How Does Virtualization Help Data Protection and Disaster Recovery?
In years past, data protection or disaster recovery meant having an offsite backup or taking physical drives and moving them to an offsite location. We have come a long way since those days; we now have Data Protection as a Service (DPaaS) and Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS).
What is Data Protection as a Service?
DPaaS is a service that protects your application data at the database and application level. In other words, DPaaS gives you the ability to backup and restore at the file level. For example, let’s say you make a change that creates a problem. DPaaS allows you to restore a single file of that change to a previous version, bringing you back to a working state.
DPaaS helps restore data much faster than previous backup methods. You have much more granular configurations that you can do, which gives you better control over your data.
The Role of Virtualization in DPaaS
Virtualization now plays a key role in data protection and disaster recovery. Who doesn’t remember the days before virtualization, frantically working to replace a down server and restore all of the data, hoping everything works the same as it did before the server went down? Virtualization changed this paradigm by consolidating the server environment. This means that servers and workstations are consolidated into files.
Virtualization simplifies the data protection process. Virtual machines can now easily be moved or copied to different locations quickly. Hardware and the maintenance costs that go with it are becoming a second thought as businesses move to virtualization or even move to the cloud. Virtualization and cloud computing will help your organization improve your data protection and disaster recovery operations, bypassing expensive hardware and maintenance costs.
What to look for in a Data Protection as a Service partner
When looking for a company to help you in with your data protection plan, you should consider how they handle security and encryption as well as ease of operation.
Security and Encryption in a DPaaS
Your data is important. Just because you have moved your data to the cloud does not mean that you can pass on securing that data. When choosing a partner for your data protection plan, you need to ensure that they have a secure connection to your cloud applications and servers, and can securely encrypt the data as it is transferred.
The Small Business Guide to Managing Data Protection
Finding a DPaaS and DRaaS Provider
Business information systems and technology have evolved at a pretty quick pace. Your data protection and disaster recovery plans need to evolve along with your network and infrastructure to make sure you are truly protected. A good partner in the DPaaS space can help you maintain your business continuity.
For example, you don’t want the configuration and operation of the DPaaS/DRaaS to be a big headache – some providers will handle this for you. You also want to ensure that your data can quickly and easily be restored in the case of a real disaster. Make sure you go with a provider that can set you up with immediate failover in a disaster recovery situation.
3RT Networks has been providing expert-level technology in data protection, disaster recovery and virtualization for over ten years. To learn more about how we can help you secure your data and propel your organization forward, contact us today. Or, to learn more about data protection, download our guide to data protection for small businesses.