Podcast – A Quick Guide to Data Classification with Storage Expert Ray Lucchesi

Ray Lucchesi, President of Silverton Consulting

5 min 16 sec

In this Experts & Insights podcast,  Gary Parker, senior PMM at BakBone, talks to Storage Expert Ray Lucchesi of Silverton Consulting about data classification. Ray shares with us how to create a data classification strategy that safeguards your business based on the value of its data. This podcast also explores how to determine the value of data by evaluating the real Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO); how to work with users to create classes of data such as Static, Business-Vital and Mission-Critical; and how to assign storage software and hardware systems based on the class of data to gain maximum use of resources.

Heerim Architects Meets RPO and RTO Objectives with BakBone

“NetVault: FASTRecover’s 30-second recovery performance will help increase our company’s productivity and help us continue to meet our clients’ needs. The simple and easy-to-use interface has freed me from the unneeded stress and problems of everyday IT administration.” ~ RH Kwon, Systems Operator of Heerim Architects

The Challenge: With many independent file servers allotted for each project team and hundreds of projects constantly in progress, it was critical for Heerim Architects to protect their data and minimize business interruption. Construction Management and architectural drawings were stored on data servers that contained sub-divided data storage space for saving prototypes separately. The new and old data, which included architectural drawings, required full data protection as well as a system that could manage the history of changes and modifications to these files. Heerim’s old backup solution caused too many backup windows and was increasing data recovery costs for the company.

The Solution: Heerim selected NetVault: FASTRecover for real-time data protection based on its 30-second recovery capabilities, which makes it possible to go back to any-point-in-time to quickly retrieve consistent data. This was not possible with their old  solution. The fast availability of data after recovery (BakBone’s Virtual On-Demand Recovery technology) was another feature that Heerim looked to employ in their data center because it would minimize downtime.

The Benefit: NetVault: FASTRecover enabled Heerim to protect critical data in real-time and eliminate backup windows. And FASTRecover’s easy-to-use interface reduces the level of expertise for system administrators to perform data recoveries. The high availability of information after recovery also limits operational downtime.

Determining RPO and RTO for Remote Office Applications and Data

Matt Law

The phrase “out of sight, out of mind” dates back to at least the 13^th century.  Essentially, the idea here is that something is easily forgotten or dismissed as unimportant if it is not in direct view.  Think about it.  At some point in your life (home or work), you’ve strategically placed an “IMPORTANT document” on the remaining clear space on your desk. As hours and days pass, other “not so important documents” and Post-it Notes begin to invade the sacred desk space that had once been dedicated to that “IMPORTANT document.”  While the value of the “IMPORTANT document” has not really changed, daily distractions and shifting piles have caused the “IMPORTANT document” to become lost in the mix and appear as “just another document,” one that you will eventually get to, eventually read and eventually take action. Sound familiar?

So how does this relate to RPOs and RTOs – recovery point and recovery time objectives – for remote offices?  Simple. Even though remote offices/branch offices (ROBOs) are indeed “out of site,” they should not be out of mind – particularly the mind of IT. Only by taking time to classify applications and data at your remote sites, can you ensure adequate protection AND recoverability.

Here’s an easy way to classify data:

• Mission Critical Data/Applications are those that could result in negative financial or legal impact on the business if they are lost for any period of time. Real-time data protection solutions often come into play here.
• Business Vital Data is just that. This data is vital to the daily operations of your business.  Plans for protecting and recovering may include bare metal recovery, backup to disk and perhaps even real-time data protection.
• Important Data may be subject to a higher rate of change. Unlike static data, if you were to accidentally delete important data, there would be a higher sense of urgency and a desire to get it back relatively quickly.
• Static Data doesn’t change much over time.Likely needs to be backed up once so that a copy does exist and can be accessed at some point if there is a requirement to do so.

So, don’t forget about the applications and data at remote offices. Don’t forget about your remote users. Take time to classify the data at these sites.You may find that the data protection solution you have in place to be sufficient in terms of delivering the desired RPOs and RTOs. However, factor in the need for recovery-ready offsite copies, seamless failover and failback and you may find that your current plan falls short. Only by first classifying remote site data can you begin to put a well-designed and comprehensive data protection plan into place.