Posts Tagged ‘RTO’
Tuesday, February 19th, 2013
For many organizations, data backup is a reasonably well-understood and sufficiently staffed function. Backup typically serves two distinct functions: to recover data after its loss or corruption, and to recover data from an earlier time. In an ideal world, you are backing up your data according to a defined data retention policy for audit, historical records, or compliance purposes.
You may have already made significant investments in technology products to backup your data. The staff is trained and processes are in place to ensure backups are scheduled and executed as planned. Nice work.
Now you are ready to make sure your key, business-critical systems are protected against disasters such as a hurricane, tornado, flood, or plain old human error. What happens when the site is under water, without power, or on fire? Even when the backups are stored offsite, if your data center is down, where will you go to restore the information from the backups? How long will it take? And who will restore and run your systems while your primary site is offline? (more…)
Tags: CDR, Cloud-Connected, RTO, Shawn Swanson
Posted in Cloud Disaster Recovery, Recovery Best Practices, Storage Industry Insights, Team of Experts | Comments Off
Tuesday, February 5th, 2013
By John Margiolas, Marketing Analyst, EVault
So, you’re thinking of moving to the cloud? You’ve seen the commercials, read the articles and are convinced that the ROI will be strong and fit the direction of your IT department. It’s a done decision. So, how do you actually move to the cloud?
There are a few options available to move your data to the cloud. (more…)
Tags: hybrid solutions, Remote Disaster Recovery, RTO
Posted in Cloud Connected, Cloud Disaster Recovery, Team of Experts, View From the Trenches | 1 Comment »
Monday, December 10th, 2012
Free for lunch, this Thursday? We have something for you to chew-on – something that could save your business. Interested? Well, read on…
WHO/WHAT?
Meet the EVault & MadWolf teams and learn about the solutions that keeps business operating when disaster strikes.
WHEN/WHERE?
11:30AM – 1:00PM, Thursday, December 13 th, 2012
MadWolf Technologies (map)
818 Connecticut Ave NW 10th floor
Washington, DC 20006
202-293-5003 X4
WHY?
Hurricane Sandy crippled the businesses of many businesses. As a trusted disaster recovery provider, EVault & MadWolf know that our customers count on us to always get their data back. But with disasters of this magnitude we also recognize that data recovery is only part of the problem. After ensuring data protection and DR services stood up to Sandy’s onslaught, EVault assembled a team from all over the country to lend an extra hand in getting customers’ businesses back up and running.
This ‘Lunch and Learn’ offers you the unique opportunity to meet and ask questions of the EVault team. You will learn how they prepared, reacted, and helped to get customers back in business after Hurricane Sandy.
Click here to register!
Interested attendees can remain afterwards for a post-event technical-drill-down with EVault & MadWolf Technologies experts.
Tags: Data Protection, disaster recovery, partners, RTO
Posted in Cloud Connected, Partners, Recovery Best Practices, Storage Industry Insights, Team of Experts, View From the Trenches | Comments Off
Wednesday, September 19th, 2012
Is it a tenuous link to compare cloud computing’s influence to business continuity to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and their impact on the world of music? As it turns out, not really.
The 90,000+ attendees at this week’s Salesforce Conference will be excused for being more excited about ‘The Peppers’ performance at tonight’s Dreamforce Gala but for the rest of us a creative metaphor will have to do.
In our view, the choice to have a band, famous for pushing the limits to fuse rock and funk, ends up being an inspired choice to celebrate a technology company that has itself changed the face of sales force automation. Early SaaS pioneers like Salesforce and EVault had to forge through technology challenges such as limited bandwidth availability, secure data transport, and secure data storage.
Fifteen years ago EVault addressed these challenges by creating a ‘special sauce’ of data transfer technology – a fusion of our own, which addresses issues of backup and recovery. It is broken down into four key areas:
- Deduplication: The data deduplication process ensures that only the smallest amount of data is transferred over the wire. It identifies unique data segments within a given set of information and then eliminates redundancies. The process is applied at the block level before any data is transferred off the source system.
- Compression: The size of a data set can be dramatically reduced by eliminating its “white space.” In fact, data stored by certain operating systems can be compressed by as much as 90 percent of its original footprint without losing critical information. EVault’s adaptive compression algorithm further advances this technique by balancing bandwidth availability with the burden compression places on the system’s CPU.
