The cloud is also meant to be highly resilient and more secure. Cloud services are usually spread across multiple server farms across geographically dispersed locations to maintain high availability by using redundant systems. If you use email or any form of cloud storage its most likely that your data is replicated across multiple server farms. Due to this strategy of having data replicated across the globe many have come to the preconceived notion that their data is safe.
While redundancy allows for data being highly available it does nothing for data integrity and to a lesser degree data survivability. Consider this, you have data stored on a shared server hosted in the cloud. This data is then replicated between three sites namely Site A, B and C. For whatever reason some data in Site A gets deleted. As far as the server is concerned data being deleted is a typical operation and there is no cause for alarm. This change is then replicated to servers in Site B and C. So now the data is technically lost. In some cases, there might be a possibility to recover the data using some complex techniques however for argument’s sake let’s assume that no such possibility exists.
While redundancy allows for data being highly available it does nothing for data integrity and to a lesser degree data survivability. Consider this:
- You have data stored on a shared server hosted in the cloud.
- This data is then replicated between three sites namely Site A, B and C.
- For whatever reason some data in Site A gets deleted.
- As far as the server is concerned data being deleted is a typical operation and there is no cause for alarm.
- This change is then replicated to servers in Site B and C. So now the data is technically lost.
In some cases, there might be a possibility to recover the data using some complex techniques however for argument’s sake let’s assume that no such possibility exists. It’s these types of situations where backups become critical. If you had a backup, it would be a matter of restoring the data with minimal data loss and you are back in business. If there is no backup however then your data may have truly and well gone the way of the dinosaurs!
If your data is not critical to you or your company, then backups may not be so important after all. However, if the data is critical backups becomes essential. The preconceived notion of data being stored in the cloud is safe is wrong. You are basically punting off your risk factor to another location which may have reduced risk but not completely risk free. Data in the cloud as per the example earlier is still prone to loss due to various factors such as user error, sabotage and systems failures.
If you read the fine print in your cloud service provider’s Terms of Service, you will most likely find a line that reads along the line of “store at your own risk” which essential means you accept any and all risks to data being lost and may not sue the provider. In this day of major data breaches due to hacking and other destructive activities, data stored in the cloud is prone to some of the same risks of having the data sitting in your office or home. Any or all of those risks can cause the same level of damage in either case.
Having your data in the cloud is a great way to access your data from anywhere and does provide you a layer of protection. However, if the data is important to you then consider having another backup somewhere else. I won’t go into the details of how you can backup your data or the different backup strategies you may need to consider. My only aim is to make a case for backups in a day an age where everyone is putting their data in the cloud without considering the risks factors associated with it.