Combining Onsite and Cloud Backup How businesses of all sizes can protect growing volumes of data and their bottom line Copyright Acronis, Inc., 2002 2012
ompanies of all sizes are dealing with large and fast growing amounts of data. According to a Content4IT study, the amount of digital data at most companies is growing 30 percent to more than 150 percent each year 1. While this growth rate depends on the industry, one thing holds true across all sectors: Data is growing rapidly across organizations of all sizes. Companies must not only store this data, they must protect it. And for small and midsize businesses (SMBs) with limited budgets and IT resources, finding effective and cost-efficient backup and disaster recovery solutions for big data has been a longstanding challenge. A recent study by Ziff Davis Enterprise found that 69 percent of small businesses are very concerned with backing up their data and ensuring its availability 2. However, with advancements in online storage, protecting large amounts of data without breaking the bank or tapping out IT resources can be a reality for any business. It s All About the Cloud The cloud provides access to data storage and backup and recovery solutions that may have once been unattainable for many SMBs. According to Diversity Limited, a move to cloud can make the difference between an organization being 20 percent efficient and one being 80 percent efficient 4. The cloud is a flexible, scalable and cost-effective method for data storage and protection. Cloud is a term that refers to the use of computing resources that are not physically present at your location and are built on an Internet backbone. The goal behind cloud is to enable customers to no longer drain money and IT staff s time managing their own resources, buying physical devices, or paying for all of the attendant management and ownership costs 3. Cloud-based storage and backup offers several advantages. You get: An extra level of offsite protection in the event of a disaster A more cost-effective alternative to physical offsite backup using traditional media Easier forecasting and no upfront investment for offsite infrastructure Unprecedented security for your data within the datacenter The same user-friendly software and interface as onsite versions no complex learning curve required
According to The Acronis Global Disaster Recovery (DR) Index, more than 50 percent of companies say that old backup technology no longer fits their needs. And as online storage technologies have matured, they have become a more accessible and reliable alternative to traditional disk and tape backup. In fact, 83 percent already have some form of cloud-based infrastructure in place, and 71 percent of businesses surveyed say they will be using cloud computing as part of their backup and disaster recovery strategy within the next year 5. The exponential growth of data has been a key challenge for organizations still reliant on tape and other forms of offsite media. Backups to these slower forms of media are time consuming and harder to fit in the backup window as volumes grow. Also, the cost and complexity involved with managing disk and tape storage increases with data growth rates. The major issue with physical onsite backup is that the backup file is typically stored close to the data itself. This means that it is exposed to the same risks, like flood, fire, theft and human error. Plus, commodity hard drive return rates due to failure are typically within two percent to three percent of all drives sold. Tape recoveries are error-prone as well. According to Business Continuity Advice, between 42 percent and 71 percent of all tape recoveries fail 6. Tape backup equals slow recovery time, and slow recovery time pushes companies to seek more efficient alternatives. This pain point becomes more evident when taking into account the time required to locate and deliver the tape from its offsite location and to build up the machine s operating environment before a restore from tape can happen. Cloud Backup vs. Disk/Tape Backup Operating expense instead of capital investment Increase capacity gradually as your backups grow No overhead moving physical media to an offsite location No risk of losing a backup because of damage to disk/tape No manual labor to bring the disk/tape onsite to restore Cloud-based backup benefits from the redundant hardware and software architectures used by the vendor s distributed datacenters. In most cases, this cannot be matched by an SMB s IT department. In remote datacenters, the data is stored in redundant formats, typically replicated on multiple disk drives across multiple hardware servers, which makes it less prone to hardware failures. Additionally, datacenters have redundant power supplies, such as diesel generators, which can sustain major power outages. While the benefits are significant, cloud storage is not foolproof. Cloud is reliant on Internet connectivity, which means if your connection fails, you will not be able to access your online backups. So what is the optimal solution?
