Hacking costs businesses more than $400 billion annually. Targeted enterprises not only have to deal with ensuring business continuity, but also protecting brand reputation and preventing customer flight.
One of the most important elements of hardening a business against hackers is ensuring critical data is regularly backed up utilizing a comprehensive, consistent and reliable data storage option.
There are three important things to remember about long term data storage. It must be:
- Affordable or overhead will grow with time.
- Reliable, whether data is accessed frequently or not.
- As secure as daily operational data, if not more so.
With all this in mind, small businesses should consider these options:
1) On-Site Backup Server Using SSD Technology
Data that can only be accessed from a fixed location is highly secure. As Solid-State Drives (SSDs) become available, many small businesses are adopting on-site backup servers with multiple SSDs. Typically, these servers are used with “dummy” terminals that connect only to the server: Neither the server nor the terminals can access the Internet. This makes data safer from cyber criminals, at the cost of time spent creating backups and the potential for on-site disasters like flooding and fire that can destroy your equipment and your data along with it.
Why SSD instead of conventional hard drives? Conventional drives tend to wear out after about three years of use. SSDs don’t use conventional spinning “platters” to store data, so there are fewer moving parts. Under optimal conditions, an SSD can be used for ten years or more without any hardware issues. This makes SSD ideal for long term data storage.
2) Digital Optical Drives
The maximum capacity of a modern DVD disc is 4.5 gigabytes, and 35 GB for Blu-ray, which is adequate for many small businesses. If handled correctly, a DVD continues to operate smoothly for decades. However, using DVDs for storage raises a number of challenges.
As a small business grows, discs multiply efforts as individual teams, departments, and divisions might have to manage their own backup efforts. This approach is not scalable and can enhance the risk of data loss or theft.
3) Conventional RAID Array
Large organizations have used RAID technology for decades. RAID – Redundant Array of Independent Disks – is a go-to option for combining hard drives to increase storage space. Implemented correctly, RAID can ensure critical data is being backed up even as users create that data for the first time.
RAID is a well-known approach to backup, but recent shifts in technology have revealed its shortcomings. A RAID array can be a single point of failure, damaging multiple hard drives if an emergency strikes. RAID is hard to implement and optimize, so it relies to a great extent on in-house expertise that many small businesses do not have.
4) Off-Site Cloud Storage
Off-site cloud is rapidly emerging as the gold standard for long term data storage. Data “in the cloud” is located in off-site data centers with top-notch security. Retrieving data is easy and granular – you have access to previous versions of every file and can restore data remotely using any device with an Internet connection.
A third party cloud provider, like Nordic Backup, helps you keep costs low since your storage grows with your business, and requires no in-house equipment or hiring. Plus, using a third party cloud provider means you have access to IT experts who can ensure that data is being backed up as needed and kept secure at all times.
All in all, cloud is the ideal solution for long term data storage for small businesses. When you choose a reliable cloud provider, you can focus on what your business does best and leave the complexities of data storage and security to a partner you can trust.