- Bandwidth Throttling: By regulating the amount of network traffic introduced by the solution, bandwidth throttling ensures EVault does not interfere with the network’s service quality. Throttling activity can be adjusted throughout the day to minimize disruption during business hours and maximize the use of the network in off hours.
- End-to-End Security: With EVault solutions, your data is encrypted through every step of the backup process—from the source server through data transmission and storage. Strong data encryption starts at the source before your data leaves the server, it’s protected at the level you choose. EVault backup solutions apply encryption as your data travels over the wire, so your data is secure while in transit, even if you’re transmitting over the Internet. And then data remains encrypted while in the EVault top-tier rated and ISO-certified or SSAE 16-compliant data centers. It’s safe with us.
WAN-optimized data transfer can help you achieve three important goals, which elude many IT organizations today: 1) backups that fit within an assigned window; 2) recovery that’s fast enough to meet your Recovery Time Objectives; and 3) data security that ensures your business is safe.
In EVault 7 we have created a fusion – only of the backup and recovery variety. We’d like to think the Red Hot Chili Peppers would approve. Rock on!
Tags: Cloud-Connected, Data Transfer Technology, EVault 7, RTO
Posted in Cloud Connected | Comments Off
Monday, March 26th, 2012
Very exciting news today as our RaaS industry-pioneering EVault Cloud Disaster Recovery Service (CDR) is now available with a 4 Hour Service Level Agreement (SLA) that is guaranteed*. EVault CDR, previously known as EVault Remote Disaster Recovery (RDR), is a cloud-based, managed service designed to help customers quickly recover their organization’s critical systems (and data) after a site outage or disaster, and gain remote access to those systems in a secure, virtual environment in the EVault cloud.
Guided by a team of EVault DR experts, who help customers extend their IT resources, and implement, plan, test and execute the entire disaster recovery process 24/7/365, the new 4-Hour RTO option takes disaster recovery to the next level, providing mid-market customers with an affordable hot cloud site for fast, guaranteed recovery in 4 hours or less. The EVault CDR 4-hour service is particularly beneficial for businesses in heavily regulated industries, such as health care, financial services, and legal services, that cannot tolerate outages of critical systems for very long in the event of a site outage or disaster.
The new EVault CDR option complements our existing 24-, and 48-hour RTO packages and further extends our industry leadership and portfolio of cloud-connected backup and recovery offerings. For more information about EVault CDR and today’s announcement, go here for the press release.
Posted by Shawn Swanson
* The guarantee is set forth in the EVault CDR Service Level Agreement, and includes service credits and the right to terminate if the guarantee is not met.
Tags: backup and recovery, cloud computing, Cloud-Connected, disaster recovery, disaster recovery testing, DR, DR Plan, DR test, EVault, managed services, RaaS, recovery time objective, Remote Disaster Recovery, RTO, SLA
Posted in Cloud Connected, Recovery Best Practices | Comments Off
Tuesday, May 17th, 2011
There’s been plenty of talk lately at industry events and via social media channels about the continuing use of tape in organizations for data protection purposes. For certain use cases, tape backup may still make sense. However for those small to mid-sized organizations, as well as remote offices of large enterprises, wanting to properly protect systems and data, decrease backup windows and meet stringent Recovery Time Objectives, a very strong case can be made for using a disk-based backup and recovery solution.
Phoenix-based Desert Schools Federal Credit Union (FCU), a top 30 U.S. credit union, is a great example of the benefits of moving to disk-based backup. As profiled in IT Jungle’s Four Hundred Stuff newsletter, Desert Schools FCU formerly:
used a combination of tape backup and third-party encryption technologies to protect about 12 TB of confidential financial data. This data was spread across 392 servers running IBM i, VMware, and Windows environments. However, the backup routines failed to meet the credit union’s recovery time objective (RTO). This set the organization on a course of violating compliance requirements set forth by the National Credit Union Association.