Onsite and Cloud Backup: An Optimal Combination A single onsite copy of data is not enough. If disaster strikes and your system fails, you may experience lengthy and costly downtime while trying to recover lost data. And duplicating the onsite backup on the same or similar media and keeping it offsite is not the most economical approach. This adds transportation, physical storage and management costs on top of the already doubling cost of the backup media itself. The solution: Replace the second form of media with an online backup service (a.k.a.: the cloud). This will give you the ability to restore fast from local servers and the reliability of online backup for extra security. Work with a software provider that combines these two options in a single interface. This will make it easy to store, manage, protect and access your data. It is also important to find a software solution that offers staging, or tiering. Staging allows businesses with Internet connectivity constraints to optimize their backup policy to ensure that onsite backup preference goes to the media with the highest RTO first, which is then moved online regularly for redundancy. The cost of storage 1TB of cloud storage per month can cost about the same as a commodity hard drive or tape of the same capacity. However, with cloud storage, you get considerably higher reliability, scalability, security and simplicity of management with no upfront cost for buying an expensive tape drive or hard disk bay. As storage needs grow with time, cloud-based backup offers greater control and predictability of costs, while tape or drive backup will incur spikes in spending when new capacity and management devices need to be purchased.
The cost benefits of online backup: Onsite (disk or tape) backup Online (Cloud) backup Upfront cost High - Hardware and software, especially for large data volumes or complex backup plans with staging Low - Software is typically free, customers pay only for storage they use Storage cost Maintenance cost High to Moderate - Cost of hard drives is decreasing, but professional storage systems still cost a lot; also cost of hardware components can grow out of control in case of disruptions in supply or production (like well-known Taiwan flooding in 2011) Moderate - Hardware and software maintenance, tape transportation and offsite storage costs Moderate to Low - Depending on the vendor, cost can be $.10 to $.50 / Gb / month and is always under control Low - Only software maintenance, not tape management and transportation costs, only Internet bandwidth When asked about the challenges of backing up a hybrid environment, 76 percent of SMBs participating in The Acronis DR Index stated that a single solution capable of physical, virtual and cloud protection would be the most beneficial to their existing backup strategy 7. Using different software for onsite and cloud backups is not cost-effective. With just one software solution to maintain and configure, you will have the ability to backup to both onsite and cloud destinations at the same time. Further, experienced users can configure retention rules and create sophisticated backup strategies. This means that you do not have to pay twice for the software, and there is no investment of time, money or labor to train for different products. Finally, by using software with both onsite and cloud capabilities, there is virtually no overhead involved with configuring and maintaining highly reliable dual-backup destinations. In Conclusion SMBs are increasingly adopting cloud solutions as part of their backup strategies especially with volumes of data on the rise. The bottom line: Cloud backup is flexible, cost-effective and easy to use. And when combined with onsite backup, you get an unprecedented level of security and accessibility. With the right software solution for your business needs, storing and protecting big data can be a reality for organizations of any size.
About Acronis Acronis is a leading provider of easy-to-use disaster recovery and data protection solutions across physical, virtual and cloud environments. Acronis solutions help organizations of all sizes simplify and automate backup and disaster recovery processes, including the ability to manage geographically distributed PCs, laptops, workstations, and servers. With Acronis disaster recovery, deployment and migration software, users protect their digital information, maintain business continuity and reduce downtime. Acronis software is sold in more than 90 countries and is available in up to 14 languages. For additional information, please visit www.acronis.com. Follow Acronis on Twitter: http://twitter.com/acronis. Sources 1., 2., 3., 6: Using Cloud for Data Storage and Backup; Content4IT, 2012 4: Cloudonomics: The Economics of Cloud Computing; Diversity Limited, 2011 5: The Acronis Global Disaster Recovery Index: 2012; Ponemon Institute, 2011 7: The Acronis Global Disaster Recovery Index: 2012; Ponemon Institute, 2012 For additional information please visit http://www.acronis.com To purchase Acronis products, visit www.acronis.com or search online for an authorised reseller. Acronis office details can be found at http://www.acronis.com/company/worldwide.html 2002-2012 Acronis International GmbH, All Rights Reserved. Acronis and the Acronis logo are trademarks of Acronis International GmbH. Other mentioned names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners and should be regarded as such. Technical changes and differences from the illustrations are reserved; errors are excepted. 2012-05