Baas – Backup as a Service Explained

BaaS is a reliable, secure managed backup and recovery service using an online data backup provider. Data is at the core, underpinning all aspects of business. Therefore, its increasingly important for businesses to assess their data storage regularly.

Instead of using a centralised on-premises IT department, BaaS allows you to connect systems to a Public, Private or Hybrid cloud service. After the initial setup process, the selected data can be backed-up automatically and almost instantaneously.

There are 4 main types of backups to suit a variety of business needs. Dependent upon the scale and importance of the data, a business may have a back-up preference.

• Full backup
  • Involves making at least one additional copy of all data files an organisation wishes to protect.
• Differential backup
  • Making a copy of all files that have changed from when the last full backup was performed.
• Incremental backup
  • Only updates the changes made to your files since the last backup.
• Mirror backup
  • Creates an exact replica of everything on the computer’s hard drive.

It’s important for a business to backup data to allow for restoration from an earlier point in time to help recover from an unplanned event. Data can be backed-up as regularly as 15-minute intervals dependent on the business needs.

It’s recommended important data is backed-up at least once a week, but ideally every 24 hours to reduce losing valuable data. It may also be advisable to complete an incremental backup ever 6 hours. However, every business will have different requirements.

A suggested strategy to follow is the 3-2-1 rule. Using the rule will help protect your business and protect you from data loss.

3.  Keep 3 copies of data. (1 primary copy of data along with 2 copies).

2. Save your backups to 2 different types of media.

1. Keep at least 1 backup off-premises.

For many businesses this would likely be data on a computer, backed-up to an external hard drive and another on a cloud backup provider. This strategy allows you to be prepared in case of the need for disaster recovery to be performed.

Benefits

• Ensure continual business operations
  • Should critical business data be lost, data can be recovered easily to restore business operations. BaaS ensures business continuity.

• Ease when scaling the business
  • As your businesses grows the data with this grows. For businesses storing data on hardware this can get costly quickly. However, with BaaS this is not an issue. Providers can offer the desired amount of storage your business needs.

• Remote Access from any location
  • With BaaS you can access data whenever and wherever you want. As the data is not stored in a physical office space, all you need is an internet connection to access the data.

• Reduce Cost Ownership
  • Supporting on-premises backup solutions can require expensive hardware along with supporting equipment. This can be highly expensive many businesses. BaaS eliminates many of these costs as you do not own the backup servers. Providers host the data and maintain the equipment & environment.

• Save Time & Effort
  • With standard on-premises backup servers your internal IT team are responsible for managing & maintaining these. Whereas with BaaS the provider is fully responsible for the hardware where the data is stored. Allowing you to focus on what you do best.

Why not speak to an expert today and ensure your business is prepared in the event of a disaster. Call 0330 1332 202 or email sales@next2it.co.uk.