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A quick guide to data backup storage in Folsom
The move to having data managed centrally (as opposed to stored on local devices) has brought all kinds of benefits. It does, however, make it imperative that the people in charge of the data take all appropriate steps to protect it. This includes having a robust data-backup strategy using the right data backup storage for your needs. With this in mind, here is a quick guide to data backup storage in Folsom.
Controlling what you hold in production is crucial to controlling costs
A data backup is a snapshot of your production data. This means that managing your data backups starts with managing what goes into your production systems. There are basically two ways companies acquire production data. They can either collect it from external sources or generate it internally. In most cases, it will be a combination of both.
This means that it is very much advisable to look at your business processes and ensure that all data is being collected and/or generated mindfully, in other words, to serve a specific business purpose. This is usually a legal requirement when it comes to dealing with sensitive data such as personal data (and even if it isn’t, it’s good business practice).
For most companies, however, this will only be a fairly small percentage of the data they hold so the biggest wins will usually come from taming more general data. This could be through improving collection systems, updating business processes, and/or simply ensuring that dormant data is moved swiftly out of production systems. In other words, if you can’t delete it then archive it.
You need two data backups, one local and one off-site
The principle of keeping a local data backup and an off-site data backup was established in the earliest days of it. All that’s really changed over that time is how it’s been implemented in practice. Your local backup is taken to your local environment, which, for most SMBs, is probably going to mean their main cloud.
This then leaves the issue of where to store your off-site data backup and for most SMBs, the cloud will be the only sensible solution. Firstly, most SMBs will probably be cloud-first if not cloud-native and will, therefore, want to stay with cloud-based data backup storage. Secondly, even if you’re still running your own data center, using the cloud is generally far more practical (and convenient) than transporting physical media from A to B (and back again).
Data centers and the cloud
If you’re in a data center, then you’ll be taking your local backup to physical hardware, which you’ll keep on your premises. Currently, your options are tapes, hard drives, and maybe SSDs. Tapes are really legacy systems, which can still be worth maintaining if you’ve already invested in them. If you haven’t, or if you’re updating your system, they are, at best, a questionable choice since they’re slow and can’t be searched easily.
That leaves hard drives and maybe SSDs. Right now, hard drives are the storage medium of choice because they are much faster than tapes (and searchable) and much more affordable than SSDs. This may change in the future as SSDs are coming down in price, but for now, they’re likely to be too expensive for the average SMB. Both hard drives and SSDs are very decent options for use in a data center itself, but it could be risky to transport them to off-site storage. SSDs are a bit more robust than hard drives, but they are still not as robust as tapes.
Even without that, the fact remains that if you transport physical media to off-site storage, you have to fetch it back again before you can use it. This takes up time, especially if you’re located in an urban area like Folsom, where traffic congestion can be an issue. Because of this, the cloud is generally the preferred option for off-site data backup storage.
Data backup storage and the public cloud
If you’re already in the public cloud, then it makes obvious sense to stick with it for “off-site” data backup storage. If, however, you’re in a private cloud or a data center, then you could use a (second) private cloud or physical media. The problem with the former is that it is extremely expensive and the problem with the latter is that it is slow and exposes your data to the risks of transport. This is why the public cloud is an effective compromise. It is much more affordable than a private cloud and still offers a high degree of security for your data.
If you’d like to speak to a reputable and experienced data backup storage partner in Folsom, please click here now to contact Salient IT.
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