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Curing the Top 10 Backup Pains
As data traffic continues to grow exponentially, backing up has taken on an increasingly complex role. Corporate IT managers are becoming intimately aware of the many challenges presented by backup. At ebackup Inc., our years of industry experience have allowed us to develop a list of the most common (and most frustrating) challenges associated with the backing up process.
1. Determining if backups were successful
In most cases, companies rely on tedious spot-checking of log files in order to determine the success of their backups. As the volume of data, number of backup attempts, and related hardware and software increases, so does the volume of logs that an administrator needs to sift through, which increases the likelihood of missing a critical message. Essentially, without the use of appropriate tools, accurate verification is practically impossible.
2. Proving compliance with enterprise policies
Renewed focus on business continuance and disaster recovery is further increasing corporate aversion to risk, and pressuring IT managers to adopt storage policies that specify clear operational and business objectives. Whether to meet quality commitments, audit requirements or disaster recovery plans, the need to gather the data necessary to prove that storage operations are compliant has never been more critical.
3. Requiring greater reliability without additional resources
In the past, the bulk of a corporation's valuable data was kept on secure mainframes. A company's books were closed on paper, and most key organizational assets were physical. Today, billion-dollar corporations commonly keep their books in spreadsheets stored on laptops. Many data elements have become so central to business success that, if lost, the organization may be exposed to millions of dollars of liability and lost business opportunity. As a result, system reliability and data recovery are more important than ever.
4. Managing backups within available windows
Data volumes are growing faster than the ability to move data to tape or even disk. It is difficult to determine whether more resources need to be added (servers, network bandwidth, storage devices) or to pinpoint bottlenecks in the existing system. The larger the organization, the more difficult it is to solve this problem.
5. Maintaining system reliability
Open systems can allow customers to take advantage of a companies' many specializations in one overall system. While this promotes flexibility and the ability to implement more targeted business solutions, the resulting complexity and lack of interoperability wreaks havoc with backup operations.
As a consequence, IT managers must wade through an increasingly dense and diverse jungle of applications, networks, operating platforms, security devices, and file systems just to move data from the primary to secondary storage. Even redundant attempts cannot correct some of the systemic issues that prevent successful backups and recoveries in these environments.
6. Tracking activity and costs
Every backup attempt costs both money and administrative time. However, it is practically impossible in most large corporate environments to identify the specific source of backup demand (e.g., the sales group's presentation files), or bill for services rendered. It is also difficult to justify budget requests for additional headcount or storage resources without quantitative data to support the request.
7. Increasing data restoration requirements
Ten years ago, the data being backed up on open systems was not particularly sophisticated; basically word processing, rudimentary email folders and other fundamental applications. Today's programs are vastly more dependent on complete data sets just to operate, let alone provide the intended value. Increased data interdependence means that missing even a single system file could invalidate the whole database, making recovery all but impossible. Ever changing volumes of data, and the requirements for reliable backup, grow exponentially - as do the risks and costs of failure.
8. Planning for future needs
The lack of transparency into the specific resources being consumed (in total and by source) makes it difficult for IT managers to spot trends, plan for future requirements, and prove to the budget owners what resources are going to be needed. A common attitude sounds like this: "Just make sure all our data is recoverable, but don't ask for any more resources unless you can empirically prove the need." Unfortunately, the most common empirical proof is catastrophic backup failure ultimately proving too late that more resources really were required.
9. Processing too much data with too few people
Budget cuts have forced companies to make tough decisions. Almost invariably, valuable IT resources are lost, taxing the remaining experts to their limits.
10. Throwing equipment at the problem
Whether redundancy to overcome perceived reliability issues or new equipment to overcome apparent resource limitations, organizations often install more and more equipment to compensate for the lack of visibility into their infrastructure. The result is not just higher capital expenditures, but also exponentially higher administrative costs resulting from managing more assets and a more complex and volatile environment.
The Best Backup Solution
ebackup's Rapid Recovery software provides a simple fully automated and fully scalable, cost effective, yet robust and secure data protection solution, supporting clients from small businesses to enterprise scale corporations. We can help you develop a solid Disaster Recovery Plan as well as provide you with the technology tools to make it happen as easily and securely as possible.
For further information or assistance, please contact an ebackup representative:
Address
ebackup Inc. Tel: (403) 259-3620
401 Forge Road SE Fax: (403) 259-3628
Calgary, Alberta, CANADA Toll Free: 1-877-259-3620
email: info@ebackupinc.com
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