Backup Solution (NAS)
What Is NAS?
Network-Attached Storage (NAS) is a dedicated file storage system containing one or more storage drives that enable multiple users to collaborate and share data. This shared storage is accessed by users on a Local Area Network (LAN) via an Ethernet connection. NAS is designed primarily for handling unstructured data, such as audio, video, websites, text files, and Microsoft Office documents.
NAS Device Categories
There are three categories of NAS devices, based on drive capacity, drive support and scalability. Each category is suitable for different business sizes:
There are three categories of NAS devices, based on drive capacity, drive support and scalability. Each category is suitable for different business sizes:
Enterprise NAS
This is the high-end category. It is designed for enterprises that need to store large quantities of file data. Enterprise NAS provides rapid access and NAS clustering capabilities.
Mid-market NAS
The NAS mid-market category is suitable for businesses that require several hundred terabytes (TB) of data. Mid-market NAS devices cannot be clustered.
Desktop NAS
The low-end NAS device is for small businesses and home users that require local shared storage. This market is shifting toward a cloud NAS model.
Reasons Your Business Needs a NAS Backup Solution
You can’t afford to lose business-critical data
Between technical services, lost productivity and the value of lost data itself, businesses can spend an average of nearly RM15K trying to recover from a data loss event. NAS devices often house the most vital business information within an organization. Because they hold such valuable business assets and are an integral component to an organization’s day to day operations, it’s essential to take steps to guarantee the data they store.
Not taking the proper precautions to fortify the data within your business’s NAS device is negligent and will put your business at a much greater risk for permanent data loss and the expenses associated with it. By backing up the data on your NAS device, you’ll be able to recover it quickly and with the least financial impact.
Between technical services, lost productivity and the value of lost data itself, businesses can spend an average of nearly RM15K trying to recover from a data loss event. NAS devices often house the most vital business information within an organization. Because they hold such valuable business assets and are an integral component to an organization’s day to day operations, it’s essential to take steps to guarantee the data they store.
Not taking the proper precautions to fortify the data within your business’s NAS device is negligent and will put your business at a much greater risk for permanent data loss and the expenses associated with it. By backing up the data on your NAS device, you’ll be able to recover it quickly and with the least financial impact.
You’re using your NAS as your organization’s one and only backup solution
NAS devices are storage devices connected to a network in order to allow storage and retrieval from a centralized location. However, they are not and should never be considered a backup solution. While they are intended as storage devices, some businesses mistakenly use them as backup solutions. While NAS devices are often used to hold backups for company data, they should never be the only backup a business relies on. This is because, as physical storage devices, they are vulnerable to a myriad of threats. These threats include flood, fire, device failure, and more. Using one local, physical NAS device to account for all of your business critical data is just about the worst data mistake a business can make, as it violates multiple backup solution safety and reliability recommendations:
1. Data should be backed up to at least 3 places
2. Backups should not only be stored locally (where they are vulnerable to the same local threats as your other business devices)
3. Physical storage devices are not 100% reliable and should be supplemented with a cloud backup solution
4. Storage devices are not backups (Exception: you can store backups on storage devices for easy access, so long as you still follow all additional backup guidelines)
5. Off-site cloud backup is the most recommended backup solution and should be included in your data recovery plan in some form
NAS devices were designed for file syncing and sharing, and while keeping data backups on an NAS device isn’t a cause for concern in and of itself, trouble arises when businesses use them as their go-to backup solution.
NAS devices are storage devices connected to a network in order to allow storage and retrieval from a centralized location. However, they are not and should never be considered a backup solution. While they are intended as storage devices, some businesses mistakenly use them as backup solutions. While NAS devices are often used to hold backups for company data, they should never be the only backup a business relies on. This is because, as physical storage devices, they are vulnerable to a myriad of threats. These threats include flood, fire, device failure, and more. Using one local, physical NAS device to account for all of your business critical data is just about the worst data mistake a business can make, as it violates multiple backup solution safety and reliability recommendations:
1. Data should be backed up to at least 3 places
2. Backups should not only be stored locally (where they are vulnerable to the same local threats as your other business devices)
3. Physical storage devices are not 100% reliable and should be supplemented with a cloud backup solution
4. Storage devices are not backups (Exception: you can store backups on storage devices for easy access, so long as you still follow all additional backup guidelines)
5. Off-site cloud backup is the most recommended backup solution and should be included in your data recovery plan in some form
NAS devices were designed for file syncing and sharing, and while keeping data backups on an NAS device isn’t a cause for concern in and of itself, trouble arises when businesses use them as their go-to backup solution.
You need control over data outages
Device failures and physical damage are an all too common cause of data loss. If your NAS device goes down or stops functioning, you need to be able to continue operating your business in the meantime. In order to do so, you’ll need to have a solution on-hand that gives your people the ability to recover files quickly and seamlessly. This ability will allow your staff to reduce downtime associated with data loss.
By backing up your NAS device to an off-site location that can be accessed via the cloud, you’ll be able to access your data in the meantime while your company works to replace your NAS device. This will allow your staff to greatly reduce downtime due to data loss.
Even better, once you purchase a new NAS device to replace the failed one, you can quickly re-configure your NAS device with all of the data you need by simply restoring your backed up data from the cloud to your new device.
Device failures and physical damage are an all too common cause of data loss. If your NAS device goes down or stops functioning, you need to be able to continue operating your business in the meantime. In order to do so, you’ll need to have a solution on-hand that gives your people the ability to recover files quickly and seamlessly. This ability will allow your staff to reduce downtime associated with data loss.
By backing up your NAS device to an off-site location that can be accessed via the cloud, you’ll be able to access your data in the meantime while your company works to replace your NAS device. This will allow your staff to greatly reduce downtime due to data loss.
Even better, once you purchase a new NAS device to replace the failed one, you can quickly re-configure your NAS device with all of the data you need by simply restoring your backed up data from the cloud to your new device.
Bounce back from collaboration & syncing errors
While file syncing capabilities are one of the major reasons businesses adopt NAS devices, these capabilities can also be a source of frustration and lost work due to lost or overwritten file changes. When documents and files are shared company-wide and multiple users have access, file changes are bound to get overwritten. By implementing an NAS backup solution that provides unlimited previous file version histories, your team will be able to search your backup to find the exact version of any document you need.
Unlimited previous file versions also come in handy if your NAS device is infected by a ransomware virus that encrypts all of your data, making it unreadable to you until ransom is paid. Once the virus is detected and removed, your work can be restored from the previous file versions held within your backup.
While file syncing capabilities are one of the major reasons businesses adopt NAS devices, these capabilities can also be a source of frustration and lost work due to lost or overwritten file changes. When documents and files are shared company-wide and multiple users have access, file changes are bound to get overwritten. By implementing an NAS backup solution that provides unlimited previous file version histories, your team will be able to search your backup to find the exact version of any document you need.
Unlimited previous file versions also come in handy if your NAS device is infected by a ransomware virus that encrypts all of your data, making it unreadable to you until ransom is paid. Once the virus is detected and removed, your work can be restored from the previous file versions held within your backup.
