How can you find the most efficient cloud-based data backup solutions for your organization?
Finding the most efficient cloud-based data backup solution is crucial for your organization's data security and recovery strategy. As data becomes increasingly integral to operations, a robust backup system not only ensures business continuity but also protects against data loss. The challenge lies in identifying a solution that aligns with your specific needs, budget, and scalability requirements. With a plethora of options available, it's important to adopt a systematic approach to evaluate and select the right cloud backup service that offers reliability, fast recovery times, and compliance with regulatory standards.
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Yongkang ⎈ ☁️ H.Kubestronaut, AWS Builder, Azure MVP, CNCF Ambassador, Google Champion, 39K+, 60X Multi-Cloud, Kubernetes Certified…
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Nauman NoorPublic Cloud Engineering Leader | Platform Engineering & Infrastructure | Data Lakehouse, Gen AI & GRC
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Vishesh TiwariSoftware Engineer || Full Stack Java Developer
Before diving into the vast sea of cloud backup solutions, it's essential to assess your organization's specific needs. Consider the volume of data you need to back up, the frequency of backups required, and the level of sensitivity of the data. Additionally, evaluate the regulatory compliance requirements your industry may impose on data storage and protection. This initial assessment will serve as a guide to filter through options and focus on solutions that match your criteria, ensuring that you don't pay for unnecessary features or fall short on critical functionalities.
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Yongkang ⎈ ☁️ H.
Kubestronaut, AWS Builder, Azure MVP, CNCF Ambassador, Google Champion, 39K+, 60X Multi-Cloud, Kubernetes Certified, Security, DevOps, GitOps, Alibaba MVP, Calico / CloudCasa Ambassador, CKS, CKA, CKAD, KCSA, KCNA
It is very important to know your needs. Are you looking to backup to the cloud? Or backup in the cloud? Where are your workloads running? A few vendors to look for cloud based workloads, Veeam, Rubrik, Cohesity, etc. If your workloads are still primarily on premises, you may consider the legacy guys like Veritas NetBackup, Dell EMC Networker, Commvault or IBM Spectrum Protect etc.
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Vishesh Tiwari
Software Engineer || Full Stack Java Developer
It actually depends on business requirements. How frequently are you flushing the data? Is it need to manage backup necessary if they overhead the maintenance? And finding the strategy which applies lesser impact on costing and billing. And better architecture review required frequently to minimise the cost but align with back up really needed or not.
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Nauman Noor
Public Cloud Engineering Leader | Platform Engineering & Infrastructure | Data Lakehouse, Gen AI & GRC
Things to consider: - immutable storage - multi-region capability - Support for IaaS and PaaS services - API first approach - Multi- account / subscription / project support
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Huzefa Husain
Cloud Engineering Lead @ Barclays | 3xAWS, 2xAzure, 3xVMware | Togaf | CCSK, DevOps, E2E Infrastructure Design | Fintech
Imagine a cruise ship captain charting a course through unpredictable waters. Before setting sail, they assess the ship's capacity, the route's challenges, and safety regulations. Similarly, in cloud backup, each organization must navigate its unique data landscape. For instance, a healthcare provider needs secure and frequent backups of patient records to comply with regulations. Contrastingly, a creative agency may prioritize storage flexibility for large media files. By evaluating these needs upfront, organizations steer clear of potential data disasters. Just as a captain plans for smooth sailing, assessing cloud backup needs ensures a safe voyage through the digital seas, avoiding unnecessary costs and ensuring data integrity.
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Victor A.
Platform Engineering adventures 🏗 😎
Work backwards from the needs. Understand these well before targeting a tool. Been an experienced professional might mean you overrule a decision that was previously made because you understood the data and it took it into consideration.
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Nitin Garg
Senior Member Of Technical Staff, Certified SAFe 5.1 Agilist | Scrum Master | Software Consultant at OpenText | "may be a soul writer, exploring..."
It depends on the organization requirement and needs. For exp what data are you going to backup, What is the frequency of backups, Compliance, Disaster Recovery .... Key feature includes : 1. Incremental backups 2. Encryption and data security 3. DR capabilities 4. Scalability Look for backup solutions with infra redundancy, Geo redundancy and data redundancy to provide high availability.. Evaluate RTO and RPO matches business plans.
