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Unstructured Data Stores — Will that Work in the Cloud?
by Eirikur Thor Eiriksson, CEO at SecurStoreWe hear so much about “unstructured” and “structured” data, but rarely pause to think about what the terms really mean or how the nature of the data can impact the way it is backed up, stored or recovered within the enterprise or for that matter in the cloud.
While the term structure is not formally defined, it can be understood by implication. Structure is a kind of discernable pattern that is useful for data processing. The patterns make the data model generally predictable. Structured data will fit neatly into relational tables, can be stored in databases or semantically tagged in documents.(more…)
Testing your Disaster Recovery Setup
by Jon Ingi Thordarson, CTO at SecurStoreDesk-top exercises do not create foolproof disaster recovery plans. While they do help in storyboarding the plan and setting down the broad constructs for disaster recovery, testing is necessary to ascertain that the plan works the way you want it to! Untested plans are recipes for disasters within disasters!
So, what is to be done to test a disaster recovery plan? One cannot create disasters that prove the plan. At best, one can simulate a disaster scenario and walkthrough the steps outlined in the plan to identify and fine-tune the component elements. Let us assume that you anticipate a situation where your local data centre suddenly becomes unavailable and unrecoverable due to floods, fire or earthquake. What are your options? What is your critical RTO, recovery time objective? Will you be able to recover your data and get your business running within the time frame envisaged? You will find out when you “test drive” your disaster recovery plan.(more…)
Data Pruning for Agentless Backup
by Alexander Eiriksson, COO at SecurStoreCustomers who elect to go with agentless backup must be judicious in their selection of what they plan to backup. Enterprises with large volumes of data and multiple systems for backup may find that amount of data that needs backup is often large and unwieldy. Selective backup or data pruning reduces the load on the WAN and system resources and helps speedy transmission and upload of data on to remote servers. De-duplication and compression technologies can be useful if used in conjunction with data pruning, in reducing the amount of data that needs to be uploaded. (more…)
Latency of Cloud Storage
by Saaher Muzafer, CSO at SecurStoreIf you have been hearing paeans about cloud storage, you may think we are opening a can of worms in talking about latency. But, latency is a topic that cannot be ignored or brushed under the carpet. It is a factor that must be discussed, whether you are talking about offline storage or online storage.
Simply stated, latency is the time to respond. It is the interval between a request for a piece of information and its delivery. Cloud computing providers often gloss over this fact and hype up cloud computing as if it operates in an idealized abstract environment. Nevertheless, the abstraction helps us focus on “what can be achieved” as opposed to “What is being achieved” by way of reducing latency in networked environments. Even staunch advocates concede that latency in storage is a tricky problem that must be handled efficiently and effectively by the service provider.(more…)
Disastrous Seduction: Evaluation is the Way to Go!
by Eirikur Thor Eiriksson, CEO at SecurStoreIT infrastructure is perhaps the most important physical asset of a business. An IT failure could very well result in the closure of the business. This is because, IT infrastructure literally puts all “the eggs into one basket” and enterprises need to watch it 24/7! The alternate is to clone the basket or at least the “eggs” and to keep it where you can retrieve it in case your original basket is struck by a disaster. Storing against disaster is common sense. But, evaluating the solution you adopt makes for business sense. (more…)
Primary Vs Secondary Storage De-duplication
by Jon Ingi Thordarson, CTO at SecurStoreDe-duplication technologies can be designed to work on primary storage as well as on secondary storage. Primary storage is storage that contains near active or transaction data that is accessible to the CPU on your computer. The volume of this type of data is always very small. Secondary storage is storage that contains ‘not so active’ data or even historical data and is not directly accessible by the CPU. The data volumes are always very large.(more…)
Risks of Data De-duplication
by Alexander Eiriksson, COO at SecurStoreData transformation can be risky. Any kind of transformation of data can potentially cause data loss. Data de-duplication systems transform the way data is written to the backup repository. If the design of the de-duplication algorithm is not perfect or the quality of its implementation is not up to expectations, it can compromise the integrity of data.(more…)
