Yes, the title of this blog sounds a little strange. Most of us are used to hearing “backup your data to the cloud.” Today, we are going to talk about when and why you should consider a backup of your data in the cloud to some other location, whether it be a local backup or another cloud backup used in conjunction.
Microsoft and Google both have a redundant and resilient cloud infrastructure, and you will almost certainly not lose your data stored in OneDrive, Google Drive nor any of the e-mails stored in Exchange Online or G Suite mail.
However, there are some scenarios that should be considered while creating your Backup and DR plan.
Scenario 1: Accidental deletion of a file, folder or email.
When you delete a file or folder, it usually ends up in the “trash” or “recycle” folder, stays there for 15 to 30-days, depending on the policy of your service provider. After that period, it is permanently removed from the servers of the cloud service provider.
Scenario 2: Accidental or manual “spring cleaning” of your recycle bin or trash folder.
If you were having that urge to clean up your Inbox and the enthusiasm spread to include your recycle bin or trash folder as well, then the 15 or 30-day retention period could be reduced to zero. As soon as you clean up your recycle or trash bin, all the files or emails within are gone for good!
Scenario 3: Malicious intent or hacking.
We all face social-engineering and phishing attacks and attempts everyday. If you fall prey to one, and ended up compromising your password, a hacker or a bot controlled by a hacker could randomly or systematically delete your files/folders or emails. They could also be immediately deleted from your recycle bin, making it impossible to recover unless you had a robust backup and DR in place.
There are several options of backing up your cloud data elsewhere so that in any of the above scenarios, you could retrieve your lost or deleted items.
Option 1: Cloud backup providers
These backup providers usually integrate directly with your Office365 or GSuite account, and can have long retention policies that you can specify.
Option 2: Cross-cloud backup
If you have Office 365 subscription, then get some cloud storage subscription from Google or AWS (S3 or Glacier) and if you have GSuite, then get some cloud storage space in Microsoft Azure cloud or AWS cloud storage. You still need a backup software that can seamlessly integrate with your GSuite or Office 365 account and perform the backup and provide you a good management console to help you retrieve the data easily when needed.
Option 3: On-premise backup
If you have decent bandwidth and feel more comfortable having your data in your own data-center (or IT closet), you can use third-party software to setup such backup to your own environment.
There is no right or wrong choice. The right solution for you will depend on your regulatory or compliance requirements, cost-effectiveness of the solutions in question, and in-house expertise.
If you prefer to let this be someone else’s headache, choose cloud backup subscriptions such as SkyKick or Barracuda.
Should you prefer to backup in AWS or other cloud service provider, NetApp’s Cloud Control is a good option. This can also be used if you have NetApp storage appliance on your premise and would like to backup Office 365 data to NetApp storage owned by you.
For on-prem backup, you can also use your own server or datacenter, then software from Carbonite, called MailStore could be a good option. This is good option for mail storage, but may not backup your OneDrive and/or SharePoint sites.
Feel free to call +1-919-800-0044 and reach out to a GSuite or Office 365 specialist at SAM IT to help you choose the right solution for you.
