The Golden Rules of Choosing a Backup Provider

The connection point is usually the time when you've bought most of the hardware and software you'll be using and can start using them. If you haven't placed an order yet, this is ideal. If you already have everything, that's not a problem either.

You should design the architecture you'll be able to implement more easily before deciding what you're going to buy.

In short, you should move from deciding what you're going to protect to how you're going to protect it. For some things, your organization may prefer using printed copies. These are immune to power outages and don't require technical expertise, and essentially can last forever. You'll need to find a way to keep these items sufficiently secure.

Consider risks arising from events such as fire, flood, and theft. If the content of your documents is of vital importance but does not pose a risk to security, creating and distributing multiple copies might be the best answer. Technology may not be much help for such problems.

For protecting your digital information, you need three main things:

• Backup software
• Backup storage space
• Security strategy

You can start by choosing your backup application, which can direct you to the most suitable hardware platform and security approach. You might also start with a preferred physical storage system, but this can limit your options for software solutions.

In the past, companies rarely thought much or put in much effort about backup security. They gradually learned the hard way that cybercriminals found enough value in backups to steal them. This pushed the backup industry to add security features to their products.

Later, ransomware writers started targeting backup applications to prevent victims from being able to recover their data or even worse, from being able to recover it at all.

This article focuses on selecting the right backup and disaster recovery provider for you and your business.

Choosing the Right Backup and Recovery Software

Your software choice will have a long-term, massive impact on your disaster recovery and business continuity operations. When you successfully implement the chosen application(s), inertia will kick in almost instantly.

Most sellers offer renewal pricing significantly below first-year costs, making loyalty appealing. Switching to another provider can be excessively expensive. Even if you get attractive prices from a competitor, you still need to invest significant time and effort to make the switch. For these reasons, you shouldn't rush to make a decision.

At its core, every backup application has exactly one purpose: to create repeated copies of bits. A reasonably capable script writer can quickly create a successful bit replication system. Because of the ease of fulfilling this basic function, the backup software market has an unexpectedly high level of competition.

With so many options available, you'll get both good and bad news. The good news: You're not short of mature, feature-rich options to choose from. The bad news: You're not short of mature, feature-rich options to choose from.

You probably won't try more than a few sellers before your time runs out or you get tired. In the following sections, you'll find many indicators that will help you quickly narrow your options down to a reasonable subset before installing your first trial package.

Backup Application Features

In a market filled with dozens of other companies selling products that fulfill the same basic role, backup program producers spend a lot of time differentiating themselves with supportive features.

Like everyone else, they tend to boast about what they do particularly well. Therefore, you can usually get a general idea of a product by looking at its marketing literature.

If they frequently use words like "simple" and "easy," you should expect a product that won't require much effort to use. If you see several references to "fast" and "quick," the application likely focuses on optimizations that reduce backup or restore operation times.

Businesses operating on value tend to use words like "cost-effective" and "economical." Words like "reliable" and "leader" tend to indicate a mature product with a special following.

Therefore, if you go to a backup provider's homepage and see statements containing the words you're using to talk about yourself, you can almost certainly say that this company is targeting your market. At least, they think they can offer you something suitable.

You'll need to do more work to determine whether their product delivers on its promises. However, if you don't see anything that addresses your primary concerns, take this as a warning sign.

For example, if you're looking for a stable product with sensitive support, you might want to avoid a company that's proud of its latest features, places support links everywhere, and even makes finding pricing difficult.

It's important to match the scope of the solution not only with the cheapest or richest feature set but also with your unique distribution features and business requirements.

Trial Versions and Free Software Offers – What to Pay Attention To

Every major backup application producer offers a trial version, and most offer a limited but free version of their products. You should take advantage of these opportunities. With so many quality products available in the market, avoid anything you can't try before purchasing.

When testing the software, use the plan from the previous article as a guide. If the program can't meet any of the items on this list, you should measure the importance of this gap. Learn whether the program provides an alternative method to achieve the goal.

If not, you'll have to choose between enhancing this program with another program or skipping the product entirely.

Regarding free software, it works perfectly for trial purposes. However, be very careful if you're considering long-term use. Commercial software companies need revenue to survive, so they always design their free layers to showcase the power of their software but still make the paid layers desirable.

You can also find a few completely free programs provided by contributors out of goodwill. These are rarely ready for corporate use and are almost never maintained for very long periods. In any case, you shouldn't expect significant support for free products.

Before deciding to entrust your business's disaster recovery and business continuity to such tools, think carefully.

Security Considerations for Backup

Organizations have always needed to keep their data secure, whether in a live system or in a backup environment. However, "security" and "backup" have largely remained separate. When security entered the backup conversation, it usually meant protecting media from data thieves. The world has changed.

Various disasters have always threatened systems and data. The emergence of ransomware forced the world to rethink the nature of these threats. Once upon a time, backup was the security blanket against disaster. Backup became a target. At the same time, nothing else can guarantee survival from a ransomware attack.

For example, Hornetsecurity VM Backup v9 provides ransomware protection through immutability. Know what the software is capable of and what it will cost you before making a decision.

When reviewing your software options, you'll find significant differences in distribution and management behaviors. Note the installation requirements and procedures. Common options include:

• Per-host installation, data directly to storage, no centralization
• Per-host installation, data directly to storage, managed from a central console
• Central installation, agents on hosts, data directly to storage
• Central installation, agents on hosts, data funneled through a central system
• Appliance-based installation, agents on hosts, data stored on or funneled through appliance

You'll find other architectures as well. Before buying anything, be sure you understand how it will be distributed. If you need to place a physical appliance on a shelf or create capacity for a virtual appliance, you wouldn't want it to surprise you.

If your preferred program requires a special server instance, there may be licensing effects beyond the cost of the backup application.

 

To properly protect your virtual environment and all data, use Hornetsecurity's VM Backup to safely back up and replicate your virtual machine.

With our comprehensive 365 Total Protection Enterprise Backup and 365 Total Backup, which contains invaluable information about backup and disaster recovery.

Stay updated with the latest articles and applications by visiting our Hornetsecurity blog now.

 

In Conclusion

Choosing the right backup and disaster recovery provider is a critical decision for the long-term security and resilience of your data. It's important to move beyond just selecting what you're going to protect and focus on how you'll protect it.

This article has emphasized important considerations, including the choice between architectural design and data protection through digital and printed copies. You need a solid combination of backup software, storage solutions, and security strategy to protect your digital information.

Because your software choice will significantly affect your disaster recovery and business continuity operations, it's important to make an informed decision.

Source: The Golden Rules of Choosing a Backup Provider - Hornetsecurity