Backup Service Plugs All The Holes

Successful backups are one of the key tenets of a disaster-recovery plan and must take into account several elements: Backups have to be done on a regular, scheduled basis. A copy of the data must be kept off-site. And the backup has to be secure to prevent data theft.

Those requirements often go unmet in the small-business world, where time, money and technical knowledge are in short supply. While off-the-shelf technologies have helped reduce the problem, there are still gaping holes in the backup strategy of the typical small business. One way solution providers can solve those problems, and others, is by turning the backup task into a managed service.

The surest way to get on the fast track in the managed backup game is by partnering with an established MSP. The CRN Test Center set out to find a channel-friendly MSP that provides reasonable backup services to small businesses. That journey led to LiveVault, a Marlborough, Mass.-based MSP that offers realtime, over-the-net backup services.

LiveVault can be combined with several technologies to build a customizable backup solution. In its most basic form, LiveVault InSync is an outsourcing service that completely eliminates the need for tape and uses the latest in remote disk-to-disk technologies to ensure a successful backup and fast restore.

Solution providers will find managing, using and selling the product quite straightforward. Installation starts with just a simple piece of client software installed on the customer’s system, which provides all the connectivity needed to move data across a broadband connection. LiveVault uses advanced data-capture technology and aggressive compression algorithms to speed data across the wire and reduce backup and restore times.

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LiveVault also allows for incredible flexibility when it comes to selecting backup methodologies and schedules. Administrators can choose to do realtime backups, save only incremental data, perform complete backups or backups of individual files, do realtime backups, and back up system states. Those options can be mixed and matched to build a backup policy that fits the needs of most any business.

What’s more, LiveVault offers hardware options to further speed up the backup and restore process, one of which is an appliance that allows backups and restorations to occur at local network speeds and then synchronizes the backup data with the remote LiveVault backup servers.

LiveVault also offers a hardware-restoration service, through which data is restored to a NAS unit at LiveVault’s facilities and then the NAS unit is shipped to the location. This can be an important service when one considers the implications of the loss of a facility from a fire or natural disaster. The NAS unit can be used to rebuild the network and associated data at an alternate location, speeding the recovery from a major disaster.

Aside from backup services, LiveVault features archival capabilities for businesses that have to keep snapshots of data for certain accounting periods. Enabling the archival capability is a simple process of selecting the option as part of the backup schedule. Archive capabilities are an important capability for companies driven by legislative requirements such as HIPAA and Sarbanes-Oxley.

Solution providers will also appreciate LiveVault’s channel program, which presents plenty of avenues to build profitable services. First off, as a service, Livevault InSync presents ongoing revenue opportunities in the form of monthly service charges. Solution providers selling the added security of the hardware appliance add-on will benefit from the margins earned on the hardware and the integration services. What’s more, VARs can garner additional profits by managing the backup process and offering their expertise when it comes to restoring data.