Chunking in De-duplication
by Saaher Muzafer, CSO at SecurStoreWhat is the significance of Chunking in de-duplication? Data that is passed through the de-duplication engine is chunked into smaller units and assigned identities using cryptographic hash functions. Thereafter, two chunks of data are compared to ascertain whether they have the same identity. If the answer is yes, a link to the data (and not the chunk), is included in the incremental backup. If the answer is no, it is accepted as an independent chunk of data and uploaded to the backup server. (more…)
Inline De-duplication
by Eirikur Thor Eiriksson, CEO at SecurStoreDe-duplication is a process of identifying duplicates in files and folders and removing them from the backup set(s). Inline de-duplication algorithms initiate the process before the backup is kick started and post-processing de-duplication algorithms complete take up the same task after the data has been uploaded. So, inline de-duplication generally happens at the client end of the backup process; and post-process de-duplication happens at the server end or the provider’s end of the backup process.(more…)
Asigra — Dooms you can Survive: Disaster Recovery
by Jon Ingi Thordarson, CTO at SecurStoreAsigra Business Continuity (BC) and Disaster Recovery (DR) solutions are designed for risk aware industries. Asigra underscores the fact that disaster planning is all about identifying and preparing for dooms you can survive and plan to survive.
Asigra strongly believes that backup and recovery solutions should be flexible, scalable and highly available. It has architected an agentless continuous data backup solution that incorporates mass deployment functionality for high scalability. This enables the IT operations to automatically set up, configure and protect data across the enterprise using low touch, silent mode templates and backup protocols from a central console.(more…)
Asigra: Laptop Data: Lap it up
by Alexander Eiriksson, COO at SecurStoreIt is axiomatic that information has become a more accessible/ integrated with Asigra. Asigra customers know that their laptops, smart-phones or other mobile devices can keep them connected to the business, wherever they are. They can access enterprise data or collaborate with their colleagues using web browser based applications over a standard broad band connection.(more…)
New to Backup? Tie up with the Veterans
by Saaher Muzafer, CSO at SecurStoreIt makes no sense to reinvent the wheel every time you want to assemble a cart. If you are planning to start an online backup business, you can learn from those who have already walked the walk and talked the talk. Tie up with the veterans and grow your business taking advantage of all the knowledge that has been acquired, tested and validated by Veterans like Asigra. (more…)
Partnering Advantages
by Eirikur Thor Eiriksson, CEO at SecurStoreEven the simplest project can fail if “support” is the lack that end users experience. Transferring your mission-critical data to a third party service provider over the Internet is by no means an un-ambitious endeavor. Lack of adequate support can be crippling.
You should look at your service provider as a partner who is bringing a specific skill set to your business. Tour service provider’s skills should leave you free to develop the skill sets you possess. If you can truly say that your service provider does that, you have gained much in the partnership. If not, you should look around for a partner who gives you that freedom!(more…)
Archiving Logic
by Jon Ingi Thordarson, CTO at SecurStoreData generated by your firm exists in the electronic dimension. As the data ages, it reduces in value, ceases to be actively accessed and becomes ripe for archiving. Archived data is data that needs to be retained in the data repository for historical or legal reasons and not for operational reasons.
The purpose of archiving data is to reduce overheads. Overheads are associated unnecessary access to large volumes of closed/least value transactional data that add no value to the current operations of your firm. Identification and archiving of such data helps the firm leverage the electronic dimension efficiently.(more…)
Anchoring Mobile Data
by Alexander Eiriksson, COO at SecurStoreData is becoming increasingly unanchored and unstructured. Data consolidation and definition assume nightmarish proportions, as data is proliferated across desktops, laptops, smart phones and a host of other hand held devices. Yet, this data must be consolidated, defined and made available to those who need the information for decision making purposes. In the past, data consolidation either never happened or happened so infrequently, that decision makers were forced to guess at trends and draw conclusions on the basis of available data. The picture can be different today. (more…)
