When it comes to our data, we not only have to protect it from others, we have to protect it from ourselves. By this I mean hardware or software failures that could ultimately cause a loss of data. And when it comes to the loss of data, there are again two fronts that we must address, data backup and system recovery.
Data backup is the ability to recover lost or corrupted data, and is the most common method used. However, it only addresses data, not applications, user profiles and system information. System recovery, on the other hand, is the ability to recover an entire machine to its fully operational state.
From a cost perspective, the former is by far the least expensive approach. The big costs occur when a machine fails, and it has to be rebuilt and then the data reloaded. Downtime of a machine can be costly.
Data Recovery
Usually when one speaks of data backup, they are referring to a process that on a determined schedule, backups the current data on a machine to another machine (server) or storage device (tape or drive). These backups are then incremented or overwritten depending on how the backup process was defined. Should something then happen to our data, and we need to access the backup it usually involves the employment of someone from IT to go to the backup devices and recover the file. Now, if your backup procedure is each night, and it is now 4:00pm in the afternoon and you need the backup file, you are going to be very happy if the needed file has simply gone missing. On the other hand, if you have been working on the file all day long you are not going to be a happy camper as you will have lost all the work (revisions) that have taken place since the backup. This problem becomes even more an issue when we deal with databases that are continually being updated. You could lose and entire day of data entry. The solution is thus to back up more often. As we increase our intervals we also increase the overhead and workload.
What if you could have a system that continuously backs up your data, not on an interval, but whenever a modification is made. Then, what if you had your own interface that allowed you to recover any backup without the need to call IT. And what if you not only could recover the data but have the ability to recover the data for up to a depth of 15 revisions. Get data from days or months ago, or recover the document as it was and 9:30am, and all without losing any time wait for someone to get you the data.
Welcome to CDP or Continuous Data Protection line of products from Sonicwall. These devices can provide you business with the the latest in backup and recovery of your data. Think of the time and money saved if you never had to worry about rebuilding files or waiting on IT. In less than the time it takes to get another cup of java, you can be back in business. Not only do these devices provide the CDP protection they also provide a means of backing up your critical data to an off-site backup center or another CDP device at home or another office. In addition, the CDP devices can also maintain images of you computers and workstations in the case of a hardware failure and the need to rebuild a machine from the bottom up is required. So, instead of days to rebuild a machine as it ‘was’ takes only a an hour or so.
So if you really want to invest in data protection the Sonicwall CDP line of products is the way to go. Continuous data protection, simple to use graphical interface for data recovery and bare bone system recovery are now available to you.
As good as CDP is, it may not be the best and most economical way to go. For that we have partnered with Acronis Software.
Acronis is a global provider of affordable, scalable storage management and disaster recovery software that helps enterprises and SMBs safeguard their information and assures the availability, security, integrity and recoverability of their infrastructure. Acronis’ patented disk imaging and disk management technology have won broad industry acclaim for data protection, backup and recovery, system deployment, and migration for both physical and virtual servers.
Acronis® Backup & Recovery™ 10 is the next-generation disaster recovery solution for organizations of all sizes, providing data backup, integrated system recovery and data deduplication. It simplifies and automates backup and recovery processes across physical and virtual environments, including the ability to manage geographically distributed PCs, workstations, and servers, while scaling to protect thousands of machines. All systems, applications, and data are saved, restored and migrated in minutes independently of location, platforms or technologies
To see just how affordable and beneficial this can be, give us a call.