After speaking with their local IT solutions provider, 3RP, Desert Schools FCU installed EVault Plug-n-Protect backup and recovery appliances to manage, backup and replicate data both locally and securely via the EVault Cloud while also meeting their RTO. And according to IT Jungle the subsequent results were impressive:
Desert Schools Federal Credit Union slashed its IBM i server backup times by more than 90 percent and its X64 server backup times by about 80 percent as a result of the implementation…It previously took 37 hours to back up the credit union’s core IBM i-based banking application, Fiserv Signature. Following the installation, it took three hours. Backup times for X64 systems dropped from 17 hours to about 3.5 hours, i365 said. What’s more, the move freed up the IT department’s time by more than 25 hours a month.
Have you made the move from tape backup? Let us know what the results were…
Tags: backup and recovery, bare metal recovery, bmr, Cloud-Connected, Data Protection, deduplication, Disk-to-Disk Backup, EVault Data Protection, Have you m, hybrid solutions, RTO, tape
Posted in Recovery Best Practices | Comments Off
Thursday, March 17th, 2011
Last week, ESG analyst Lauren Whitehouse wrote a very informative blog post about the challenging aspects of protecting “remote and branch office (ROBO) and remote worker (REWO) data at the “edge”.” She cited ESG research that “found that endpoint backup/recovery and remote office backup/recovery ranked in the top five of primary data protection challenges” and stated “it’s a problem area and one IT wants to fix.”
We couldn’t agree more as we hear this all the time when speaking to organizations wanting to improve their data protection strategy for remote offices and mobile workers. Whitehouse points out:
ROBO and REWO data is distributed—i.e., outside the data center. Therefore, it boils down to strategy—do you perform local backup of data or centralize the process? Either approach gets the data backed up. However, each introduces new issues.
After clearly outlining the pluses and minuses of trying to tackle this problem using one way or the other, she advocates “a combination of local and centralized backup/recovery” as the correct approach. Whitehouse is right on with her assessment and we’d take it a step further by saying a Cloud-Connected hybrid approach to ROBO and REWO backups and recoveries is even better.
Cloud-connected storage solutions use the power of the cloud selectively, enabling organizations to combine local and centralized technologies to protect data on the edge. With this hybrid approach, they can get the right mix of management, RTO, bandwidth utilization, and required network connectivity to keep remote office and worker data safe and secure.
As for the unique needs of REWOs, an optimized Cloud-Connected hybrid approach allows organizations to facilitate end-user recoveries and better handle dreaded network usage issues. Client-side deduplication is a must to ensure as little data as possible is sent over the wire. More importantly, a Cloud-Connected solution allows a REWO to continue backups—even if they’re offline. A copy is stored locally, on the device. For example, if a mobile worker is stuck on a plane (without in-flight wifi!), he/she can still backup and recover any lost data. And once on the ground and connected to the Internet, the backups will be sent off to the Cloud.
So using a Cloud-Connected hybrid approach gives organizations a needed edge in protecting remote data….
Posted by Karen Jaworski
Tags: backup and recovery, Cloud backup, Data Protection, deduplication, endpoint, hybrid solutions, laptop backup, pc backup, remote backup, remote office, remote workers, ROBO, RTO, WAN optimization
Posted in Cloud Connected, Recovery Best Practices | Comments Off
Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011
Protecting systems and data via Cloud-based disaster recovery services has always been a hot topic on this blog. And we’ve noted in the past that disk backup,virtualization & the Cloud is making enterprise-class DR services more affordable for resource-constrained organizations as previously, the only options were either setting up a costly second data center and/or storing backup tapes offsite, and then crossing your fingers you can restore both critical servers AND data quickly (and if at all) in the event of a site disaster.
So it’s great to be able to cite a real world examples of a company not only practicing what we’ve been preaching… but also seeing it work as planned.
This week we issued a press release about how law firm Aldrich Bonnefin & Moore (AB&M) used the EVault Remote Disaster Recovery cloud-based managed DR service to get their critical systems & data (and business) back up and running offsite after they experienced a site-wide power outage:
AB&M’s 24-hour RTO was tested when a complex-wide power outage struck immediately after EVault Remote Disaster Recovery Service was implemented. Without power, AB&M’s employees were unable to access important systems and client data. After declaring a disaster to i365 on a Friday afternoon, AB&M relied on rapid remote access to state-of-the-art EVault data centers to access an online copy of its critical data and applications. The dedicated EVault support staff had AB&M’s virtual systems up and running within 10 hours—ready for business opening the following Monday.
