Online Backup 1/2 Way Around the World

When a long time DataPreserve customer asked, "Can we backup data from Egypt?" our engineers said, "There's no reason why not."

Phoenix based Kinematics Manufacturing, Inc. runs international operations from its location near the Deer Valley Airport. Over the last 14 years the company has grown from a 2-man shop to become the largest manufacturer of slewing drives in the world and make a variety of other complementary gearboxes for OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers).

"Our marketplace approach is simple; we listen to our customer’s desires and find a way to bring the ideas to life. We’ve spent the last 14 years making geared solutions others thought were impossible and hold 11 patents to our name." explains David Pope, President of Kinematics Manufacturing.

With success comes responsibility for protecting the data and intellectual property behind the success. Kinematics Manufacturing chose DataPreserve to backup and store its critical business data. Continues Mr. Pope, "We backup our client data, our forecasts and Outlook files, as a minimum. With DataPreserve we know our data is accessible and available if and when we need to restore it."

Kinematics Manufacturing recently added an account for its Egypt office. Any concerns about connectivity or latency were quickly dismissed. The DataPreserve Pro software indexed, encrypted, compressed and de-duplicated the data, and transferred it effectively from 1/2 way around the world to the DataPreserve private cloud data center in Phoenix.

Summer games and backup. Why use online backup vs. a local device?

As the kids while away the hours with the summer pass times of baseball and swimming, MSPs continue with the tug-of-war discussion about the best methods to backup and store critical business data.

It is clear to all but the staunchest supporters of tape backup that the end is in sight for tape. In spite of this, one recent report in SMB Storage claims some SMBs are doggedly hanging on to tape backup and another report in SearchStorage even makes guarded forecasts for bright new future of backup tapes. But with the increased reliability, encryption, security, speed and functionality of disk backup, it must be rare for any enlightened IT professional or MSP to implement a new tape backup system. I had the privilege of speaking with an executive of one of the world's biggest data storage companies this weekend who informed me that they have begun planning for the end of tape.

The real question – online or local backup?
So the question of what is the best solution for disk backup is now a relevant one - online backup or local? At DataPreserve, we believe the answer is BOTH. For speed and easy access, there is no substitute for having a local copy of your business data. Yet for business continuity and peace of mind, the best solution is automated online backup and storage in a private cloud. For a business with 5-50 computers, including one or several servers, MS Exchange and or SQL the most common causes for a data loss will be hardware failure or human error. Protection from these losses will typically be covered by local backup solutions. However natural disasters and theft are also ranked as major causes of data loss. So we recommend a combined solution that protects data from all these risks.

DataPreserve Pro
DataPreserve customers have the luxury of having a local backup on their own servers integrated with online backup and storage at the high availability DataPreserve data center. Using the DataPreserve Pro software, a responsible technology professional can manage both local and online backups through one management portal, offering ease of use and the fastest possible restores when data is needed. The integrated local and online backups both take advantage of the thin backup, de-duplication and encryption tools. No expensive local NAS device needs to be purchased or leased.

Private Cloud Storage - what it means for backup

One buzzword in technology this spring is reference to the 'cloud', meaning the transferring of data through the Internet for computing or storage. DataPreserve has been using the cloud to provide secure online backup and storage for years.

In particular, DataPreserve utilizes a 'private cloud' or 'trusted cloud' concept. Data moving through the private cloud has a specific end point, in our case, the DataPreserve dedicated servers located in a high availability data center in Phoenix, AZ. Having data stored at a particular location has several benefits. The very practical benefit is access, the data is available for fast download when you need it. Some data storage solutions spread that data across an indeterminate number of servers in various locations, making retrieval of that data a time-consuming process.

In his article, Making the Case for Cloud Storage, Jeff Bolesof the Taneja Group makes these additional points for consideration of private cloud solutions:

• Compliance with various regulations that require identification of the specific physical location of stored data.
  
• Peace of mind of knowing exactly where your stored data is - in one of the premier data centers in the country.