Everyone seems to be on the online backup bandwagon. It's convenient, it requires little effort, and it'll ensure you get those backups completed and offsite once and for all. Cloud data backup offers a lot of value, however, there are downsides you absolutely need to be aware of. There's too high a price to pay to bury your head in the sand over something so important. Learn about important data security concerns with cloud backup in this tip by security expert Kevin Beaver.

Organizations will be happy to know that StorageASP's TERA Services are delivered through a private fibre network; on the other hand, competitors deliver their services through public internet. Our private cloud not only means better security, but it also results in faster backups and a shorter RPO/RTO.

• Data Security Concerns with Online and Cloud Backup Technology

There are a number of items that must be taken into consideration before entering into an agreement with a cloud data backup service provider. In this tip, read about what should be on your checklist when you talk to a cloud backup provider, and most importantly, some of the major items that should be addressed in a cloud backup service-level agreement with your new cloud backup service.

Thanks to our partnerships with Atria Networks and Cogeco Data Services, StorageASP can provide a single and consistent SLA for both connectivity and TERA Services. This will simplify planning, implementation and operation for your company.

• Get the Right Service-Level Agreement with Cloud Backup Services

Cloud backup services are now considered by many to be the way to back up moderate (less than 1 TB) amounts of data, including backing up your data at home. The challenge is that a new cloud backup vendor seems to pop up every day. How does one select a service from among so many vendors? Which of the cloud backup vendors is right for your data backup and recovery environment? In this tutorial, by backup expert W. Curtis Preston, learn about cloud data backup strategies for enterprises.

• Evaluating Cloud Backup Services

Do you read trade magazines and wonder if you are the only one still using an antiquated backup system? You are definitely not the only one and your backup system can probably use some modernization. Before you devise a modernization plan, you need a working understanding of new technologies and solutions. With that knowledge, you will be able to apply those advancements to your current backup infrastructure. Despite new and better ways to backup, most companies cannot afford to constantly update their hardware, software and disaster recovery solutions. A solution to the problem is cloud backup services – or managed backup services. Cloud backup services, such as StorageASP, take advantage of many of the technologies mentioned here, but customers don’t have to manage it themselves. The idea is simple: Outsource this undesirable part of IT to a company whose staff specialized in it and you will never have to worry about it again.

• Info World Special Report, December 2009

Each year, Storage magazine chooses the hottest enterprise data storage technologies for the year ahead. The hottest data backup and recovery technology prediction for 2010 was virtual server backup.

• Storage Magazine Staff, searchdatabackup.com, Jan 15,2010

Management isn't the first concern that comes to mind among many of the end users of cloud data backup. One of the reasons that companies outsource their data backups to cloud data backup service providers is to offload the burden of monitoring, maintaining and supporting the infrastructure. But, tracking key metrics can be helpful, and users are seeing improving options depending on their cloud backup providers.

• Carol Sliwa, searchdatabackup.com, Jan 15, 2010

The third instalment in a multi-part series on Stop Buying Storage, Patrick Spencer, senior director of publishing and customer relationship programs at Symantec, interviewed Peter Elliman, senior manager of product marketing at Symantec about storage duplication and how IT organizations can employ deduplication technologies and strategies to engender significant storage savings and avoidance.

• Symantec.com

What is cloud storage technology? Despite the hype surrounding this new approach to computing last year, the answer to that question remains difficult to pin down. Industry experts and research organizations see dual paradigms evolving, one internal to the enterprise data center and the other external, with storage service providers.

This four-part exploration of this evolving market covers technical definitions of cloud storage, how early adopters are deploying it, and the next phase of innovation and adoption.

• Beth Pariseau (Senior News Writer), Searchstorage.techtarget.com, Jan 13, 2010

Many aspects about selecting data backup tools have stayed consistent in the past few years. Enterprise data storage and backup administrators should always understand what they are backing up and how specific data needs to be protected before choosing a data backup solution. Also, you need to understand data security issues and the value of encryption.

However, several things have changed when considering data backup tools and applications in recent years. Vendors have started to combine more features into one product, and specific data backup features are emerging as must-haves in a storage solution. This article explores what's changing in data backup solutions and how to choose the right one for your data backup environment.

• Alan Earls, searchdatabackup.com, Jan 11, 2010

Cost reduction is a “top-of-mind” issue for most business executives in today’s turbulent environment. Many organizations are looking to drive costs out of the IT function, and still others are looking for ways where technology can help rationalize costs across the enterprise.
This issue covers two important IT trends which have garnered significant attention recently, namely virtualization and cloud computing. Many business and IT leaders are looking to virtualization — or the more efficient pooling of IT resources, including networks, servers and storage — as a way to drive enhanced efficiency and cost savings. Increasing IT infrastructure costs and demands are forcing IT functions to examine the distribution of computing resources, especially where servers may be operating well below capacity.

• Ernst & Young, IT Trends, January 2009