Exercise 53: Offsite Versus On-Site Your Organization Has Ap

Exercise 53 Offsite Versus On Site1your Organization Has Approximate

Your organization has approximately 10TB of data, and you need to decide if your organization should have on-site or offsite tape storage. Your organization must be able to easily recover data no older than one month, as an operational requirement. Your organization’s further requirement is that recovery operations must resume at minimal levels for all systems within two weeks of a total catastrophe at the data center. Decide how your organization should house its backups. Note: Write an assignment of at least 400 to 500 words with citations. Indicate two sources or references in your original post. You can use the Disaster Recovery textbook or current research articles. The last date of the assignment is 07/29/2018 on Sunday before 11:00 p.m.

Paper For Above instruction

In the contemporary digital landscape, organizations grapple with the critical decision of whether to house their backups on-site or offsite. This choice significantly impacts data recovery speed, security, compliance, and overall resilience against disasters. Considering the specific requirements—10TB of data, recovery of data no older than one month, and the need to resume operations within two weeks after a total data center catastrophe—this analysis explores the optimal backup storage strategy.

On-site versus Offsite Backup Storage

On-site backup storage involves maintaining data copies within the organization’s physical premises. It provides rapid access and recovery, which is advantageous for operational efficiency. However, on-site storage poses risks; in cases of physical disasters such as fire, flood, or theft, backups can be compromised alongside primary data (Rittinghouse & Ransome, 2017). Conversely, offsite storage involves duplicating data to a geographically distant location, often using tape storage facilities, cloud services, or remote data centers. While offsite backup introduces additional recovery time, it offers enhanced protection against localized disasters.

Data Volume and Recovery Requirements

Given the approximately 10TB data volume, the organization must select a storage medium capable of handling this size efficiently. Tape storage remains a cost-effective solution for large-scale backups, especially for offsite repositories, due to its high capacity and durability. Modern tape technologies can hold multiple terabytes per cartridge, aligning with the storage needs (Baldwin, 2018). For on-site backup, disk-based solutions like Network Attached Storage (NAS) or Storage Area Networks (SAN) provide faster recovery times but may entail higher costs.

The operational requirement of recovering data no older than one month suggests that the backups should be performed at least daily. Daily incremental backups complemented by weekly full backups can ensure that data within the desired recovery window is available. This approach minimizes recovery time and data loss, ensuring minimal impact on operations.

Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Planning

The requirement to resume operations within two weeks of a disaster underscores the importance of a robust disaster recovery (DR) plan. Offsite backups stored in geographically dispersed locations can facilitate faster recovery by providing redundant data copies. Cloud-based backup solutions can also expedite recovery by enabling quick data restoration from remote servers, often with automated processes.

Recommended Backup Strategy

Considering these constraints and requirements, a hybrid approach appears most suitable. On-site disk-based backups can ensure quick recovery of recent data, enabling operational continuity for daily activities. Simultaneously, offsite tape storage can serve as a secure, long-term backup repository, safeguarding data against catastrophic events.

In practice, daily incremental backups should be stored on-site to facilitate rapid recovery. Simultaneously, full backups should be sent weekly to offsite tape storage, ensuring adherence to the one-month recovery window. Additionally, cloud backups can be incorporated to enhance flexibility and rapid recovery capabilities, especially if physical transportation of tapes is delayed or impractical.

Conclusion

Selecting between on-site and offsite backup storage involves balancing recovery speed, security, cost, and disaster resilience. For organizations handling critical data with stringent recovery windows, a hybrid approach leveraging both onsite disk storage and offsite tape storage provides a comprehensive solution. This strategy ensures quick access to recent data, long-term preservation, and resilience against catastrophic failures, aligning with organizational recovery time objectives and operational needs.

References

• Baldwin, J. (2018). Data Storage Technologies for Data Centers. Journal of Cloud Computing, 7(1), 45-55.
• Rittinghouse, J. W., & Ransome, J. F. (2017). Cloud Computing: Implementation, Management, and Security. CRC Press.