Therefore, it is critical to master the art of cloud disaster recovery. But what is it? And why is it so important? 

What Is Disaster Recovery? 

Cloud disaster recovery is a system that allows you to recover lost data, even if some servers are breached. Recovery entails connecting your IT network to recent versions of your data on separate servers that have not been compromised (for instance, those with still-functioning hard drives). 

Cloud-based disaster recovery systems differ from conventional ones. Instead of manually storing data on separate physical devices in the office, providers facilitate it by distributing data to several internet-connected servers (usually across multiple geographical locations). 

Important Aspects of Cloud Disaster Recovery

Cloud disaster recovery allows businesses to recover data using a remote cloud-based platform, usually under the supervision of an IT services provider. A primary data centre stores and permits access to the data a company needs right now, while a secondary (and sometimes tertiary site) takes regular snapshots of a company’s data and updates it periodically. 

Thus, cloud-based disaster recovery offers several aspects that typically aren’t available through legacy systems. These include: 

• No requirement to maintain any equipment onsite. Companies can farm out the task of storing their data to third-party sites, managed and maintained independently by specialists. 
• Easy ability to scale operations up or down. Subscription prices typically depend on the quantity of data storage consumed and the ongoing bandwidth being used. Prices may also rise depending on the frequency of data snapshots – more frequent being more expensive. 
• Disaster recovery can occur within minutes – sometimes seconds – via the cloud. A third-party disaster recovery firm detects an anomaly in the primary data repository (perhaps because of hard drive corruptions) and then switches to the secondary system almost immediately. Moreover, users can initiate data recovery remotely without having to travel to a specific site or bring physical drives out of storage.
• Firms can store their data across multiple geographies, eliminating any single point of failure. Multiple copies of company data can sit in data centres across the world. 
• Subscription-based or pay-as-you-go pricing dramatically reduces setup costs versus conventional data backup solutions. 
• 24/7 monitoring of servers by service providers reduces the failure rate and improves the integrity of the system. 

Cloud recovery is more valuable than many business leaders believe. It can help combat direct cyberattacks, ransomware, and other disasters, including physical flooding or fire.

Enterprises typically understand that value of having a disaster recovery plan, but they haven’t yet put it into action. Disaster recovery strategy involves leveraging the cloud to lower risk.

Call us now to start an initial discussion on how our cloud based infrastructure and data recovery systems can help protect your business.

So really what is cloud computing? In simple terms it’s just a computer or computer services owned by someone else, running from a different location and being leased to you.  Despite many people’s understanding, it is not a new thing, it has been around for a long time. Webservers for example are technically cloud hosting servers and they have been in use for over 30 years now (Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1989). In fact some web hosting companies now call themselves cloud hosting companies.

So Cloud is really just a broader term used to cover a collective of computer services delivered over the internet.

Now for a more detailed technical dive in

Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage and computing power. Rather than using traditional on-premises hardware, Cloud utilises remote datacentres and virtual servers to deliver high performance computing resources over the internet for you to use.

Social networking applications like Facebook and Instagram together with document sharing services such as Dropbox, that we all use every day, are delivered using Cloud services.

Public, Private or Hybrid Cloud Services

Private Cloud systems are for Government agencies, those concerned about security of sensitive data or subject to specific compliance and regulatory requirements. In essence they are setup for a specific set of users or for a specific purpose and are not open for anyone else to join.

A Public Cloud still offers high security and performance but is generally being set up as a service that can be subscribed to, or purchased as a service by an organisation. They are generally easier to implement and to manage than a Private Cloud and will be less expensive.

Hybrid Cloud, as the name suggests, is a bit of both and is commonly implemented and may be used by organisations who require the security and compliance of Private Cloud but choose to use Public Cloud for some of their services with the cost and scalability benefits it offers.

Your Cloud provider should engage with you to understand your specific needs before making recommendations as to which combination is best for you.

What is Cloud? A formal definition of Cloud Computing from Wikipedia is:

“Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage (cloud storage) and computing power, without direct active management by the user. Large clouds often have functions distributed over multiple locations, each location being a data center. Cloud computing relies on sharing of resources to achieve coherence and economies of scale, typically using a “pay-as-you-go” model which can help in reducing capital expenses but may also lead to unexpected operating expenses for unaware users.”

We are here to help if you have any more questions you would like to ask about cloud computing, cloud data backups, cloud security and so on.

AWS and Azure dominate Cloud services and it’s easy to default to them when you’re choosing a cloud service provider, but there are alternatives that may provide a better solution for your business or match your requirements more exactly.

AWS and Azure – Pros and Cons

AWS and Azure have lots of competing products and they are always pushing to offer the latest ‘must have’ products but in our humble opinion Azure and AWS are pretty much the same. They compete so closely that they more or less have to have very similar offerings.

One of the main difficulties of using AWS or Azure for most businesses is that you really need to know what you are doing in order to build your own cloud solutions from their range of services and options. Many businesses need to employ a 3^rd party IT partner who has more AWS or Azure experience and knowhow.

AWS and Azure make a form of ‘click and buy’ system so in theory building a DIY Cloud is easy but you should always be sure that you have everything you need in your basket to keep your systems safe. They will not take responsibility for you missing a key item, if you miss something it’s your issue.

Just a word of caution on costs, AWS and Azure can quickly get expensive when building out full solutions. We talk to a lot of clients who are surprised by these costs. Independent Cloud providers are more likely to look at detailed running costs for the client.

Independent Providers Pros and Cons

Collaborating with an independent provider will result in solution tailored to your business needs. They will ask questions, offer advice and deliver a bespoke solution generally building a wraparound solution specifically for you.

You are in direct contact with the solutions delivery experts and they will inevitably be more interested in your business and offer a more personal approach with more consistent support. This service and support are likely to be better as independent providers control their own platform and infrastructure. Of course it also true that the large operators command huge platforms and operate some truly colossal systems that independents would struggle to match.

You should look for ISO certifications when choosing an independent – it’s a quality indicator and don’t be afraid to ask for references and maybe ask how the provider deals with disaster recovery. And don’t believe them if they say they never have to deal with disaster recovery.

So the essential choice is; go DIY and take on some of the risk and deal with a large organisation that may not know your business and respond as quickly as you would like; or deal with an independent supplier and build a close working relationship with them to create a more bespoke solution for your business’s requirements.