A few notes before signing a contract with a cloud supplier

Cloud Backup is another popular technology for computing cloud development, which The provides a number of advantages for remote sites. backing up to the cloud is simple, and its difficulty is choosing the right provider to handle the company's data . In this tip, you'll learn the things you should be aware of before you sign up and ask your future cloud provider the best questions.

For the employer, cloud Backup is a very simple, once and for all process, just decide what users want to back up, simply do not need their own people to do anything, the IT staff requirements are not high. Just install an agent on your system.

However, choosing the right cloud backup provider requires a lot of effort on the IT staff. Cloud Backup is a new technology, and suppliers are changing rapidly. You have to be careful about many factors and you can't take things for granted when choosing a supplier.

Are your indicators appropriate?

Because of the bandwidth limitations of the Internet, it can be slow to recover a large amount of data from a cloud backup. In some cases, a recovery can take days or even longer. That's why some suppliers, such as EMC's Mozy and Venyu, have the option of getting back a copy of a backup engraved on a DVD or copied to a removable hard drive when you need to recover.

This may be the best (possibly more expensive) option, given the time it may take to download all over the network. Mozy charges 99 dollars for 4.7GB of data burned on a DVD, and charges 199 dollars for one hard drive.

Not only does narrow bandwidth increase recovery time, many cloud backup vendors can only back up and restore files and folders, such as Carbonite. In other words, they need you to specify a file or folder to back up, and not allow you to specify a larger block of storage. As you move into backup partitions or the level of the disk array, their system slows down gradually. Carbonite cannot back up an external hard drive or a network share.

is the cloud backup vendor reliable and stable?

The stability of a cloud backup vendor may be one of the most important factors in choosing a service. Most of the suppliers are new, many of them are small, and many of them may not exist in a few years-at least not in the way they are. If you choose the wrong supplier, you may one day need to transfer 1TB or more of the backup data to another site within a few days.

Although no one has many successful history of cloud backup, some vendors have been doing backup and archive business for many years, making their schemes more believable. Also, several cloud backup vendors are being bought by large companies, which should improve the stability of those suppliers.

While it is important to cloud backup vendors to commit to their business disruptions, it is essential to remember that those promises are of little value when those suppliers suddenly fail.

Have you read the terms carefully?

Cloud backup providers provide essentially the same services, but there are significant differences between what they provide and how they are delivered. Some companies, such as Amazone's S3, are basically renting out storage space for you. Others, such as Acronis, offer complete solutions to help you build and manage your system backup and recovery. Vendors like Acronis also provide features such as policy-based backup and centralized backup management. Some other, such as the Venyu Company's Amerivault, are designed to handle the backup design of small businesses and provide many services, such as management.

Issues to be noted include the bandwidth limitations of the vendor, the total storage capacity limit per account, and how data is processed when the protocol expires. Other areas that are less obvious, such as jurisdictions, need to be scrutinized.

Is there a circumvention clause in the agreement?

Beware of similar "best efforts" and similar evasive phrases. You need a deal that can handle emergencies properly. This is all the more important given that cloud backup is still an evolving business and the standard approach has not yet been formed. Other words that need to be noted in your service level agreement, such as "reasonable time", do not specify a specific amount or compensation for the method of calculation. Also pay attention to the nominal recovery time that takes into account only the server performance of the supplier without considering the network factor, and some mysterious terms such as the jurisdiction when the lawsuit arises. (For example, if you're in South Carolina in the United States, you don't want to sue in Washington.) ）

The basic problem here is that cloud backups are still evolving, so there are a number of ways to interpret the terms and its interpretation. Some interpretations are reasonable and some are not. So make sure everything is OK.

is the guaranteed recovery time acceptable?

Like other backup vendors, a cloud backup provider should give you a guaranteed time to recover your data. Does the time provided (which should include the time passed over the network) satisfy your purpose, and what assurance does the supplier provide?

Can the system do bare metal recovery?

This is a bit of a hassle, because not all cloud backup systems will regularly back up the operating system or system state. However, some suppliers in the bare-metal or "near-bare-metal" recovery time than other manufacturers to be stronger.

For example, the Zmanda company's cloud services can back up files and system state, but you must load a copy of the operating system into the recovery system before making a recovery. Acronis's cloud Backup product (used in conjunction with Acronis's TrueImage) enables a true "near-bare-metal recovery".

Have the legal issues been mentioned?

Some legal provisions, such as the Symbian Act and HIPPA, may require you to meet some requirements in protecting your data. Regulation becomes a problem when data flow crosses state boundaries or borders. In most cases you are responsible for your data leaks even if you don't know where your data is. Different jurisdictions have different requirements, because many states and the European Union have great differences in data protection requirements.

Ask your legal department what your obligations are and how your suppliers intend to meet these terms.

Do you ensure end-to-end security?

The basic principle of cloud security is that your data should never be compromised, whether in the process of transmission or otherwise. The first step is to encrypt your data as it leaves your server. The second step is to use SSL or other means to make your data secure during transmission. The third step is to ensure that it is safe to store and process it after arrival. Review your vendor's security policies and warranties to see if they are encrypted before transferring data. If not, invest in your own encryption system.

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