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Puneet Goenka
Enterprise Retail Sector Leader @ AWS | C-Level Relationships, Sales Growth, Digital Transformation, Retail | SaaS, Cloud, AI, AIML, Data, Emerging Technologies
First define your requirements along with BCP and DR strategy. Post that as far as possible opt for a cloud native solution from your hyperscaler. Look at multi AZ/Region setup in line with your RTO/RPO requirements and data residency rules. if there are additional requirements that can not be met natively then explore 3rd party solutions.
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Harshal Jethwa
Site Reliability Engineer @ Crest Data System | 1x AWS Certified | 1x Azure Certified | Linux | Core Team at The CloudOps Community
It is crucial to understand the specifics of your organization's data—such as the volume of data, backup frequency, and sensitivity—since these factors will significantly influence the choice of solution. Knowing your industry-specific compliance requirements is equally important, as some sectors, like finance or healthcare, have strict regulations regarding data storage and security. In terms of choosing between cloud-based or on-premises backup solutions, it's good to know where your workloads are running.
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Raju Y
Azure Data Engineer
Imagine a cruise ship captain charting a course through unpredictable waters. Before setting sail, they assess the ship's capacity, the route's challenges, and safety regulations. Similarly, in cloud backup, each organization must navigate its unique data landscape. For instance, a healthcare provider needs secure and frequent backups of patient records to comply with regulations. Contrastingly, a creative agency may prioritize storage flexibility for large media files. By evaluating these needs upfront, organizations steer clear of potential data disasters. Just as a captain plans for smooth sailing, assessing cloud backup needs ensures a safe voyage through the digital seas, avoiding unnecessary costs and ensuring data integrity.
Cost is a significant factor when selecting a cloud-based data backup solution. However, it's crucial to look beyond the sticker price and consider the total cost of ownership. This includes potential costs for data retrieval, bandwidth usage, and additional storage. Some providers may offer low upfront costs but charge exorbitant fees for data egress. It's important to understand the pricing structure in detail and how it scales with your data needs to avoid unexpected expenses down the line.
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Huzefa Husain
Cloud Engineering Lead @ Barclays | 3xAWS, 2xAzure, 3xVMware | Togaf | CCSK, DevOps, E2E Infrastructure Design | Fintech
Think of selecting a cloud backup solution like buying a car. You're not just looking at the initial price tag but considering long-term expenses like fuel, maintenance, and insurance. Similarly, while a backup provider might offer low upfront costs, hidden charges for data retrieval or excess bandwidth can inflate the total bill over time. It's like getting a cheap car but paying a fortune for gas and repairs. By scrutinizing the pricing structure upfront and understanding how it aligns with your data usage patterns, you avoid getting stranded with unexpected expenses. Just as savvy car buyers consider total ownership costs, wise cloud backup users look beyond the sticker price to ensure a cost-effective and reliable solution.
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Abdelhaq Jalboush
Systems Operations Manager | PMP | Cloud Architect | IT Infrastructure Manager | Virtualization | Datacenter Management | FinOps | Cloud Migration Expert
Consider total cost, not just upfront fees, when choosing a cloud backup. Look at data retrieval, bandwidth, and storage expenses. Beware of low upfront costs with high data egress fees. Understand pricing to avoid surprises.
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Victor A.
Platform Engineering adventures 🏗 😎
TCO is crucial. Higher upfront fees might still save money over time and vice versa. Its our responsibility sometimes t help our client evaluate this and see the bigger picture.
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Harshal Jethwa
Site Reliability Engineer @ Crest Data System | 1x AWS Certified | 1x Azure Certified | Linux | Core Team at The CloudOps Community
emphasis on understanding the total cost of ownership when selecting a cloud-based data backup solution is spot-on. It’s easy to be attracted to low upfront costs, but hidden fees can lead to unpleasant surprises later. consider this when comparing costs: Data Egress fees, Base Cost, Additional Storage, Other Fees and Costs, Other Fees and Costs
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Pat Beaudoin
🏆 LinkedIn Top Voice | Corporate Resilience Strategist | Delivering Business Outcomes | 30+ Years of IT Experience | Trusted Advisor to Fortune5 | $500M+ in Tech Solutions and $100M+ cost savings delivered for clients |
Analyze direct costs such as storage expenses, network charges, and operational costs like maintenance and support. Factor in indirect costs including downtime and potential revenue loss during data recovery. Use a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) model to compare cloud vendors, taking into account scalability and long-term storage efficiencies. Request detailed quotations and perform scenario-based cost modeling to predict expenses under different conditions.
