Remote backup service
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A remote backup service or online backup service is a service that provides users with an online system for backing up and storing computer files. Managed backup providers are companies that have the software and server space for storing files.
Online backup has been in use by large corporations for quite some time. Recently however, online backup systems have been released at price points that make them useable by the average consumer and/or small business.
In the past, online backup systems were built around client programs that would run a scheduled software program (typically once a day). This program compresses, encrypts, and transfers to the remote backup service provider's servers.
There are other technologies that are now available in the market, including continuous data protection (commonly referred to as CDP), which is widely available for consumers and small businesses. It has the advantage of reducing RPO, but substantially increases the bandwidth consumed.
The consumer and small to medium enterprise (SME) online backup industry has moved in stages - with early vendors launching systems that were designed to network backup of corporate workstations. These products worked well in a LAN based environment or over the public internet.
Current consumer online backup companies include beta software offerings and/or free to paid backup services.
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[edit] Market segmentation
There are several different levels at which online backup systems are targeted.
- At the high end, solutions have LAN-based network backup systems designed to do block level and transaction-level replication of data changes in real-time.
- Coming down the value chain, companies have targeted online backup of servers (file server, database servers and email servers) - but at a high premium.
- In the SME market - companies have products with varying feature sets and at different levels of usability.
- In the consumer market, there are various offerings which are presented as desktop solutions.
[edit] Typical features
- Open File Backup is the ability to back up open files out of the box. Some software can handle open files such as an outlook file or a database file. Most online backup products need an add-on for this. Higher-end products support this natively.
- Multi-platform allows the service to back up multiple platforms such as the various flavors of Windows, Apple, Linux, Unix, and Solaris. Many newer entrants only back up Windows XP, for example.
- Multi-site describes a tool's capability to back up the primary site data plus remote offices and branch offices in a relatively seamless manner.
- Continuous backup allows the tool to back up continuously or on a predefined schedule. Both methods have advantages and disadvantages. Most backup tools are schedule-based and perform backups at a predetermined time. Some services provide continuous data backups which are used by large financial institutions and large online retailers. However, there is typically a tradeoff with performance and system resources.
- Online Access to files describes how you access your files from anywhere in a secure fashion. Many tools do not provide this type of functionality.
- Binary Compression is a method to transfer the binary data that has changed from one day to the next. The more serious tools use this method rather than transfer your entire file. Tools originally designed for network backup use this method.
[edit] Cost factors
Online backup services are usually priced as a function of the following things:
- total amount of data being backed up
- number of machines that the backup is coming from
- number of versions of files that are kept
Vendors typically limit the number of versions of a file that can be kept in the system. Some services omit this restriction and provide an unlimited number of versions. Add-on features (plug-ins), like the ability to back up currently open or locked files, are usually charged as an extra, but some services provide this built in.
[edit] Advantages of remote backup
Remote backup has advantages over traditional backup methods:
- Remote backup does not require user intervention. The user does not have to change tapes, label CDs or perform other manual steps.
- Remote backup maintains data offsite. Perhaps the most important aspect of backing up is that backups are stored in a different location from the original data. Traditional backup requires manually taking the backup media offsite.
- Some remote backup services will work continuously, backing up files as they are changed.
- Most remote backup services will maintain a list of versions of your files.
[edit] Disadvantages of remote backup
Remote backup has some disadvantages:
- The restoration of data can be slow, though today's increasing broadband Internet connections are rapidly removing this disadvantage. Because data are stored offsite, the data must be recovered either via the Internet or via tape or disk shipped from the online backup service provider. Sometimes systems capable of bare-metal restore are preferable.
- It is possible that a remote backup service provider could go out of business or be purchased, which may affect the accessibility of one's data or the cost to continue using the service. This, however, is the same risk we face when we work with any company, and is not industry specific.
