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...unless you choose the right provider. Here's how.

No backup technology is perfect. Even if you don’t have personal experience with tape backup systems, you are nonetheless aware of the fallbacks associated with this approach. With the advent of online backup technology, we alleviated many of the taped-based problems; but as the first sentence indicates, online backup is also not without its obstacles. In fact, choose the wrong provider, and you'll be sorry you ever got involved.

Two catastrophes with online backup service providers are what prompted CRC to enter the market. We searched high-and-low for the right combination of features; and now we are on a mission to evangelize the world. Want to know how to do it right? Then read on.

Let’s take a look at some of the more common problems and complaints associated with online backup technology, and how high-end solutions address these concerns:

Shortcoming 1: Online backup is slow, and eats up precious bandwidth.
Both of these can be true, if the service provider you choose is not equipped with the technology to combat these important issues. Think of it in terms of shopping for a new car. If one of your requirements is a car that will top 180 mph (backup speed), then a Honda Civic Hybrid is likely to disappoint. Likewise, if you are considering a fuel (bandwidth) conscious model, the Ferrari will fail to fit the bill. What if you need both? You need a service provider that employs the latest technology to efficiently address these issues. While the hybrid Ferrari doesn’t yet exist in the automotive world, the concept certainly does in the online backup arena. Here’s how the top-shelf solution providers give you Ferrari speed with hybrid bandwidth consumption:

• Initial backup- The initial backup must collect all of your data. Depending on your particular needs, this could involve anywhere from a few GB to several hundred. This is obviously not the kind of traffic you want on your network. State-of-the-art solution providers can perform your initial backup on removable media, which will transfer data at LAN speeds, while not affecting your bandwidth.
• Delta blocking- Delta blocking is a high end technology that divides data to be sent over the WAN to the offsite vault into 4K segments. Choose the right software, because the right software is able to detect the changes in your data, and instead of copying over the entire file, only sends those changes to be backed up in 4K blocks. The result- all of your data is backed up, quicker and more efficiently.
• Local restore- make sure your service provider offers 'local restore', and you can store a user-determined number of backup generations on the local backup appliance. This allows you to restore a recent backup version from the local machine, instead of connecting through the WAN to access the offsite storage vault. The result- a LAN speed restore without taxing bandwidth resources.

Shortcoming 2: Online backup appears expensive.
Online backup service providers run the gamut when it comes to pricing structures and features offered. The ugly truth is you certainly can get trapped into paying more for your online backup solution than you need to.

When examining costs, there are two critical questions to ask a potential service provider. The first is, “What exactly am I paying for?” If the service provider’s answer involves anything other than the amount of data stored at the vault, then you will pay too much. Insist on apples-to-apples pricing, and make sure you are charged only for the aggregate amount of data that is stored at the vault facility. Beware of companies that sneak in other extraneous charges for things like extra hardware, agents, and licensing fees. The second question to ask is, “What tools and procedures do you have for managing the data lifecycle?” This is a concept that is often missed when considering an online backup service provider. Here are the facts:

1. It costs more to store data in a medium that is online and available 24x7.
2. The importance and accessibility needs of your data changes over time.

The more data that is stored in online, always-available media, the more you will pay. If the data in this category is not business critical, then you are paying for accessibility that you don’t need. Full-featured solution providers are sensitive to this, and utilizes a multi-tiered BLM (Backup Lifecycle Management) tool to ensure that your data is stored properly as it ages. Dormant data is stored to cheaper media, drastically saving on storage costs. The only penalty for doing so is that it takes longer to initiate a restore, instead of having 24x7 availability. Non-critical data rarely, if ever, changes- making a several-hour restore window very tolerable. Where it is not, we can also provide CD/DVD/USB media of the archived data, so a restore is as close as your CD wallet.

Since mismanaged backup solutions end up costing the user more, the common practice to mitigate the excessive costs is for the user to only backup a portion of their data. Here we find the proverbial tail wagging the dog. The customer is now sacrificing their needs to compensate for the service provider’s inability to provide a customized, cost-effective backup solution. With a “Pay for what you store” fee structure, and advanced BLM tools, you can protect everything for what lower-end providers charge for only a portion of your data.

Shortcoming 3: Since data is transmitted over the internet, online backups are not secure.
With trusted service providers, the security of your data is of utmost importance. The internet can be a dangerous place, especially with the transport of confidential customer data. This is why trusted service providers employ up to AES 256 encryption of your data, before it is transmitted, and while it resides in the data vault. What this translates to is complete security of your data both in-flight and at-rest. Additionally, the access to online data is controlled by unique encryption keys, which are only known to the client. Not even your service provider can view your data, because they do not house, or have any way to obtain your data encryption keys.

Shortcoming 4: Online backup solutions are a hassle, because you must keep up with agents and software licenses.
We couldn’t agree more! Keeping up with agent software to install on every machine, when it is first put on to the network, or when you need to re-format, is time consuming and tedious. Couple that with buying and tracking the licenses that are needed for every machine you own, and it becomes a logistical and administrative nightmare! Don’t get lured into a solution that requires agents and licenses for each machine in the backup schema. Insist that the solution you choose employs 'agentless' solutions -- meaning only the backup appliance in each LAN configuration requires an agent to be installed. Computers on the LAN can be backed up according to schedules created by the administrator, allowing seamless, behind-the-scenes backup with one point of administration. And with no agents and no additional licensing fees, you can add as many computers on to your network as you need, while only paying for the amount of data that you store.

Shortcoming 5: Online backup service providers don’t offer a complete solution for my entire enterprise system.
There is perhaps no more important decision to make with your business than who you choose to handle your backup needs. Being able to return to normal functionality after a disaster, and maintaining business continuity could mean the difference between life and death for your company. You need nothing less than a comprehensive solution that is robust enough to protect every machine in your enterprise, while maintaining the flexibility to adjust to your specific business needs.

Some service providers give you some of the tools to protect some of your data. However a disaster is blind to the level of protection you employ. Any machine on any network can be subject to an array of data threatening events, so a half-baked backup solution could very well be your Achilles heel. Make sure that your solution provider's software is truly a comprehensive data protection solution for every machine in your company; whether it is a server, a desktop, a laptop, or a mobile computer that never connects to a LAN. With well rounded software, you can backup mobile computers to the vault with any internet connection, while enjoying all of the security benefits of a computer backed up from the LAN. Do you have a heterogeneous network, utilizing multiple platforms and multiple databases? Whether you are running Windows, Mac, or Linux; whether you use SQL Server, Oracle, or DB2; or whether you run Exchange, or Lotus Notes email servers, you now have the knowledge to ensure that your service provider has you covered.

Another area where online backup service providers miss the mark is supporting their product after the sale. Can you be confident that questions, concerns, and problems that you may have with your backup product will be attended to quickly, professionally, and correctly? When you call for assistance, will you be able to speak to a live person? If you choose correctly, you can rest assured that the answers to these questions are a resounding “Yes!” Ensure your provider's call center staff is comprised of highly trained and highly motivated customer service specialists who are available 24x7/365 to assist you, ensuring that your backup solution works perfectly. Additionally, ensure that your service provider does not outsource their technical support services.

While we have looked at the shortcomings of online backup, we have also seen that these shortcomings are certainly not insurmountable. When you combine the robust features, flexibility and scalability of the software, with a common sense fee structure and world class support, your choice for an online backup service provider becomes much easier.

Author Travis Prim is a Technical Writer for CRC