Data backup still needed for cloud-based storage

With the advent of online storage offerings such as Dropbox, Google Drive and Microsoft’s OneDrive and SharePoint, many individuals, businesses and government agencies have taken to storing their data in the cloud. One of the major selling points for cloud-based storage is its reliability. The use of such storage, however, does not always obviate the need for backups.

What’s that you say? The vendors all tout multiple redundant servers, geo-redundancy and a bunch of other capabilities that sound like mumbo-jumbo to the layman. In fact, all of the major cloud-storage vendors do an excellent job of ensuring that your data is not lost. But backups provide more than just making sure your data is protected.

A common configuration is to use cloud-based storage as a mirror of a computer. Basically, one “maps” a local drive to an online disk. Any changes made locally are replicated in the cloud. In case the local computer is lost, damaged or somehow compromised, the cloud version of your files is still available.

Often called “poor man’s backup,” many small businesses and individuals use this method. It does have advantages, primarily cost, over old-school tape- or disk-based backups but also has its holes.

Another common setup, as we advocated here a few weeks ago, is to basically replace the organization’s file server with cloud-based storage. Similarly, this scenario also has shortcomings.

Say, for example, there’s a spreadsheet that you worked on months ago, but deleted it either by accident or on purpose, thinking you’d never need it again. In both scenarios above, you cannot retrieve that file, in most cases, if it’s more than about 60 days old. Using old-fashioned backups, however, you would typically have a significantly longer history from which to retrieve deleted or overwritten files.

Some might argue that “versioning” mitigates the need for backups. Versioning is supported by all the major cloud storage vendors, but again, there are limitations. Google Drive, for example, keeps old versions for up to 30 days (or 100 revisions). Similarly, DropBox keeps old versions for 30 days, or up to 120 days in its business version.

Microsoft’s SharePoint Online and OneDrive offerings are a bit more robust with their version history, especially with, as you might guess, Microsoft Office files. Still, though, there are limitations that can only be addressed with some form of backup.

Finally, cloud-based storage solutions might fall short for organizations with regulatory compliance concerns, such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) or Payment Card Industry (PCI), which is a set of regulations around online financial transactions. While the cloud storage vendors all try to address the requirements of these regulations, some do better than others.

ON THE MOVE

Straub Medical Center has announced the following new physicians:

>> Dr. Aldrich Alden Ricalde is an internal medicine physician based in Straub Clinic at Pearlridge.

>> Dr. Tanya Von Detten is a family medicine physician based at Straub Clinic in Hawaii Kai. She provides family medicine care, including preventive care, women’s health, nutrition, pediatrics, chronic disease management as well as international medicine and global health.

>> Dr. David Worthen is a family medicine physician based in Straub’s First Insurance Center Clinic in Honolulu. He provides family medicine care.

John Agsalud is an information technology expert with more than 25 years of IT experience in Hawaii and around the world. He can be reached at jagsalud@live.com.