What is Cloud Backup
The virtual business landscape has grown exponentially in recent years. Businesses are constantly exposed to the risk of data loss or corruption. Organizations of all scales operate with immense volumes of information, meaning that data protection has become a strategic asset. More and more organizations are now choosing cloud-based platforms rather than building a physical DR (disaster recovery) site, due to cost-effectiveness, flexibility, and on-demand scalability that these solutions provide. Cloud backup, if properly organized and executed, can become an invaluable component of your DR process.
Cloud backup is a service in which the data and applications on a business’s servers are backed up and stored on a remote server. Businesses opt to back up to the cloud to keep files and data readily available in the event of a system failure, outage or natural disaster. Cloud backup for business operates by copying and storing your server’s files to a server in a different physical location. A business can back up some or all server files, depending on its preference. Customers typically backup and restore their data and apps using a web browser or a service provider’s control panel.
- What is "Cloud"?
"The cloud" refers to servers that are accessed over the Internet, and the software and databases that run on those servers. Cloud servers are located in data centers all over the world. By using cloud computing, users and companies don't have to manage physical servers themselves or run software applications on their own machines.
The cloud enables users to access the same files and applications from almost any device, because the computing and storage takes place on servers in a data center, instead of locally on the user device. This is why a user can log into their Instagram account on a new phone after their old phone breaks and still find their old account in place, with all their photos, videos, and conversation history.
- What is Cloud Storage?
Cloud storage is a remote platform that uses a highly virtualized, multi-tenant infrastructure to provide enterprises with scalable storage resources that can be provisioned dynamically as required by the organization. This service is offered by a wide array of cloud storage providers.
Traditionally, IT departments managing capacity-strained data centers would "throw boxes at the problem" which meant continuously adding physical storage devices, but that proved to be both expensive and difficult to manage as the amount of data continued to grow exponentially. Unlike dedicated physical devices, clouds provide:
a) Elasticity
b) Scalability
c) Multi-tenancy
d) Metered resources
- Types of Cloud Storage
The following types of cloud storage can be differentiated:
Public cloud storage is essentially a multi-tenant storage environment mostly used for storing unstructured and less sensitive data. Public cloud storage functions as a global data center where computing resources can be stored and accessed by the general public over the Internet. The top public cloud storage vendors include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, the Google Cloud platform, etc.
Private cloud storage is a cloud environment used by one organization exclusively and usually managed via internal resources or by a third-party vendor. Private clouds are designed for organizations that require full data control, customization, and high-level security. The top vendors of private cloud storage are VMware, Dell EMC, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), OpenStack, etc.
Hybrid cloud storage represents a combination of public and private cloud storage to form a comprehensive system. In this case, critical data is stored in the private cloud, while less sensitive data is transferred to public cloud storage. To achieve maximum efficiency in a virtual environment, the services of both public and private cloud providers are used.
- Cloud Backup vs Cloud Storage
While both use a cloud hosting service, the difference between cloud storage and cloud backup lies within the purpose of storing data in the cloud. With cloud storage, the main purpose is to store files online so they can be accessible anytime and anywhere.
The main purpose of cloud backup, however, is used mostly as an insurance to make sure files are safely copied and stored in case they are needed to restore servers due to an emergency.
- Why use Cloud Backup?
a) Safeguarding - By storing critical data and applications off-site, they are protected from local weather disturbances and outages.
b) Rapid Data Recovery - The data backed up by cloud servers can be restored quickly, enabling a company to rapidly gain access to the desired files or systems.
c) Reliable Disaster Recovery - Backup cloud services provide users with instant access to much-needed data and apps in the case of a disaster, whether natural or manmade.
d) Flexible Storage - Unlike traditional backup techniques where data is locally stored on a hard drive or tape with limited capacity, cloud-based backup can be quickly scaled up or down.
- How to Restore a Cloud Backup
Cloud backup services are typically built around a client software application that runs on a schedule determined by the purchased level of service and the customer's requirements. For example, if the customer has contracted for daily backups, the application collects, compresses, encrypts and transfers data to the cloud service provider's servers every 24 hours. To reduce the amount of bandwidth consumed and the time it takes to transfer files, the service provider might only provide incremental backups after the initial full backup.