Security is paramount when it comes to cloud-based data backup. Investigate the encryption methods used both during transmission and at rest within the cloud. A strong solution should offer end-to-end encryption to safeguard your data from unauthorized access. Additionally, explore the provider's security certifications and compliance with standards such as ISO 27001 or GDPR. Review their policies on data breaches and the measures they have in place for incident response and notification.
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Deepak Solanki
DevOps Engineer | Google Cloud | Azure | MS Amazon Web Services | AWS Educator Member | Researcher | Ambassador: IIT Bombay|
Data security should be the top priority when evaluating cloud backup solutions. After all, you're entrusting your organization's valuable information to a third-party service. Here are the key security features to assess: Encryption Capabilities - Look for end-to-end encryption to protect your data during transmission and at rest. Compliance and Certifications - Verify the provider's compliance with security standards like ISO 27001 and data protection regulations like GDPR. Data Breach Response - Review the service's policies and procedures for detecting, responding to, and notifying customers of data breaches. #CloudBackup #DataSecurity #Encryption #ComplianceCertifications #DataBreachResponse #AccessControls #CyberSecurity
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Huzefa Husain
Cloud Engineering Lead @ Barclays | 3xAWS, 2xAzure, 3xVMware | Togaf | CCSK, DevOps, E2E Infrastructure Design | Fintech
Imagine your data as treasures stored in a vault. When entrusting them to the cloud, encryption serves as the lock, ensuring only authorized parties can access them. Just as a fortress employs multiple layers of security, a robust cloud backup solution utilizes end-to-end encryption, shielding your data during transmission and while at rest. For example, a financial institution relies on cloud backup to protect customer transactions. The provider, compliant with ISO 27001 and GDPR, encrypts data using advanced algorithms. In the event of a breach attempt, their rapid incident response protocols kick in, swiftly notifying stakeholders.
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Nauman Noor
Public Cloud Engineering Leader | Platform Engineering & Infrastructure | Data Lakehouse, Gen AI & GRC
More of an issue with SaaS backup providers as the assumption is that the same controls in place in terms of encryption would be apropos for the resulting backup. Other considerations include permissions on who can restore and overall integration into DevOps operating model
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Victor A.
Platform Engineering adventures 🏗 😎
Security in the cloud is our responsibility. This could be what makes us choose one tool over another. We have to assume things will fail eventually. When that happens, security shouldn't be part of the blast radius.
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Mubeen K.
Business & Commercial Strategy | Consumer Services | Business Development | Partnership Development | Helping SMBs Achieve Growth Across Multiple Industries | Automotive Enthusiast
Prioritize solutions that emphasize security features. Providers like Backblaze and Veeam offer encrypted backups with data retention policies to protect organizational data.
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Pat Beaudoin
🏆 LinkedIn Top Voice | Corporate Resilience Strategist | Delivering Business Outcomes | 30+ Years of IT Experience | Trusted Advisor to Fortune5 | $500M+ in Tech Solutions and $100M+ cost savings delivered for clients |
Ensure the cloud provider offers encrypted data storage and transfer. Verify compliance with standards such as ISO/IEC 27001, GDPR, and HIPAA, depending on your industry. Look for multi-factor authentication, role-based access controls, and regular security audits. Assess the provider’s data redundancy and disaster recovery protocols, including the number of available data centers and their geographical locations to mitigate risks of data loss and ensure business continuity.
The ability to recover data quickly and effectively is a cornerstone of a good backup solution. Scrutinize the recovery options provided, including the ease of restoring individual files or entire systems. Determine the recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objectives (RPO) offered by the service and whether they align with your business continuity plans. The best solutions offer flexible recovery options that can be tailored to various disaster scenarios.
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Nagaraj (Raj) Malkar
Cloud Specialist | Architect | Digital Modernization | Passion for enterprise transformation | SMU Cox MBA
Evaluate the recovery capabilities based off RTO and RPO which aligns with your business continuity plan. It is not a one size fits all solution. Hence, gravitate towards the solutions that bring in capabilities to tailor to your needs and requirements if the business. Weigh in the options to determine the solutions that provide increased flexibility to make changes.
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Huzefa Husain
Cloud Engineering Lead @ Barclays | 3xAWS, 2xAzure, 3xVMware | Togaf | CCSK, DevOps, E2E Infrastructure Design | Fintech
Think of data recovery in the cloud like having a magic wand to undo mistakes. Just as a wizard must choose the right spell for each situation, a good backup solution offers flexible recovery options tailored to your needs. For instance, a retail giant relies on cloud backup to restore customer transaction records after a server crash. The provider offers quick and easy file-level recovery, ensuring minimal downtime. Additionally, their customizable recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objectives (RPO) align perfectly with the company's business continuity plans. By wielding such versatile recovery tools, the retailer swiftly bounces back from setbacks, just as a skilled wizard overcomes challenges with precision and agility.
