Off-site data backup is a hot-topic for good reason. Traditional off-site data backup methods are aged. They are slowly being retired by advances in cloud computing and WAN optimization. This transition isn't without debate, with the tried-and-true methods bumping up against the newcomers - particularly vendors that sell off-site services. On the one hand, there is the traditional pick-up-tape / store-tape / return-tape method. Small companies do this via sneakernet and trunkware and big companies hire large retention companies. On the other hand, we have increasing amounts of bandwidth, data deduplication, and improvements in the security of data transfer between two separate points on the Internet. In the end, the advantages of an automated data recovery plan that does not rely on tapes is easy to verify and test and is just as secure (if not moreso).
The high-level choices break down as follows:
Traditional Backup and Off-site Retention - Data is backed up via whatever means are in place (tape, optical, removable disk, etc.), stored for a period, and then taken offsite. The typical example is backing up to tape and sending that tape off on a truck.
- Pros: Tried and True, with lots of products from large, established vendors, and an excellent body of work surrounding best practices.
- Cons: The media can be intercepted or lost. All media has a mean-time-between-failure rate. Human error can be difficult to detect and resolve.
- Notable Vendors: Symantec (Backup), EMC (Backup), Iron Mountain (Storage), Recall (Storage), and many, many more.
Internet-Based Backup and Off-Site Retention - Data is backed up over the Internet (or a WAN), either to a dedicated backup storage provider, a cloud storage service, another location in a WAN, etc.
- Pros: The storage media can't be lost, because there is no media. Verification is easy, and human error is easily discovered through a simple comparison.
- Cons: Requires heavy bandwidth, data deduplication, and/or WAN optimization. Data over the wire can be intercepted. Some vendors require lock-in to their appliances.
- Notable Vendors: Barracuda Networks, EMC, Iron Mountain, Novastor, and Zmanda, amongst a list of many, many more, most of which include traditional backup and off-site data retention companies that have diversified into this arena.
With both solutions, one glaring question arises whenever data goes offsite: How do you secure it? In both cases, encryption is the answer, along with strong retention and access policies. Security cannot be stressed enough, no matter what choice a business makes.
Because offsite data backup is transitioning to online data backup, the question shifts from "what's going to happen to offsite data backup?" to "what's going to happen after offsite data backup over the Internet becomes standard?" This is the next great area of convergence, with a few emerging companies like Nasuni stepping up to tackle the future head-on, ask that question, and come up with an answer. By moving primary file storage to the cloud, enterprises and small businesses alike can enjoy the benefits of cloud storage, traditional storage, and off-site data backup all rolled into one single (and secure) technology. With advances in CDP (Continuous Data Protection) and data deduplication making these technologies more affordable, and with the merging of traditional file servers with cloud services, it is inevitable that file servers - and then other servers - will see their storage needs split into a local cache and a cloud repository - versioned, snapshotted, and always available for recovery.
Joseph D. Foran is a contributing writer to the Nasuni Blog. Joseph is the IT director at FSW, Inc., and a contributor to various storage and IT publications.