Cloud storage vendors got a new marketing message, “data on the cloud doesn’t require backup since we replicate the data to at least two different zones or locations”. There is always this assumption amongst some Storage industry folks that ‘Storage is the new backup’. If they say that “data is being backed” up just because the data is in the cloud which replicates it to multiple locations then they do not understand the difference between raw storage and backups.
According to a recent blog by W Curtis Preston “Good backup is much more than mere data protection: Backup must manage data, not just protect it. No basic storage technology will eliminate a real backup solution.” Yes, ‘Backup is Backup’ and Cloud Storage is all about offering raw storage blended with replication for better reliability.
Replication is a great idea since it offers redundancy for the storage and can reduce the risk of losing data. But it is not a life time data protection and management strategy. It would be very much relevant to recall my previous blog on Raw Storage Vs Backup that “Data Backup is lot more than raw storage as there is a backup application which intelligently processes the data and ensures data protection with the help of features like versioning, file retention, customized restore process etc. On top of that a backup application offers a completely automated process with protection for millions of files with sophisticated monitoring, reporting and management features to identify problems if any and troubleshoot quickly”.
Cloud Storage solutions are another form of reliable and scalable storage that can be used by advanced backup solutions and cloud storage alone, whatever the reliability offered is, by itself cannot be a complete backup strategy for businesses. If anyone thinks backups are expensive and cloud storage is the cheapest way to backup, remember that cloud storage is not about data management and protection (backups), but it is only another convenient option for storage. That should explain the reason raw storage offered by cloud storage vendors look much cheaper than a complete backup storage offered by online backup service providers.
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