What is a Backup Solution?

“Enterprise backup” is a term used to refer to a business data management and backup storage system. Enterprise backup systems utilize both computer hardware and software to move data from a primary storage device to a secondary backup device. The hardware consists of the physical equipment used to store information. For example, hardware consists of server networks and hard disk drives. Alternatively, the software of an enterprise backup system is a computer program. This program is designed to manage this transfer of information from one location to the next. Like everything else in the modern world, enterprise backup technology has evolved exponentially in recent history. In the past, data was backed up onto tape reels. Nowadays, the data is saved to disk drives, and even in the cloud. The need for enterprise-level data backup and storage has increased as technology has become more integrated into everyday operations. As a result, data centers will sometimes take on the responsibility of this data transfer and storage. Today, there are options available. Not every system is created equal, though. This is something every business owner should keep in mind when preparing for disaster.

Just as you would prepare for a natural disaster such as a storm or fire, your business needs to protect the data of your business by implementing contingency plans. An enterprise backup system is one of the best ways to protect your company’s data from falling victim to chance.

Benefits Of Backup Solution

IT Central Station real users of backup and recovery software note the advantages of this type of solution to their IT Departments, management, and end-users. Choosing the best backup software can provide you with a great safety net and the most benefits to your business. Benefits include:

Security
One of the most important aspects of data backup and recovery. As IT systems grow and integrate with one another, the number of potential threats increases to the information that a company holds. Maintaining a backup and recovery solution that has strong security is foremost when looking to protect and save data. A Senior Vice President at a medium-sized technology company notes how their backup and recovery software solution, Quorum OnQ, provides them security, “Quorum offers a very high-level security environment for secondary data. Once data is in Quorum it is highly secured because the appliance is Linux-based. It does 256-bit AES encryption at rest and in motion.”
Ease of management
Especially when restoring lost data, which can be stressful and time-sensitive, ease of management creates consistencies in the processes for backing up data and information. It avoids end-users backing up their own devices inconsistently and irregularly. Speedy data restorations help in expediting RPOs and RTOs across core applications. Jean Maurice Prosper, Chief Executive Officer at Nettobe Group, discusses how Barracuda Backup’s all-in-one management platform is easy and intuitive. Describing Barracuda, he says, “It is not difficult to configure a backup strategy, and manage our backup and restore. It is very user-friendly and made to ease the job of the administrator. We let the solution do the hard part.”
Reliable replication
Ensuring accurate replication of your data makes it disaster-proof. As Franklin, an Enterprise Network Engineer at a large healthcare company and Zerto user explains, “It’s almost like a tape recorder. You can rewind if you need to if something bad happens. You can rewind the tape and your production begins where your tape left off.”
Maintain compliance standards
Collecting and preserving critical data through regular backup processes, IT departments can be more nimble when responding to requests from legal or auditors. Keith Alioto, the Lead Storage Engineer at a large tech services company, talks about the compliance difference before and after deploying NetApp SnapCenter, “What we found was that we weren’t backing up all of our SQL servers. We have now gotten to 100 percent compliance in backing up all of our data, and it’s regularly measurable: daily, weekly, and monthly.”
Zero impact on performance
Most of the time users don’t realize that a solution for backups is running in the background. Fewer disruptions to users mean more uptime. Benjamin R Roper, a Backup and Recovery Specialist at Parsons notes this benefit about his backup and recovery software, Metallic, “Its performance for both backup and recovery is amazing. It runs very well. I don’t even know when it’s running and that’s true during the backups as well. It completes successfully and there’s zero impact on the endpoints.”
Helps management control costs
A good backup and recovery software solution can reduce workforce overhead, leading to cost savings. A QA Engineer at a small tech vendor reflects on the savings seen in their company’s storage using Pure Storage FlashArray, “The speed of deployment has gone from several days to a few minutes, e.g., our database team used to spend 93 days backing up and restoring databases. This product has reduced that time into minutes, simplifying storage for us.”