Live data presents a number of challenges for backup, especially in the event of database files which are always being written. Ensuring no changes are lost in the backup process can require appreciable configuration. Blueberry can apply several optimization methods to ensure continuous backup of live data.
Backing up database or Web servers can also be tricky. Traditionally, a list of folders is written to backup but this leaves information open to human error. A complete backup is the failsafe option but with storage space at a premium, options that combine one complete backup with subsequent incremental backups supply a cost-efficient alternative. One example is that the incremental snapshot system supplied with the cloud-based Amazon EBS support.
Backing up in virtual environments needs a different approach from physical servers. The vital variables are storage availability, management and configuration. If these are properly addressed, the advantages can be considerable. Blueberry has expertise in technology unusual backup systems in virtual environments and mirroring virtual machines from one server to another.
Achieving high levels of redundancy usually requires two servers. This can be expensive and employers should consider whether instantaneous redundancy is actually vital for their business. With solutions like Amazon EBS, by way of instance, a new system could be installed from a snapshot in only 30 minutes with no need for 2 servers.
Redundancy of database servers is much more complicated to configure and generally requires some amount of mirroring or replication. Blueberry consultants leverage a selection of tools and methods to optimize this procedure. These include custom compression, encryption, data reduplication and incremental transfer approaches.
Tried and tested
Testing is often the missing link in backup strategies. The time and money spent in backing up information is too good to risk your recovery plan failing in the crucial moment. Businesses should schedule routine testing of the backup and restore procedures. Cloud setups offer you the most convenient test environment with the capability to restore to another server case temporarily. Backup reporting tools can also help protect your information by monitoring backup failures and determining their causes.
These reporting tools have a look at the entire data protection lifecycle. This type of holistic approach might be the trick to optimizing cloud backup solutions on a continuing basis. The big picture is crucial. You want to know your business, know your supplier and know your limits concerning budget, bandwidth and storage space prior to going trying to find a solution.
This not only means assessing your information volumes and use, but also assessing how well your existing backup tools are aligned with your business priorities. And do not let technology stand at the Way of those priorities. Whatever works best for the organization can be made to work best for your IT systems.
