In a world where the majority of business transactions and operations take place in digital form, having a solid backup isn’t just precautionary—it’s absolutely critical. The cloud has increased storage and cost efficiency across industries, but the hype surrounding its innovations often overshadows its applicable potential. To discover how to integrate disaster recovery (DR) via the cloud, we’ll examine four areas that apply differently depending on your unique situation.
Cost
As it is with any provident professional, cost is one of the first concerns to sort through. When it comes to cloud computing, controlling costs is all about minimizing irrelevant data and applications. It’s wise to create a plan that identifies and prioritizes your applications and defines your recovery time objective (RTO). According to Jacob Gsoedl, “The more focused your DR plan is, the more likely you’ll be able to test it periodically and execute it within the defined objectives.” Most likely, you’ll identify several different DR methods to protect different portions of your application and data.
Redundant Storage
The word “redundant” typically implies excessiveness, but in the case of cloud computing, it’s essential for making sure your information is backed up in several accessible locations. The average cloud storage system depends on hundreds of data servers, which is necessary for the maintenance and repair these cloud databases occasionally require. Prioritizing your data can provide a good indication of the level of redundancy your business will need. Remember to regularly evaluate the redundant information in your cloud storage, since your priorities are likely to shift over time.
Minimal Downtime
One of the risks of cloud computing is that your business faces possible wasted downtime if the system ever goes offline. Even the most reliable cloud computing service providers can suffer from a server outage, but DR reduces the chance of your business ever being inconvenienced by a possible outage, since you’ll be able to access your data through one of your backup storage systems. Saving time is saving money, and you can’t afford to deal with the unstable potential of the cloud.
Redirecting Capability
Since information stored in the cloud can only be accessed through the Internet, you’ll have to pay special attention to bandwidth requirements. Do you know whether or not you have the bandwidth and network capacity to redirect users to the cloud? Do you know how long it would take to restore information from the cloud to an on-premises location? You’ll want to discuss these questions with your web hosting provider and your database hosting service, so you know exactly what to sign up for.
Disaster recovery is a prudent choice for both hybrid cloud users and those who depend solely on cloud storage for all the reasons listed above. The cloud is all about improving efficiency in every way possible, and this is a benefit every business should take advantage of. However, because the cloud is so overhyped, you should make a special effort to research all your options and considerations. Don’t expect the cloud to solve all your problems, but do your research and customize your storage plan to get the most out of your database management.
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