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| Do You Backup or Store Your Data? Posted: 27 Apr 2012 10:00 AM PDT With Google’s announcement introducing Google Drive, I have been thinking more about how I store my data. When it comes to storing data, it seems the cloud is becoming a more popular choice, especially for those that wish to share their files. When I view the data storage options on the cloud I am always wondering how I can use such a service for saving all of my data files. I then came to realization that services such as Dropbox and Google Drive aren’t what I need when it comes to backing up my data. There are two ways to look at how you save your data.
Data Backup or Data Storage?Many people, myself included, use multiple devices in their daily lives. They may use a laptop, desktop, tablet, or mobile phone on a regular basis. The one issue that arises with using multiple devices is the way in which data is shared. With a cloud-based solution, data files would be stored online and can be access from any device that you would use. If the data files are changed, you would then upload the changed file, usually automatically through an application, back to the cloud. In addition to sharing data between devices, many of the cloud-storage solutions also provide a way of sharing data between you and your peers. This allows others to read your data and even modify the files. This is a great solution for those that collaborate with groups of people. While the above process may seem like data backup, I consider data backup to be an entirely different process. For me, data backup is a method of keep your data safe, and being able to restore your data when you lose the master copy. The key here is that the data should be store safely, and securely. With many data storage options, that allow you or others to share and modify data, there really isn’t a lot of control of how the data can be changed. Anyone with access to the data can modify/delete/add files to the pool. With data backup, this process is restricted to protect the files. Data backup is about preserving the data files, so that they can replace the certain files if the original files are lost. In order to maintain the integrity of the backup files, strict access control over who can access the files must be in place. Also, for many data storage and sharing solutions, there is very little amount of data storage space available. This is because you may not be storing or sharing all your data files. With data backup, the storage needs would be greater as you will be backing up all your data files. Currently I am backing up 320 GB+ of data files. If I were to store some files for sharing, it would only be a subset of this data. I consider data backup and data storage to be two separate actions. Both can utilize a cloud environment, but the purpose of both data storage and data backup is unique, and can be summed up as follows: Data Storage
Data Backup
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| What is the IT Manager’s Role in the Cloud Hosting Environment? Posted: 27 Apr 2012 05:00 AM PDT What is an IT manager’s role in the cloud hosting environment? While moving to a cloud hosting environment shifts the IT manager’s job from hardware to software, there are several areas where management decisions and oversight are still required. An IT manager must still manage key aspects of the cloud hosting environment such as authentication, access, approval processes, support and security.
AuthenticationHow will user authentication be handled? Will employees use employee numbers for user IDs or combinations of their initials and last names? Will users need simple user names and passwords to access the cloud hosting environment or will they also need dual factor authentication such as key-fobs and SecurID cards? AccessWhat levels of access will be set up in the cloud? Will there be a view only role, engineering or change manager access and a system administrator level? Or will there be additional levels of access, such as limited access areas for very sensitive data? Managers must define the access control limits for each type of user account, describing the approved transactions and activities each type of user account can perform. Approval ProcessesIT managers must decide how access will be granted. Who can request various access levels? What process must they go through for approval? Who can authorize various access levels? Who determines when access is no longer required, and when is access revoked? Who decides which individuals receive administrative rights and for how long? These formal approval processes must be determined by the manager and formally published as procedures for the IT department to follow. IT managers must also have plans in place to ensure compliance with these approval processes by IT support. SupportIT managers will set goals for IT support of the cloud environment. If technical support for the cloud is outsourced to a third party firm, the manager will sign a service level agreement contract. What support level is required of the group maintaining the cloud hosting environment? What is the required up-time of the environment? How quickly must the system administrators set up new users? How long do they have to handle user tickets for problems such as being unable to view data or requesting upgraded permissions? What are the penalties the support provider incurs if the service level agreement isn’t met? IT managers also review system metrics such as up-time, number of user tickets, network performance and data volumes. SecurityOne of the most important parts of an IT manager’s role in the cloud hosting environment is security. Even when support is managed by a third party firm, managers still have responsibility to ensure the security of the system. What security measures are in place on the system today and how is its effectiveness ensured? Managers must also have plans to maintain security via periodic patches, planned testing and intrusion detections. IT managers should also have reviews of access logs to look for unusual access patterns. Are any users accessing the system late at night? Are any accounts showing unusually high activity, potentially indicating a single account in use by multiple individuals? Are users slated for departure from the company accessing more data than expected? Are user accounts being deactivated quickly? IT managers must also decide how often system activity must be checked, what constitutes suspicious activity and how rapidly support must act when suspicious patterns are observed. Photo credit: Wovox  Related Posts
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