hence customizability. There are all kinds of data center backup management solutions on the market and it makes sense to do thorough research on the available options before deciding which one(s) could be right for you.
It is, however, important to remember that software reviews are not a substitute for your own, real-world testing, especially not when dealing with environments as complex as data centers.
If you’d like to speak to a reputable and experienced data center backup partner in Elk Grove, please click here now to contact Aperio.IT.
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