How To Nail a Cloud Backup and Disaster Recovery Implementation
In today’s age of always available expectations, you simply can’t afford to have downtime. That’s where the successful implementation of a cloud backup and disaster recovery (DR) solution comes in.
Is a cloud solution right for your organization?
To get to that answer, you first need to thoroughly map your organization’s environment—and document the availability requirements for each of your servers, applications, and data. Too often, people don’t fully understand what systems they have and what operating system versions they’re running—not to mention whether they’re physical or virtual. Consider these questions carefully:
- How will you back up the systems and data?
- Do you have enough bandwidth to ensure you can successfully complete backups to the cloud?
- Where do you intend to keep your backups?
We recommend organizations maintain backups both on-premises and offsite—whether that’s at a secondary data center or in the cloud. This redundancy will help ensure you’re able to recover should you fall victim to a local disaster or hardware failure. And, if you’re looking to move your data offsite without the added expense of the staff, offsite location, and infrastructure required by a secondary data center, a cloud solution may be the perfect choice for you.
Choosing the cloud backup and DR solution that’s your best fit
So, you’ve determined that you want to deploy a direct-to-cloud or cloud hybrid solution and you’ve done some initial research. To ensure you find a solution that both meets your needs and doesn’t hit you with surprise added costs, we encourage you to think about these questions:
- What platforms do you want to support—virtual, physical, or both?
- What operating systems do you need to protect—Windows-only or Linux and Mac, as well?
- What level of backup granularity do you need—do individual files and folders require backup or does the whole system require backup?
- How is data secured in flight and in the cloud?
- What level of support is necessary? Is it delivered by phone, chat, or email?
With these questions in mind, you can better assess your prospective solutions to determine which is the right fit for your business.
Ensuring a successful cloud implementation with DR testing
So, you’ve found a cloud backup and DR solution that delivers against your business requirements without breaking the bank. Now, it’s time to implement your solution. This is where we urge you to give yourself time to thoroughly test and validate your DR process. Unfortunately, too many organizations focus purely on backup—and don’t test the recoverability of their data. They assume their data will be easily recoverable when disaster strikes. Please don’t make that assumption – DR testing is critical. Of course, what constitutes as adequate DR testing varies from business to business, but we recommend you consider:
- A partial DR test at least every six months
- A full DR test every year
Your cloud solution can be a lifesaver
A cloud-based backup and DR solution can deliver affordable, easy-to-implement backup. What’s more, it can ensure business continuity and mitigate data loss.