The previous blog discussed the details of “Local Backup of Data and System Data.”

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Information About Backup and Disaster Recovery – Part 6

Today we discuss “Local and Cloud Backup of Data and System Data.”As hardware costs drop and bandwidth increases, this method should eventually become the most preferred backup method.Like the cloud backups, pricing is usually determined by the amount of data to be backed up.In this situation, the backup is done from the computer to a local backup device that also encrypts the backup data. This is very fast depending on the interface (i.e. ISCSI, USB 3.0). Once the backup is done, the backup unit transfers the data from the backup unit to the remote site.

Local and Cloud Backup of Data and System Data Benefits and Downsides

Benefits:
• Backup is fast.
• Backup is encrypted.
• A local restore can be done very quickly.
• You don’t have to take the backup unit offsite.
• If a disaster strikes your office, there is a backup of the backup in a secure offsite location.
• Many vendors also replicate your backup data to several geographical sites. This is important because if the vendor suffers a disaster, the remote sites will preserve you data.

Downsides:
• Price. Many times it is very costly; however, some vendors are starting to reduce prices.
• Bandwidth. Like the cloud backups, the full backups can sometimes take days to get the first complete backup to the final destination.
• This type of backup usually provides a “bare bones” restore to allow you to restore the entire computer from the local backup.
• If the data restore has to originate from the cloud, it could take many days to restore your computer. However, some vendors will now send you a new local device so that you can restore you data more quickly.
• Some vendors provide a local backup unit that can also function as a server or as a regular computer and run as if your computer or server never went down.

This is a very important point. Ask your potential vendor about this option. If provided, this means that you will experience greatly reduced down time.

Brought to you by:

George M. Baldonado

President & CEO, Oasis Technology, Inc.