Overview
The methodology we use to perform this service has been throughly tested and selected to allow larger amounts of data to be backed up daily.
This also increases "Restore" performance as the data is restored from a local backup cache and not the remote Data Centre.
We recommend following these guidelines as they have worked well and complement our support services to ensure data can be recovered successfully.
Critical Data Backup
This service is offered to backup "Critical Data" Only
It is recommended Operating Systems and Application Install Data that can be reinstalled from the vendor CD/DVD should not be backed up with this solution
Contact us for a more detailed backup plan to suite your disaster recovery requirements...
Backup Schedule
Backups are performed seven (7) days a week 52 weeks of the year.
No more need to change tapes during the weekend and public holidays...
Backup Type
We have elected to use Bitbackup as our preferred method of performing backups.
Using this technology can substaintially reduce the time it takes to do an online backup / restore of large data files
A complete reference copy of all backed up files are kept in a local disk cache.
It then uses the contents of this disk cache during subsequent backups to identify individual records that have changed. The solution then backs up only these changes resulting in shorter backup times and reduced storage requirements within our data centre.
This allows you to maximise your data allowance by backing up more data, using less space.
Please Note: Standard incremental backups can be performed and require no local disk, however restores must then be performed online and depending on the amount of data and internet connection will take longer to perform a restore.
Disk Requirements
To perform Bit Level Backups there must be enough local disk space available to service the compressed size of the backup and the retention period of data.
A cost effective method of ensuring enough disk space is available is to use an external USB drive dedicated to this function.
Data Retention Period
Our default retention period is 15 Days.
This allows a client to roll back to a file version that is two weeks old...
The "latest" file version will always be kept online for the duration of the clients subscription
The retention Period is fully customisable to suit your business requirements.
Please Note: Increasing the retention period may increase your data allowance requirements.
Backup Data Allowance
The amount of Data Allowance required to store your backups is based on the "Native" file size that is to be backed up.
This is due to the fact that different file types have different compression ratio's. This also assists with ensuring you have enough allowance to service your on going backups.
The "Disk Quota" used is monitored and a notification is sent with each daily backup report.
If you are getting close to or are exceeding your data allowance we will advise you
.
Please Note: Backups will continue to run if the data allowance is exceeded giving you time to assess whether to go to the next plan or adjust the backups to suite your exisiting plan.
This is far better methodology than the traditional tape system where if the tape capacity is exceeded then the backup will stop until a new tape is inserted.
Data Encryption
All data is Encrypted and Compressed before being transferred offsite via an internet connection to our secure Data Centre.
It is improtant to maintain your Encryption key after the install as without this you may not be able to access your data if the Client software is reinstalled etc.
We can not see the content of your data!!!
So you can rest assured your data is safe from anyone else seeing it other than your Encryption Key holder
Backup Monitoring
All Backups are monitored to ensure they have been completed successfully
If a backup has failed or been missed the subscriber will be notified via email
Exceptions can be reviewed and escalated to the subscribers preferred service provider
Supported Operating Systems
We currently support Windows 2000 & 2003 Servers and Windows XP and Vista Workstations
Support now available for Windows 2008 Server!
Installation & Setup
For our Small to medium Enterprise plans it is recommended the first backup is configured and performed by an RBS agent. This is to assess the size of the backup and whether it can be sent via the Internet in the first instance
As the first backup can be quite large it may be necessary to manually transfer the Secured information to the data centre manually
After this, all backups are performed automatically from a predefined schedule, and only the data that has changed is transferred.
This task is performed outside of the RBS Subscription plan and is performed on a time and materials basis.