The Unique Challenges of SMB Backup

Eric Slack, Sr. Analyst, Storage Switzerland
Backup, or data protection, really needs to include disaster recovery (DR). Getting data backed up locally is just step one, it also has to have step two: get off-site. In the ‘old days’, this second step was pretty simple – it was done with tape(s) in the admin’s backpack. With disk capacities being what they are today, many organizations aren’t using tape any more. If you’re not using a tape drives, how do you get the data off disk and out of the building? For larger companies, this often means remote replication from the local backup appliance to another at a DR site. For smaller companies, or smaller offices, it can be a problem.

There are number of ‘cloud storage’ options, where files go directly to the provider’s data center. These out-sourced solutions are fine for some organizations, but some require that you stop using your current backup software. Others require a high speed internet connection and possible investment in a remote storage device. Both options typically require you to pay a monthly charge – forever. “Forever” gets expensive on a monthly basis. There can also be potential restore issues, when large amounts of data must be transferred back over the internet to recover an entire server, for example.

USB drive(s) could be an answer, but they’re not very portable and they require a power supply and cable. They’re also not very rugged. Drop a hard drive a few times and see what happens. We find that because of these issues most SMBs will just leave the external hard drive at the office, which doesn’t provide much recovery after the building burns down.

RDX could be a better answer. They appear to your servers just like the disk drive targets you’re currently using for step one (the backup part) of your data protection strategy. They also act just like the tapes you used to use for step two, (the DR part); kind of a ‘best of both worlds’ solution. You get the speed and simplicity of backup to disk and the transportability of tape – plus, you keep your existing backup process, and skip the monthly fee.

Eric Slack, Sr. Analyst, Storage Switzerland www.storage-switzerland.com

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2 responses to “The Unique Challenges of SMB Backup”

1. Weishäupl writes:
   

   That was nice to read

   @ September 16th, 2010 at 16:46
2. USBDude writes:
   

   Very nice post.

   @ October 9th, 2010 at 22:00