Long-term Data Retention Solutions

[wa15]

We are currently utilizing tapes to satisfy our long-term retention policy of 10 years, but the tapes are getting out of hand with the amount of data we are pushing to them and so I am looking for alternatives.

We need to archive about 12TB worth of data on a weekly basis and am interested in cloud solutions that Veeam can "tap" into and use as a repository. It would need to be ITAR compliant. Average number of restore from it would be once a month.

Any suggestions are welcome!

[Shestakov]

Hello,
Cloud backup indeed is one of the ways to go. Just find service providers in your region and start using Veeam Cloud Connect.
As for tapes, I think it`s still the less expensive alternative + if take them offline they will be fully protected from any online attack.
Thanks!

[wa15]

Thanks. Looking at Veeam Cloud Connect, its use cases seem to revolve around DR as a service. Would you say it's also a good option for long-term archival needs?

[veremin]

Basically, there are two services Cloud Connect functionality is built around: Repository as a Service (cloud repositories) and Disaster Recovery as a Service (cloud hosts).

The first option seems like a good choice for you. Use this lookup service to find a SP suiting your best.

Thanks.

[csinetops]

Just wanted to add a little input as I use cloud connect. First off, it works great and is fairly inexpensive. My only tip is test drive a few vendors including contacting their support, some are cheaper than others but when you get into the "nitty-gritty" of having to contact support etc, you get what you pay for. I use SingeHop.

Secondly, for part of my solution I use a NetApp AltaVault that has Azure as its secondary long term backend. Basically my backups go to my backup storage. Then a backup copy job sends them to my AltaVault in a secondary location as a second copy. Then the AltaVault live streams them to Azure storage for long term retention. It also keeps whatever backups you "Pin" on the AltaVault for the amount you determine. I had some issues with it in the beginning but its a slick solution to adhere to the 3-2-1 rule as well as long term retention.

I did not do long term retention to a cloud connect partner because anything over a few years and they want pretty strict contract terms.

Hope that helps!

[Shestakov]

Considering the fact you have AltaVault as secondary long term backend you may just leverage backup copy GFS retention for long-term data protection. How many copies of historical backups do you need?
Thanks!