| Seven (7) advantages of online backup services | | | | much of their Internet bandwidth they want to allow |
| include: | | | | to be used for this process during various time |
| 1. Automatic. Once one establishes their schedule, it is | | | | windows of the day. For example, you might limit the |
| fully automated. There are no tapes to manage, | | | | process to a maximum of 10% of your bandwidth |
| staff to schedule, or vendors to coordinate for | | | | during normal office hours and open it up to 80% for |
| pickup and delivery of tapes. Therefore, you save | | | | the balance of the day. |
| time, money and virtually eliminate errors. | | | | 5. No Capital Investment: If you are like most |
| 2. Secure. Data is stored on disk and not tape. Tape | | | | organizations, getting approval for a large capital |
| has a history of failure and it typically occurs at the | | | | expenditure is a daunting task. With the Software as |
| most inopportune moment. In addition, most tapes | | | | a Service (SaaS) approach one is basically paying a |
| are not encrypted. One can only imagine the potential | | | | monthly fee for the service. In addition the startup |
| ramifications to your business if customer records | | | | can be almost immediate. Typically, a small software |
| were accessed by someone using one of your | | | | agent is loaded on the systems you wish to backup |
| unencrypted tapes. The story is not much better if | | | | to a data vault and then the scheduling/backup |
| you are unable to recover critical data at vital point in | | | | process can begin the same day. |
| time. Online backup services can offer end-to-end | | | | 6. Compliance Regulations: The recent increase in |
| encryption AES algorithms that are used both in | | | | government and industry specific regulations (SAS |
| transit as well as storage. This further ensures the | | | | 70, Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, HIPAA, SOX and |
| security of your sensitive data. With the online | | | | SEC|NASD) surrounding the privacy, accessibility, and |
| backup service your sensitive data is also | | | | retention of information are creating new challenges |
| automatically stored offsite in a secured data center. | | | | for backup and recovery processes. Vendors like |
| 3. Accessible and Managed from Anywhere. “A | | | | VAULT400 are intimately familiar with these |
| centralized system that allows you to manage your | | | | challenges. They give organizations confidence that |
| entire systems backup and recovery requirements | | | | their critical information is securely stored for as long |
| regardless of where they or you are located is a | | | | as necessary, yet quickly accessible when needed. |
| huge advantage to companies. This is particularly true | | | | This immediately addresses inquiries by auditors and |
| for companies with multiple locations.” Says Jim | | | | security/privacy concerns. |
| Kandrac of VAULT400. Popular platforms and | | | | Summary: As you can see, there are some very |
| applications being managed in this way by leading | | | | compelling reasons for an online backup service. |
| providers include DB2 – System I, AS/400, | | | | Remember, the goal of any online backup and |
| iSeries, AIX, HP UX, SUN, Exchange, SQL, Windows, | | | | recovery plan is to maintain the integrity of your |
| VMware, Linux, etc. Netware and Mac. | | | | systems and your business with little or no |
| 4. Efficient Use of Internet: Some of the better | | | | interruption in the process. When a disaster does |
| online backup services back up only the data blocks | | | | occur, we want business to remain uninterrupted at |
| in new or changed files, resulting in significantly faster | | | | best, or at worst get back on line in a short amount |
| backup times and minimal. Data is also compressed | | | | of time. With an online backup service you can |
| before transmission. In addition they might offer | | | | quickly transfer your data to any targeted system |
| bandwidth throttling. This allows one to define how | | | | from anywhere in the world and stay in business. |