Forget These Disaster Recovery Myths

Disaster recovery (DR) isn’t what it used to be. Long gone are the days when a DR solution cost over a hundred thousand dollars and relied predominantly on tape backups. Cloud computing has dramatically changed the DR landscape. Unfortunately, there are still many misconceptions about DR. Here are a few of the myths that no longer apply.

Tape Backups are the Best DR Solution

Backup tapes are physical objects that deteriorate over time. Don’t believe us? Try listening to a cassette tape from the ‘90s. Over time, tape backups become distorted and stop working. Deterioration is slow and may only affect some files in the early stages, so don’t settle for a mere cursory check. Tape backups are not the best for DR solutions, but they are an excellent price for offline storage. Super DLT Tape II can store up to 600GB of data and has a shelf life of 30 years if stored in the right environment; much longer than any backup medium.

Aside from backups in your office, another set of tape backups needs to be stored outside your premises. In case a natural disaster damages your office, not all your data will be wiped out. But if your storage space isn’t safe from the elements, this could also be a problem.

BUT,  a cloud backup solution is a much better DR solution.  The backups are always available,  online and ready when you need them for the disaster.  The right DR solution can get you back online in minutes, while the tape backups take much longer to restore data.   A Tape backup is not a good DR solution. Unlike tape backups, a cloud-based backup saves you time. Data is automatically backed up online, and you don’t need to spend time managing boxes of tapes. Your time is better spent on your assigned tasks, not IT management.

The RTO you want will be too expensive

Recovery time objectives (RTO) are essential to any DR plan. You need to get everything up and running again as quickly as possible to avoid serious losses. In the days before the cloud, a swift recovery time could cost you well into six figures. Today, cloud and virtualization solutions have made this much more affordable, and faster than ever before.

Most DR providers can back up your critical data in an hour or two. And if you ever need to recover it, most services can do so in less than a day. That’s the power of the cloud. And when it comes to DR, it truly has changed everything.

Disaster recovery is for big business, not SMBs

The cloud has made this valuable service affordable for businesses of all sizes. From dental offices to small retail operations, SMBs can now take advantage of the best DR solutions on the market. Advances in IT and the cloud have eliminated the obstacles of complexity, costs, and insufficient IT resources.

We hope that by dispelling these myths, we’ve demonstrated to you that disaster recovery is more affordable and efficient than ever. If you’d like to learn how our DR solutions can safeguard your business, send us a message at khaight@wamsinc.com or call us at (800) 421-7151 and we’ll gladly fill you in.

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WAMS, Inc.

The experts at WAMS, Inc. all have a background in the legal industry and understand the software and the demands that come along with it. That’s why all our clients receive a dedicated account manager and engineer with specific planning that works for your business needs. We didn’t break into the tech world to pinch pennies from clients. We go into every partnership to help their business scale gracefully. Your company growth is our company growth, always.