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Abdelhaq Jalboush
Systems Operations Manager | PMP | Cloud Architect | IT Infrastructure Manager | Virtualization | Datacenter Management | FinOps | Cloud Migration Expert
Ensuring swift and efficient data recovery is vital for any backup solution. Evaluate the ease of restoring both individual files and entire systems, and ensure the recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objectives (RPO) meet your business continuity needs. Look for solutions with flexible recovery options adaptable to different disaster scenarios, ensuring minimal downtime and maximum resilience for your operations.
As your organization grows, so will your data backup needs. A cloud-based solution should be scalable to accommodate increasing amounts of data without compromising performance. Evaluate whether the provider allows for seamless scaling and how upgrades or downgrades in service are handled. The ideal service will offer flexibility and adaptability, allowing you to adjust your backup strategy as your business evolves.
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Nauman Noor
Public Cloud Engineering Leader | Platform Engineering & Infrastructure | Data Lakehouse, Gen AI & GRC
Restoring a full region based on RTO / RPO needs to be tested and augmented with a robust capacity plan aligned to public cloud approaches
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Deepak Solanki
DevOps Engineer | Google Cloud | Azure | MS Amazon Web Services | AWS Educator Member | Researcher | Ambassador: IIT Bombay|
Your data backup needs aren't static – they evolve alongside your business growth. A future-proof cloud backup solution should offer scalability options to adapt to your changing requirements. Here's what to look for: Seamless Scaling - Opt for services that allow you to scale your backup capacity up or down with ease. Flexible Upgrades/Downgrades - Choose providers with a straightforward process for upgrading or downgrading your backup plan. Performance Consistency - Verify that the service maintains consistent performance even as your backup data volumes increase. #CloudBackup #Scalability #SeamlessScaling #FlexibleUpgrades #PerformanceConsistency #PayAsYouGrow #FutureProof
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Huzefa Husain
Cloud Engineering Lead @ Barclays | 3xAWS, 2xAzure, 3xVMware | Togaf | CCSK, DevOps, E2E Infrastructure Design | Fintech
Think of scaling in cloud backup like adding extra floors to a skyscraper. As your organization grows, so does the need for more space to store data. E.g., a tech startup experiencing rapid expansion relies on cloud backup to protect its growing volumes of code & customer information. The provider seamlessly scales its storage capacity, accommodating the company's increasing data needs without sacrificing performance. Should the startup need to downgrade or upgrade its service, the provider offers flexible options, ensuring the backup strategy evolves in sync with the business. Like a skyscraper adapting to urban growth, scalable cloud backup ensures data protection keeps pace with organizational expansion, fostering agility & efficiency.
Lastly, consider the level of support provided by the cloud backup service. Reliable customer support can be vital in times of crisis, so assess the availability and responsiveness of their technical support team. Understand the different levels of support offered, whether it's 24/7 assistance or dedicated account managers. Good support services can make a significant difference in how quickly and effectively you can resolve issues and restore operations after a data loss incident.
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Deepak Solanki
DevOps Engineer | Google Cloud | Azure | MS Amazon Web Services | AWS Educator Member | Researcher | Ambassador: IIT Bombay|
When evaluating cloud backup services, don't overlook the importance of reliable support. In the event of a data loss or technical issue, having a responsive and knowledgeable support team can be invaluable. Here's what to look for: Support Availability - Prioritize services that offer 24/7 support, ensuring assistance is available when you need it most. Technical Expertise - Ensure the support team has deep technical expertise in cloud backup and recovery solutions. Dedicated Account Management - Consider services that offer dedicated account managers for personalized support. #CloudBackup #SupportServices #TechnicalExpertise #24/7Support #DedicatedAccountManagement #ResponseTimes #DataRecovery
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Harshal Jethwa
Site Reliability Engineer @ Crest Data System | 1x AWS Certified | 1x Azure Certified | Linux | Core Team at The CloudOps Community
When exploring cloud-based data backup solutions, it's helpful to consider some additional factors that might not fit neatly into the previous sections. Vendor Reliability and Reputation Customization and Flexibility Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Data Security and Compliance