AB&M had the foresight to leverage the Cloud to avert disaster and keep their business running. What’s your RTO for key systems and data in the event of a disaster? Are you prepared like AB&M was?
Tags: Cloud backup, disaster recovery, Disk-to-Disk Backup, DR, EVault Data Protection, managed services, RTO, virtualization
Posted in Cloud Connected, Recovery Best Practices | Comments Off
Friday, August 6th, 2010
Although not on par with the historic flooding in Nashville and throughout eastern Massachusetts earlier in the year, this article about last night’s water main break in Los Angeles served as a reminder that disasters, both natural and of the man-made kind, can happen anywhere at any time. While flooding typically causes “only” temporary damage, it can still wreak havoc on your business. Floods can limit access to facilities, interrupt business processes, isolate staff and disrupt supply chains. And, now that digital data is the lifeline of virtually every company, it’s more important than ever to have an IT disaster recovery strategy in place. Is your company prepared in the event of a disaster?
Fortunately, today’s Cloud-based backup and recovery and disaster recovery services can be customized to fill in the gaps of your current DR strategy and help you meet recovery time objectives (RTOs) and recovery point objectives (RPOs) should a flood, or other disaster, strike. For instance, many small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are now finding it cost-effective to employ a hybrid Cloud-connected strategy that provides both on premise protection of systems and data for short- and intermediate-term needs and off-site protection in the Cloud for DR purposes.
Finding Clouds located outside of your geographical region can provide even greater protection – and that should be a primary consideration if your business places a high priority on business continuity in the event of a disaster. Obviously, flooding can’t be prevented or predicted in the case of the LA water main break. But a comprehensive IT DR plan that includes some level of off-site DR protection (Cloud-based or at a second data center) for critical systems and data can help significantly mitigate a site disaster’s impact on your business objectives.
For more information on DR planning, check out this Disaster Recovery Planning Guide for Beginners from SearchDisasterRecovery.com
Tags: backup and recovery, Cloud backup, disaster recovery, disaster recovery testing, recovery process, recovery time objective, Remote Disaster Recovery, RTO, virtualization
Posted in Cloud Connected, Recovery Best Practices | Comments Off
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
As we continue to highlight new partnerships we develop at i365, we also want to share the enhancements to existing partnerships that are equally exciting. Today we announced our affinity partnership with the New Jersey Bankers Association (NJBA). We have been an associate member of the NJBA for over 5 years and this validates us as an officially endorsed partner.
In working with many other NJBA members over the past five years, i365 has been able to effectively benefit NJ banks in several crucial areas including meeting compliance standards (GLBA, FDIC, SOX, SC, FFIEC, NCUA), automating and centralizing data protection systems, and securing confidential data, and working with New Jersey Banks to help enhance their disaster recovery and business continuity initiatives.
When we meet with financial organizations we end up always focused on these questions:
- Are your return to operation timeframes and recovery point objectives too long? Next to personnel, data is your most irreplaceable asset. Networks, application hosting platforms and end user computing environments can be replaced readily. Without your data, your business can not recover.
- Are your backup windows interfering with your production day? Are tapes going offsite, unencrypted to a local location causing security risks? Loss or breach of data has serious impact on the financial standing of your bank as well as the reputation of its leaders.
- Is the backup and recovery process cumbersome for IT staff? Do you have decentralized software, hardware and procedures in multiple locations (ie: tape drives, tapes, backup software vendors)? With a centralized and standardized vendor and software, costs go down and benefits increase. Forward compatibility and scalability are the future, while still meeting corporate policies and compliance regulations.
- Are ever changing compliance regulations causing additional work and costs to your institution? EVault disk-to-disk backup and recovery technology, coupled with consulting and educational services, provides you with data protection that helps assure compliance across the complete regulatory spectrum (GLB, SOX, FFIEC, SEC).
These conversations always lead to i365 proposing an improved process for New Jersey Banks, and all the financial institutions we work with. We are anticipating another successful year with the NJBA, and we thank them for their confidence!
Posted by Terry Dohrmann
Tags: backup and recovery, backup window, business continuity, compliance, Data Protection, disaster recovery, GLBA, partners, recovery point objective, recovery time objective, RTO, SOX
Posted in Cloud Connected, Recovery Best Practices | Comments Off
