Fighting SMB and nonprofit storage fires without getting burned

Computer Technology Review, Jan, 2005 by Brett Schechter

Play with fire and you will get burned--especially if the fire is ineffective backup and disaster recovery planning.

Recent storage headlines have been touting this basic truth and hammering businesses on the ramifications of ineffective storage practices. Corporations have long felt the pinch for storage solutions that safeguard against data outages and business downtime while protecting profits. But it's only recently that effective backup and disaster recovery is catching on among small to midsize businesses (SMBs).

In some cases, it takes a system crash or other data disasters for the companies to realize the immense value of their data--or rather the detrimental risks of losing it. We have all read the University of Texas study showing that more than 50% of all small to midsized businesses that lose their data in a disaster go out of business within two years of the disaster. A figure such as that is enough to impel many into action.

Evaluating the Data Storage Needs of Small Businesses

There is clearly a business-critical need for backing up data within the small business market. However, SMBs need to understand how to address their special needs. Before starting their backup operations, small businesses should ask some pertinent questions of themselves:

* How much capacity do we need to back up?

* Which data needs to be saved?

* How long do we need to retain the saved data?

* How fast do we need to recover our backed up data?

* Do we need to worry about saving our data on a medium that can't be erased?

It is important for SMBs to answer these questions thoroughly before developing a backup strategy because they'll help ensure that the storage system they ultimately select is a match for their particular situation.

The most critical questions of the group for SMBs to address are how they're using the data that they're storing and how frequently they're accessing it. These factors will help determine how quickly certain data needs to be restored and which files and data types are vital to business operations. Otherwise, they could be treating the wrong pain points. For example, an SMB could select a 20GB portable hard drive because it's plenty of capacity for their three computers today. But what happens when the thriving company doubles its number of employees--and computers--the following year?

What Worked Then Doesn't Fit Today

Massive storage needs to a small business translates to between 50GB of capacity to a couple of terabytes on the high side. This necessitates a smaller and much more compact solution where the priority lies in meeting budget restriction and in finding a form-factor that fits neatly onto a desktop-as opposed to in an expensive data center.

The traditional backup hardware for small businesses was previously comprised of DVDs, CDs, Zip drives or early generations of small capacity tape drives. Unfortunately, most modern computers come equipped with 20-40 GB hard drives that can no longer be practically backed up by that level of hardware. It just isn't realistic for a small business owner or employee to spend time swapping dozens of CDs for a single backup.

As the SMB's storage needs grow on pace with the rest of the world, they are increasingly moving to tape as a backup solution of choice. Tape makes sense for many smaller businesses because it can grow along with the organization and doesn't become obsolete as quickly as other storage technologies. Furthermore, tape is reliable and affordable--two key attributes for a company without millions to spend on IT. And to protect against disaster, there's always the option to store recorded tapes at an offsite location. Tape drives are comparatively easy to operate for first-timers and veterans alike. There are also tape autoloaders and libraries that don't need to be constantly monitored, allowing business owners to focus on what's bringing in the money.

Small businesses are expected to experience a 30% to 35% rise in data growth through 2006, primarily due to data retention. With this amount of data needing to be managed, it's important that SMBs have the strategies in place to ensure backups are efficient and effective.

SMB Backup Strategies at a Glance

Minimizing costs through consolidated backups: Small businesses with a number of individual storage devices already installed may want to consolidate their current backup hardware into one networked environment. The acquisition cost for a consolidated network backup solution may initially cost more than an individual tape drive, autoloader or library, but the return on investment over time will pay off in the long run.

This is because consolidating small business data backup efforts minimizes the costs associated with managing storage hardware while maximizing current storage assets. Storage capacity is no longer limited to direct-attached PCs or notebooks and can be allocated across the network to multiple users. Networked backups can also be extended to remote or branch offices, all the while being managed from a centralized location.