Recommended cloud seeded backup solutions?

[Majestic]

Hi,

I have a client who needs more than 3 TB backed up "to the cloud". They're located in Canada and need a reasonable seeded backup solution. What do you guys recommend? Mozypro seems very pricy and Carbonite Pro does not do seeded backups outside of the usa.

I know there must be a few dozen solutions out there, I'm just trying to find something mid-range (between economical and very pricy).

Thanks

Majestic

 

[Vicenarian]

Hi,

I just recently checked out a bunch of Canadian-based cloud backup providers (probably 10 or so different solutions) and they are VERY, VERY expensive. We're talking about $1000/1500 per year for only 300 GB of data; if you find anything cheaper let me know, but so far, it looks like US based cloud backup providers are the way to to for the moment for most consumers/customers.

Edit: maybe this? https://get.dollydrive.com/purchase?dc=closest
Never heard of them before; but they offered seeded backup in Canada, but the cost is still pretty high $500 for 2 TB

 

[Markverhyden]

Dolly has been a recommended Mac one for a while. Maybe the OP might consider discussing a local setup so to speak. They could hang the device off the network for the initial backup and then park it at a local spot for the offsite. Of course need to make sure the device has all the redundancy RAID 5, etc, etc.

 

[PC Ops]

I have really taken a liking to Copy.com.

Good pricing, multi platform, the works

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

What kind of data?
What kind of speed do they need for disaster recovery.

We recently took on a client that had a "cheaper" offsite backup plan. Hadn't had much to change/upgrade their existing IT to "our standards" yet.
One day the RAID controller on their server went Tango Uniform..and corrupted things. Wasn't as simple as replacing a drive and letting it rebuild the volume, it needed a data restore. I forget how much data, but one of their databases was massive, took >10 hours to come back down if I recall correctly. There was a whole slew of other issues that weren't handled right by the backup software, combined with other things. Nearly 2 full days and nights later my colleague got 'em up and running again...took all his skills..but it gave us a good eye opener on "Don't skimp on backup..and don't let clients skimp on backup either". Client really felt this 2 days of downtime.

Got us to rethinking our backup strategy for our clients. We used to cater to them letting "price" drive it...allow them to go with cheaper options. It's pretty much "here are our 3 offerings...we really don't want to support anything else. We're also very clearly spelling out "how freaking long it takes to rebuild your servers" if you don't go with a good disaster recovery solution". They're getting the full speech! And a forewarning about how big that invoice will be if one or two of our guys are there for 2x full days and evenings.

BTW, the client in above example...is now on Datto Alto for backup!

For a budget/workgroup setup, consider a Datto Genesis appliance if you don't need good DR for a server. Nice little NAS unit that backs up offsite, and very affordable.

How much value does a client put in their business data? Not much if an annual invoice a thou or two scares them away.

 

[Markverhyden]

I always have a conversation with customers about their data backup and IT strategy and how it could impact their business. That conversation includes how much data, generally in days, they can tolerate rebuilding without a noticeable negative impact on their business How long can they operate without their IT infrastructure operating in whole or in part? Once the correct questions are asked and the event paths are fleshed out some actually realize the impact these things have.

Every place that does seeding to get started does the reverse for data restore. Either way it can be a huge amount of time with the subsequent business impact. They still take about 2 business days to get you the drive. But if it's a total disaster situation, building up in smoke, you need to still get a server, etc.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

But if it's a total disaster situation, building up in smoke, you need to still get a server, etc.

Can be cut down to under 2 hours by spinning up an offsite virtualized. Take a few months rebuilding the office, get a new server, one evening push the image to new bare metal or hyperhost...back in biz!

But yeah..that conversation on realistically how long it can take with traditional and "budget" backup options...hopefully it's sobering to the client.