A hybrid cloud solution combines private (internal/on-premise) and public (external) cloud deployment models. With a typical private cloud solution, one would build, develop and manage their own cloud infrastructure. The most common deployments of private cloud solutions are in enterprise-level environments. Businesses that have the capital to fund a private cloud operation will usually purchase the necessary equipment, hire their own dedicated IT support teams, and build or lease their own data centers. This allows the company to have complete control over their cloud environment. The primary downside of a private cloud is that it is very expensive to implement and maintain. It also requires highly skilled engineers to manage the network.
What to know – right from the start!
- In a public cloud scenario, one utilizes web-based applications and services. Hardware or software is not owned or maintained by the client, and resources are completely acquired from third party vendors. Google Apps, Salesforce, and Amazon Web services are all common examples of public clouds.
- With these deployments, end-users will work strictly through the Internet via web-based portals. Generally, application data is not stored locally. All relevant information is stored through the cloud provider.
- While these solutions are cost-effective, the lack of control of data center resources, monthly fees, and increased support costs can hinder the viability that a public cloud will align with every business. The fact that business critical data is stored only offsite can also be disconcerting for businesses. One must also consider the possibility that the cloud provider could go out of business, experience a service outage, be acquired by another company, or suffer a security breach. Any of these scenarios could spell disaster for a business’ data.
- With a hybrid cloud model, aspects of both platforms are merged to form a single, unified platform. A business owns some form of local hardware, which is integrated with resources owned by a third party. Depending on what attributes of the business are being pushed to the cloud, there are many options for how a hybrid cloud platform can be constructed.
- What is Hybrid Cloud Backup? In the context of data backup, a combination of private and public backup solutions can be used to form an efficient and robust platform. Hybrid cloud vendors use their expertise to engineer enterprise-grade backup solutions that can be affordable for businesses of any size.
- On the private cloud side, an end-user would have a local device that acts as a NAS (Network-Attached Storage) unit backing up data locally, while concurrently pushing data off-site to a secure, third party cloud.
- All in all, the hybrid cloud backup platform encapsulates the best of the private and public models to form a feature rich, highly efficient, and affordable system.
- A desired benefit of most hybrid cloud backup solutions is the ability to achieve business continuity. Business continuity is a proactive way of looking at disaster preparedness.
- By having the proper tools and procedures in place, businesses can be assured that they will remain functional during a disaster scenario, large or small.
What are three benefits of a hybrid cloud backup?
- Data Insurance: The hybrid cloud backup process generates a backup locally, and then a backup of the backup is replicated off-site (in some cases, data is replicated to two off-site locations). This provides a great deal of data security. With local hardware, all data is in-house, protected by preexisting firewalls, security protocols, and the encryption inherent to the backup device.
- Local Storage Flexibility: A benefit of hybrid cloud solutions is that the entire backup is not solely housed on-site. By leveraging the “infinite” storage space of the cloud, a business can decide how long they want their local retention to be, and scale it according to their needs. Files can be restored with ease whether they are on-site or off-site, so businesses do not need to worry about losing on-demand access to their data. This offers a great benefit to smaller businesses, because it provides some flexibility if the local backup device has limited storage. In the event that a business starts to run out of space on their device, they can either consolidate incremental backups and/or prune off local copies of older backups that have already been replicated and
secured off-site. - Infrastructure Control: A hybrid cloud solution allows MSPs and VARs to maintain their reputation as trusted advisors for their clients’ IT infrastructures. By having a device hosted at the client’s business, a MSP retains local presence and the personal touch they lend to each client. The MSP still has control over every aspect of the IT network.
For more information on hybrid cloud backup solutions and related business continuity strategies, contact CompuData!
