'Backup' to the Future with a S.A.F.E.R. Solution

Needless to say, 2020 has truly shown itself to be the dawn of a new decade. We’re seeing digital transformation in action. In the last few decades alone, we’ve seen enormous changes (take the internet, for example) that have spawned a whole new era that is powered by data. Our whole world is now moving at the speed of data. Consider that 10 years ago, you had to hail a cab by standing on the street corner and hoping that you’d find a taxi driving by. Now, you can order a driver and track their arrival, track deliveries, even your lunch, from the palm of your hand as they make their way to you in minutes. Thank you, IoT!  Very few could have predicted the massive reality of our data landscape today. So, what’s next? If one thing is for certain, it’s that this data-time continuum is not slowing down and will keep providing new opportunities for the world, and your business, to evolve. 

Is Your Organization Ready?

In today’s data-driven world, surely you’ve realized that the key to gaining a competitive edge lies within your data.  So, protecting this most critical business asset is now more important than ever.  Backups used to be straightforward. But, data is no longer straightforward. Not only is it growing at an astounding rate, but it's also all over place--in your data center, at remote sites, on end user devices and in the cloud. Great Scott!

Yes, backing up all this data can be challenging--especially when considering those longer-term retention requirements for regulatory or business compliance. Oh, and let’s not forget about recovering your data. In the business world, Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) and Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) are everything. Sorry for the cliché, but, time really is money! If your backups aren’t completing, or you’re not able to go “Back In Time” far enough to recover the data that your business needs to get your applications back up and running quickly, the question you really need to ask yourself is …

How Can You Make Your Backups S.A.F.E.R.?

Screen Shot 2020-09-30 at 4.34.03 PM

With an homage to one of my favorite movies of all time, "Back to the Future," a modern data protection solution not only keeps your data Scalable, Affordable, Fast, Easy and Reliable (S.A.F.E.R.), but also powers a future that is S.A.F.E.R. Keeping your data S.A.F.E.R. requires a cost-effective backup solution that is easy to manage, guarantees protection of your data without compromise and scales at the speed of data so your business can flourish. 

A S.A.F.E.R. solution is one that's:

Scalable

Scaling storage capacity should be quick, easy, and affordable. Legacy backup appliances mandate vendor-lock in, and adding capacity becomes cost-prohibitive when you’re dealing with petabytes of data. 

The solution: Software-defined storage solutions with the flexibility to run on standard hardware ensure that you can simply scale your backups quickly and cost-effectively.  

Affordable

If your organization is still using tapes, no doubt you’ve spent inordinate amounts of time and money with storing, delivering and otherwise managing tapes inventories (not to mention their propensity for being misplaced). 

If your organization is using backup appliances, surely you’ve realized how expensive they get when you’ve needed to expand. 

Legacy solutions are no longer cutting it. They simply can’t scale cost-effectively with today’s data demands. So, what about a more modern solution then, like cloud storage? Yes, but tread lightly! Public cloud costs may initially seem low. But, things get super expensive very quickly when you need to access your backup data for recoveries. It’s not the solution you’re looking for!

The solution:  You need a more economical solution for long- and short-term backup data retention to lower your total cost of ownership without the risks associated with tapes, backup appliances and public cloud.

Fast

It’s not uncommon for tape backups to take many days to complete. Tapes can also be time-consuming to recall, deliver and manage. When it comes to restores, you’re limited to the availability and performance capabilities of the tape drives.

With public cloud, you’re at the mercy of the available WAN bandwidth between your site and the public cloud provider.

The solution:  Your data should always be available, on-demand, whenever you need it. Recoveries should take minutes, not days, to exceed RPOs and RTOs so you can  get back to business pronto! (Either that – or a DeLorean powered by a Flux Capacitor.)

Screen Shot 2020-09-30 at 4.34.11 PM

Easy

With all the moving parts involved in your backup architecture, having to change backup applications is no easy task. If you’re already using backup software that you’re happy with--like Veritas, Commvault, Veeam, IBM Spectrum Protect and others--why change if you don’t have to?

The solution:  An elegant solution should be simple to provision and manage. It should also streamline your backups by integrating with your enterprise backup applications. Your experience should not only be seamless, but much more efficient, too.

Reliable

Old-school tapes are prone to failure and often result in failed backups altogether. With tapes, data durability and integrity are real problems--problems that result in data loss--and your business should never tolerate that.

When you’re dealing with massive scale, traditional methods for backup, recovery, and management can become overly complex and susceptible to failure. That is why more and more organizations are looking to cloud object storage solutions for better durability, performance, and simplicity. All the major backup software vendors are able to leverage S3, the interface of the cloud, to optimize backups for scalability and availability. But, there’s a catch because putting your data in the public cloud can expose your data to risk as you’re no longer in full control.

The solution:  A reliable backup solution allows you to maintain full control and guarantees that your data is safe with: enterprise compliance features, data immutability for protection against malicious attacks, and the highest levels of encryption, durability and accessibility. 

Screen Shot 2020-09-30 at 4.34.20 PM

So, Are you Ready to Backup to the Future with a S.A.F.E.R. solution from Hitachi Vantara?

Screen Shot 2020-09-30 at 4.34.28 PM

Want to learn how Hitachi Vantara, a Worldwide Leader in Cloud Object Storage, can future-proof your existing backups? 

Thanks for reading!

Screen Shot 2020-10-01 at 9.17.01 PM

Michael Pacheco
Senior Solutions Marketing Manager, Hitachi Vantara
Follow me on Twitter: @TechMikePacheco