8-Tracks and the 21st Century How Up-To-Date Is Your Data Backup And Recovery Solution?

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The need for a properly executed data backup and recovery strategy becomes more and more imperative as the number of threats to your data structure increase. No one will deny that the ability to recover damaged or deleted data is an extremely important function of any company- regardless of size. Your data is truly the lifeblood of your business.

Data loss and recovery failure occur for many reasons, including natural disasters, software viruses, terror threats, hardware failures, employee sabotage, human error, and many more. How well you prepare a strategy for the occurrence of these events may well determine the livelihood of your company.

That Was Then, This Is Now

In today’s high tech, on-demand world of digital music, you would never turn to an 8 track to deliver high fidelity and performance. Yet every day countless companies trust their data backup and recovery needs to the same magnetic tape technology. Tape backup systems have been in place almost as long as the computer itself. We are using a 1950’s solution to approach a 21st century problem! Why do we not listen to 8 tracks still today? Because there is a higher quality, more cost efficient, and longer lasting solution. The very same reasons apply to switching your data backup solution from tape to disk-to-disk.

While tape backup systems account for the majority of approaches to corporate data protection, it is certainly not without its flaws. CRC DataProtection is a comprehensive online data protection solution that addresses these concerns, while eliminating excessive costs incurred by tape backup technology.

"What should I be concerned about with my tape-based backup system?"

Problem	CRC DataProtection Solution
Backups take too long.	Where tape backups copy an entire set of data on every backup, CRC DataProtection only copies the changes to your data, reducing backup time significantly.
Nightly tape backups create a 24 hour window of vulnerability	CRC DataProtection employs CDP (continuous data protection) and by optimizing Recovery Point Objectives, can reduce the backup window and recovery time objectives effectively to zero.
Tapes are vulnerable to damage, theft, and loss	CRC DataProtection is an online disk-to-disk solution, so all of your data is immediately and safely stored offsite.
Data recovery takes too long	To restore data with tape based backup, you must recover the tape from offsite, reconfigure the server, and recover from tape.  With CRC DataProtection, simply log into the web portal, select your files, and restoration begins.
If tapes are stolen, data is vulnerable	CRC DataProtection technology encrypts all data before sending it offsite, so data is safe, even in transit.
Tape based solutions fail to address the complete backup and recovery lifecycle efficiently	CRC’s disk-to-disk online solution facilitates efficiency in every step of the data protection workflow process.
Backup tapes, hardware, and the IT staff to administer and maintain the onsite equipment are costly	With fully automated backups, centrally managed administration, and a tape-less environment, CRC can virtually eliminate these costs.
Tape based solutions are platform sensitive	CRC DataProtection integrates seamlessly across multiple platforms and database types.
Tape storage increases the chances for compliance violations	If a tape is lost, then confidential customer data could be jeopardy.  Without the ability to recover this data, your business could be held liable!  CRC’s continuous data protection, coupled with data encryption and immediate storage at an offsite location insure that your data is secure, and configurable data policies insure compliancy.
Tape based systems require routine maintenance by an IT staff that is already busy	Free your IT with CRC DataProtection online services.  Your IT staff will never need to change a tape again, and they can focus on other important tasks.
Tape backups often fail.	Whether it is because of software problems, incorrect configuration, hardware malfunction, or a broken tape, restores from tape backups can fail 50% of the time.

Author Travis Prim is a technical writer for CRC