Reality Checks: Cloud-based Backups and Disaster Recovery

Cloud solutions is the most hyped technology in the IT market now and the concept needs no introduction. Backup and disaster recovery solution have become a crucial aspect of every business and every organization must add this inevitable element to their strategy for the best of their business. Data is a valuable asset and enterprises are spending big to ensure their data is well protected.

Cloud-based backup and disaster recovery solution is the best option to ensure the safety of your mission-critical data and application. However, these cloud solutions might not be a relevant option for every business. Here are a few things that you need to consider in order to make an informed decision.

Do you actually need cloud-based service?

Evaluate your data protection requirements because implementing an cloud solution is not an easy task and requires thorough planning. If you are looking to use cloud service only for backup purpose, then you may not have to go through the complicated procedure. But when it comes to integration, you'll have to decide your operational requirements as there are a bunch of thing that you'll have to look into before implementation.

What data needs to be backed up?

One of the best feature of cloud is that it provides the most convenient payment option, which is the pay-as-you-go model. While this is truly an added advantage of the cloud solution, but moving only essential data to the cloud can be more cost-effective. Organizations looking to backup all their data should consider a hybrid solution, which is move all the data to on-site facility, while backup only important data in the cloud. Many organization often prefer to apply the 3-2-1 backup method.

Is the infrastructure suitable for the cloud?

Opting for a cloud-based backup and disaster recovery system is practically useless without the necessary infrastructure to make use of it. For instance, an infrastructure of RISC-based workstations with locally installed applications cannot access the backup files residing in the cloud, even if it wanted to. These larger files usually take a long time to recover over the WAN.

Choosing cloud-based solutions can be practically ineffective without the essential infrastructure to make the right use of it. As a result, certain type of infrastructures cannot access the backup data in the cloud environment, despite all its efforts. Recovering larger files over the WAN tends to consume a lot of time. Moreover, there are also chances these server-based computing may crash and make the restores useless. So you need to find solutions for these eventuality when planning to opt for a cloud-based services.