Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/825042
May/June 2017 31 deploy the tape drive using a staging PC or standalone server. And due to the possibility of incompatible standards or lead time for a replacement drive to arrive, businesses may want to maintain a second tape drive to preempt untimely break- downs. Elsewhere, the cloud is increasingly touted as a serious option for data backups. However, it's also important to note that cloud synchronization services such as Dropbox and OneDrive, by themselves, are not considered backup, since corrupted fi les or mistakes are quickly replicated to the cloud. Business versions of such services typically retain multiple ver- sions of each fi le, though the retention timeframe does vary depending on subscription schemes and also may be changed from time to time. Looking Ahead While it may be tempting to take the easier route by sticking with local backups, developments such as encryption ransom- ware and the specter of terrorism and natural disasters make the need to keep data offl ine and offsite more crucial than ever. Indeed, some of the newest malware will actively seek out and compromise data backups, which means that organiza- tions that keep all backup copies within the same premises are simply asking for trouble. That's why tape technology remains a viable backup medium and is even used by cloud behemoth Google for its popular Gmail service. Despite being extremely slow for fi nding and retrieving individual fi les, tape can be substantially faster than disk for sequential data access—or what happens during data recovery. The relentless increase in the volume of data being gener- ated means that backups can range from scores of gigabytes to multiple terabytes. This makes the speed of data recovery an important consideration, and is an area in which cloud stor- age options generally lag—even with the presence of a fast network connection. The quest for cheap and reliable long-term storage has given rise to the use of high-density optical media such as Blu-ray discs, fi rst unveiled by Facebook in the form of a standalone rack equipped with internal robotic arms and 10,000 Blu-ray discs. This has since been commercialized, though it makes sense only for organizations with very large data archival needs. Ultimately, there is no running away from the fact that a multilayered backup structure is necessary to meet backup demands today. It's essential to make regular data backups and keep multiple backup copies—with at least one copy offl ine. Lastly, depending on risk assessments with regards to the importance of the data, offsite storage also should be considered. Scalable, Efficient, Integrated EDI and XML interface E-commerce integrations Vendor routing controls Customized reporting Committed Pricing without a contract to sign Transparency through a consultative approach Faster implementation Eliminate hassles to improve productivity Control freight costs Audit and freight bill administration Specialized services Multi-department efficiencies Please contact Kevin Brink – kbrink@retransfreight.com or 1-800-426-8896 Ext. 390 to develop your customized program RETRANS FREIGHT HAS MORE OF AN IMPACT ON YOUR BUSINESS THAN ANY COMPETITIVE SOLUTION ReTRans FReighT has moRe oF an impacT on youR business Than any compeTiTive soluTion Please contact Kevin Brink – kbrink@retransfreight.com or 1-800-426-8896 Ext. 390 to develop your customized program Scalable, Efficient, Integrated EDI and XML interface E-commerce integrations Vendor routing controls Customized reporting Committed Pricing without a contract to sign Transparency through a consultative approach Faster implementation Eliminate hassles to improve productivity Control freight costs Audit and freight bill administration Specialized services Multi-department efficiencies Please contact Kevin Brink – kbrink@retransfreight.com or 1-800-426-8896 Ext. 390 to develop your customized program RETRANS FREIGHT HAS MORE OF AN IMPACT ON YOUR BUSINESS THAN ANY COMPETITIVE SOLUTION Despite the many horror stories of data loss out there, it is worth pointing out that even a basic backup regime is often adequate to protect against mistakenly deleted files or drive crashes.