Cloud backup services often include the software and hardware necessary to protect an organization's data, including applications for Exchange and SQL Server. Whether a customer uses its own backup application or the software the cloud backup service provides, the organization uses that same application to restore backed up data. Restorations could be on a file-by-file basis, by volume or a full restoration of the complete backup.
If the volume of data to be restored is very large, the cloud backup service may ship the data on a complete storage array that the customer can hook up to its servers to recover its data. This is, in effect, a reverse seeding process. Restoring a large amount of data over a network can take a long time.
A key feature of cloud backup restorations is that they can be done anywhere from nearly any kind of computer. For example, an organization could recover its data directly to a disaster recovery site in a different location if its data center is unavailable.
- Pros and Cons
Pros
a) Simplicity
When using cloud storage as a way to back up or store data, there is no need for IT workers to diligently manage, maintain, deploy, or configure any physical storage hardware. This cuts down on costs, as well as giving IT personnel time to focus on other issues.
b) Speed
The turnaround between setting up cloud storage and being able to use it is only a few minutes long. Compared to the amount of time it would take to implement brand new storage hardware into a data center (which could take between weeks and months), the benefit the deployment speed the cloud has is undeniable.
c) Scalability
On-premises storage has the drawback of being more limited in its storage capabilities and capacity. Because of this, businesses have to plan ahead and attempt to gauge their storage needs. Organizations that use on-premises storage will also need to buy excess capacity to accommodate their growing data. However, when using cloud storage, more space is readily available to businesses as they need.
Cons
Management
While the public cloud negates any need to manage hardware, without the physical presence of a data center, it’s difficult to have a tangible way to see that data management policies and best practices are being followed. Those who use cloud storage must instead trust that their provider is following protocol.Connectivity
Within their data centers, businesses have fast connections which give them the ability to gain access to their data quickly. However, the public cloud is beholden to the public Internet. Because of this, the connection is slower, impacting business’ abilities to access their own data.Migration
In line with the issue of connectivity is that of migration. Moving terabytes of data to a vendor when using the public Internet could potentially take weeks. In addition to this, when the data is transferred, businesses can find that their cloud storage operates differently than their on-premises storage did.Cost
The cost of cloud storage is seen as a pro to some and a con to others. Public cloud providers are able to offer storage at a very low price. In addition to this, by using public cloud storage, there is not a need to pay for a company owned data center, and all the hardware that comes with that. However, if a business has legacy storage appliances that will last for years already, the cost to migrate to the cloud is not necessarily worth it. Businesses can also struggle with optimizing costs, leading to financial losses.
- Security
Security is an important element in the cloud backup process. The three main considerations are often referred to as the security CIA: confidentiality, integrity and availability.
Most data will move across the public internet on its way to the cloud, so for confidentiality, many cloud backup providers encrypt data throughout the process: at the original location, during transit and at rest in the provider's data center. A user or the provider holds the encryption key. Most organizations prefer to hold their encryption keys, and providers should offer this option. Types of network encryption include Secure Sockets Layer and Transport Layer Security protocols.
Access control is also important. An organization tightens security by limiting access to cloud backups. Furthermore, write-once, read-only access protects backup data from being overwritten, altered or deleted.
- Cloud Providers
There are whole bunch of Cloud Providers which you can choose from and every one of them are good enough we can choose any of them and it won't matter much but here is a list of few Providers that we recommend. Again, all of them are good enough at end it all comes to personal preference.
a) Microsoft Azure
b) Amazon Web Services (AWS)
c) Google Cloud
d) Alibaba Cloud
e) IBM Cloud
f) Oracle
g) Salesforce
h) SAP
i) Rackspace Cloud
j) VMWare
About Author : Tony smith is a freelancer content writer and developer, He love to read about new daily use technologies and happy to share with everyone through all trustworthy blog sites and platform you can check one example Webroot safe