Cloud Backup

Just about everyone these days knows that a good data backup solution is important for the health and longevity of a company. Those that realize they have a lot to lose invest a lot to ensure they don’t lose it. They run an automated cloud backup system at least daily and keep their data safely tucked away in a secure offsite backup facility.

It’s Not Just About the Data

But data is not the only asset that can cripple your business if lost. Think about the equipment that processes that data—your servers and other computers.

Guardian Secure Plus takes a different approach to offsite backup. Sure, we provide cloud data backups. We take a snapshot of your data every 15 minutes, encrypt it and send it to two HIPAA compliant, SAS 70 Type II certified data centers. No worries about your data being safe. But how does that help you if your server was flooded by a broken water pipe or fried by a lightning strike? What if it was stolen? It can take days to get replacement parts installed or weeks to get a server replaced. Knowing your data is safe is reassuring. But reassurance doesn’t get the work done. What you need is a server. And you need it now.

The “Plus” in Guardian Secure Plus

That’s why Guardian Secure Plus—our premier infrastructure backup solution—includes an onsite backup appliance. In addition to storing multiple generations of your data in the cloud, we also store it in our onsite Guardian appliance. Should you need to restore large amounts of data you don’t have to go very far. Files can be retrieved up to 1000 times faster than downloading from a cloud backup. But the best part is that the Guardian appliance can also act as a backup server. That’s the “Plus.” If your server fails for any reason the Guardian appliance can take over. In fact, a single appliance can act as a server backup for up to five servers.

30 Minutes of Downtime… MAX!

The Guardian Secure Plus cloud backup service includes 24×7 monitoring for your backed-up servers. If a server fails, our network operations center will know within minutes. In fact, we often know it before our customers. We can connect remotely and have the Guardian appliance take over serving your data and applications, usually in less than 30 minutes.

But it doesn’t stop there.

Gone Today, Here Tomorrow

What if your entire building was lost in a fire, or all your equipment—including the Guardian appliance—was otherwise damaged or stolen? This is where our unique cloud backup and virtual hosting solution really shines. Having your data safely stored in our datacenters, with minimal effort we can “spin-up” a replica of your servers in the cloud. Our engineers will have it up and running in a few minutes. Once it’s up we can configure your staff’s computers to point to these cloud hosted servers. They can then work normally, unaware that their server is now thousands of miles away.

Everything mentioned here about servers can also apply to desktop computers as well. In the event of a catastrophe that wipes out the entire office, staff can work from home using their home computers to remotely access replicas of their former office PCs. The virtual environment looks and works identically to the original environment. In essence, Guardian is providing a full network backup.

In most cases, we can have your business systems running in the cloud the next day. You may be working in a temporary office facility, or in your respective homes. This virtualized cloud hosting will keep your business alive and productive until you can rebuild. So unlike simple cloud backup solutions, Guardian Secure Plus is a true Business Continuity solution.

The Cost of Infrastructure Cloud Backup Protection

So what does all of this protection cost? Surprisingly, less than most offsite data backup only services. If you have large amounts of data, our offsite data storage charges are typically less than that offered by most other offsite backup providers. All you pay is one monthly fee to cover offsite storage and service fees and a one-time appliance provisioning and installation fee.

For less than the typical price of offsite backup alone, we give you offsite backup, onsite backup, a fail-over server, emergency cloud virtual hosting, 24×7 server monitoring and a local IT support team standing by to help if you need us.

So what will it cost for your organization? That will depend on the number of computers we’re backing up and your current and future data usage needs. We have several packages and plans for server and workstation backups starting at $309 per month. We can also put together a custom plan designed specifically for you.

Next Step

If you’ve been searching for a data-only cloud backup solution, you owe it to your business to consider the Guardian Secure Plus total infrastructure cloud backup solution. You’ll get a lot more for your money. And you’ll sleep better at night knowing your business’ IT needs can survive anything Man or Mother Nature can throw at them. So why not give it a try?