I attended trade shows this week where I saw several new automated technologies for mitigating backup and business continuity risks.
They are called BDR’s, short for Backup and Disaster Recovery appliances. Some leading products are from Datto (www.dattobackup.com), Zenith Infotech (www.zenithinfotech.com), efolder (www.efoldering.com), and CharTec (www.chartec.com). I favor Datto for their reliability, performance, and excellent support.
So what’s so special about BDR’s? I believe it is their set-it-and-forget-it capabilities and their ability to address the wide range of at eliminating the most significant risks of loss using computers in a small to medium size business.
RISK – loss of crucial data files and folders
BDR – Backup of files and folders on servers AND PCs, Macs, and Linux computers, as often as every 15 minutes, whether or not they are in use, with unlimited versions of files stored for up to a year. So no more worries about recovering deleted or overwritten files, or having to ask staff to close their data files so they can be backed up.
RISK – Failed applications due to buggy upgrades and updates or corrupted settings. Applications includes the computer’s operating system. Losses can also result from failed hardware, theft of the computer or server, vandalism, fire, flood, and other external threats.
BDR – Images (makes a snapshot at a point in time) of the entire target computer’s hard drive with the same frequency as file and folder backup. The images in all the mentioned products can be restored to a new computer with entirely different hardware in a method called “Bare Metal Restore”.
RISK – Loss of the target computers AND the BDR and any other backups due to terrorism, fire, or theft. I was in both World Trade Center terrorist attacks. In the first incident, authorities would not allow many tenants back into the building for months. Some of these companies went out of business because they couldn’t access their systems nor their backups.
BDR – Datto’s Aurora BDR includes automatic encrypted transfer and encrypted storage of all data and images stored on the BDR to twin data centers on opposite coasts. If the described risk should occur, Datto can load your last image (not older than 60 minutes) in their data center for FTP access and they will send overnight a new BDR with your last image loaded.
RISK – Lengthy delays in recovering from loss of a failed server
BDR – The BDR can stand-in for a failed server at the touch of a button. This process is called Virtualization. In other words, the BDR can take an image of a server and use it to emulate the failed server. Virtualization can be enabled remotely by your support staff so you don’t have to wait for a tech to come on-site. Virtualization is handy if you make a configuration change to your server, it doesn’t work, and you want to quickly restore your server to the way it was before you started the work.
RISK – Inadequate backup and restore of Microsoft Exchange mailboxes and SQL databases. Many traditional backup methods are labor-intensive (tape) and expensive (the programs require separate agent programs to handle Exchange and SQL databases, which are often more expensive than the original backup program).
BDR – Offers the unique ability to restore individual mailboxes and messages on demand.
So BDR’s automate protection against the full range of risks to your computer networks that threaten your business’s continued smooth operation. Discard tape systems that require rotating cartridges or tapes, sync programs that write to USB drives, and traditional online backup programs that only do off-site backup. A BDR covers all the bases at a monthly affordable price.
Contact me at dstreit.bdr@stephillassociates.com 732-792-2021 for more information.
