Backup Services

It is imperative to automate as much of the backup process as possible so you are not dependent on people to switch out backup media. Although people always start out with good intentions over time, they become lax in switching out the media. We have seen too many instances where the backup media has failed and the manual process has not been followed. Unfortunately, this is when disaster strikes and companies find out their backup is no good. Setting up automation and daily status reports can go a long way in protecting your company’s vital data.
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Although doing the backup is important it is also necessary to understand how quickly you need to recover in case of a failure. Every company will have different recovery objectives. Kansas City Managed IT will ensure we understand all your backup and recovery needs and provide a solution which best aligns with your company’s recovery timeline. Ultimately, the best backup device for a company is determined by how fast a company needs to get back up and running after a failure. Kansas City Managed IT has partnered with two of the most trusted backups in the industry: Datto, Barracuda and Veeam. 

DATTO

Datto Backup Solution-Datto solutions are sized based on the number of servers in an environment as well as the amount of data which needs to be backed up. They also backup to the cloud with up to one-year retention unless you opt to pay for unlimited cloud storage.  Datto provides one of the quickest recovery options in the industry. Their recovery option allows you to temporarily recover to the backup device and it continues to do backups while it is running.  This allows workers to almost immediately begin working again until you can schedule time to move data back to a new or repaired server. Datto also provides the option to boot to the cloud for up to 30 days in case of a major disaster at your facility which also makes it a great part of any business continuity plan. In addition, they have AI in place which can detect if a device has been hit by ransomware and if so it will not continue the backup so your most recent backup will still be good data.

BARRACUDA

Barracuda solutions are sized more based on your data needs. Barracuda offers unlimited backup to the cloud with their monthly service. Barracuda devices are more for clients who don’t need the instant recovery and can afford to wait for hardware to be available again before they are back up and running. That being said, Barracuda allows for more granular control of things like SQL backups. They do provide instant startup for machines that run on a VMware or Hyper-V environment, but they do not offer the option to continue backups while they are running so if for any reason the device restarts or loses power all changes would be lost. You can however migrate the data to a new environment which is seen by your VM or Hyper-V infrastructure if the backup device can see it.

VEEAM BACKUP SOLUTION

Veeam is a backup software that backs up all your data via a storage device onsite. This device will have antivirus and advanced security policies implemented to protect the machine. The backups are replicated to the cloud: this could be Wasabi, Azure, or other cloud providers. The cloud provider should protect the backup from being overwritten or deleted, which in turn protects the backup from being encrypted by ransomware.

Not all companies are using a traditional server environment but may be using Office365 or Google Workplace to store and share documents/data. These companies often think that because the environment is held by Microsoft or Google that they are being backed up. This is only partially correct. Microsoft and Google are backing up those environments for their needs, but  those backups aren’t accessible to users. If your Office 365 environment was encrypted by ransomware, Microsoft and Google aren’t likely to help you retrieve backups from their data, demonstrating the importance of having your own backup of those cloud environments. Kansas City Managed IT has offerings to back up these cloud environments including email to keep your data is safe.

Out-of-date backup solutions

The cybersecurity landscape is ever-changing and traditional backup solutions aren’t enough anymore. As technology advances, there is more company data than ever and unfortunately more ways it can be infected or lost. It is imperative your company is utilizing the right type of backup solution. If you are using an out-of-date back-up solution, your data could still be in danger of being lost.

Tape Backup

These were a very popular backup solution in the past. Data was saved from a device to a tape cartridge. These were primarily used if there was a hardware crash or failure. These tapes would need to be regularly switched out and taken off site, which is dependent on someone changing them. They also have limited capacity, requiring a large amount to back up the amounts of data most businesses have today.

External Hard-Drives

External Hard Drives have been another popular backup option. Like Tape Backups, they are dependent on someone regularly changing them out. Even when this is done, if your drive is connected when you are hit by ransomware the files that  had been backed up onto the external hard drive will also be encrypted. In the event of a hardware crash or failure, the data can be retrieved from a hard drive backup, but it will take a significant amount of time for the data to be restored onto a new device.

If you are unsure about your current backup solution and want to talk to one of our experienced team members about options, please reach out and we will be happy to discuss some backup choices.