In the quick-paced business world, data is the key to a company’s survival. That data most flow and be protected at all costs from almost every imaginable problem. If the data concerning a customer, a product or an operation is misplaced, destroyed or scrambled; then your company could be in peril. The key to protecting your data is twofold. You must back it up on a regular basis and it must be kept in multiple and safe locations.

There are ways to achieve this protection using on-site physical protection, computer networking and internet-based protection and backup. While this project may sound daunting, it is very easy for a small business to set-up their own grid of protected storage. We’re going to show you a simple 3-step program that can be used as a frame and tweaked to fit your own small business. First, you need to be aware of two different types of storage. Network-attached storage (NAS) and cloud computing. These terms will be explained in steps one and three of the plan.

Step 1: NAS and the solutions it offers. A NAS network should be the core of your new program. Network-attached storage is a file-level computer data storage unit connected to a computer network. This server is connected to all the computers in your company or office and shares the files from one source. They are often specialized computers built from the ground-up for this purpose. They usually contain more than one hard drive; using logical, redundant storage containers or RAID arrays. If your business works with large amounts of data, a NAS network makes access, configuration and administration far easier. It can create such simpler and cost-effective systems as load-balancing and fault-tolerant e-mail and web servers. It’s a good choice because it takes the work and stress off individual computers and servers.  We list some great NAS products and the companies that make them at the end of the article.

Step 2: Combining NAS with a great product, the ioSafe SoloPRO external hard drives. IoSafe is famed for their construction of disaster-proof hard drives and their SoloPRO line is a great choice for small businesses to combine with their NAS networks.  There are 23 different products in the SoloPRO line and here are some that would be a great fit for your business. The 1TB SoloPRO USB 3.0 Desktop Hard Drive is an excellent choice because it comes with a three year data recovery service with up $2500 of forensic data recovery and replacement. It is Linux, Mac and PC compatible and its fireproof skin protects data from loss in temperatures of up to 1550 Fahrenheit for up to ½ hour. For your purpose, the most important feature is the USB 3.0 and/or the e-STATA/USB 2.0 connectivity which allows the SoloPRO to connect to any NAS network. This connectivity feature is shared by the 2TB model, the 300GB SoloPRO SSD, the 1TB SoloPRO Desktop Hard Drive and the 3TB USB 3.0 Waterproof/Fireproof Hard Drive. The ioSafe drives can combine onsite protection with your NAS network, providing new levels of security for your data.

NAS + ioSafe SoloPRO is great for SMB

Step 3: Cloud protection. This type of storage uses the internet as a utility where your company sends its data to an internet storage grid. It is called a “Private Cloud” when a company engages a third-party to host an infrastructure where the data is copied, stored and updated on a regular basis. Your company can have this service for a monthly or yearly fee. Updates and copying schedules depend on the individual plan and what internet company you use. There are definite advantages in the areas of scalability, security, performance and multi-tenancy. This article provides a great list for companies interested in securing cloud coverage, “Top Cloud Computing Companies to Watch and invest in 2011”.

HDDFiresafe.com is always interested in connecting you with great products. These three companies make quality NAS devices that could fit your small business’s profile.

Synology: This Company specializes in NAS equipment for a variety of clients. In their small business & workgroups section they have many products available. Such as the RackStation RS411, the RackStation RS409 and their DiskStation line has the following; DS411, DS410, DS211 and the DS111.

LaCie: This French company has several lines of NAS products available. Such as the LaCie Network Space 2, the LaCie Network Space MAX, the LaCie 5big Backup Server, the LaCie 12big Rack Network and the LaCie CloudBox (which works perfectly with cloud coverage).

Pegasus Promise: They have several NAS products available The SmartStor NSx700 series is ideal for high-performance environments. The Enterprise Storage line is ideal for corporate structures and the SMB Storage line provides medium and small businesses with cost-effective ways to keep their data online longer. Pegasus is also involved with cloud storage solutions.

This basic plan covers all the bases. NAS allows your data to flow and perform better; the ioSafe products offer onsite protection and high-quality performance and investing in private cloud protection will allow you the peace of mind of knowing your data is decentralized and off-site. The final layout of your plan is up to you but HDDfiresafe.com will be here to help you put the pieces to together.

Written by:

Joseph Fowler

HDDFiresafe.com

It's true.... many moons ago ioSafe manufactured a NAS storage device called the ioSafe R4. This network attached storage server could house up to 4TB of storage and provided the end user with all of the bells & whistles you would expect from a NAS including RAID, hot swap hard drives, remote administration and even a built-in backup manager. Alas, ioSafe no longer makes the ioSafe R4 but there are still many ways in which you can reap the benefits of a NAS and still get the fireproof & waterproof protection that ioSafe is famous for.

NAS meet ioSafe. ioSafe meet NAS.

At our office we recognized many years ago how important RAID is to our own data

The ioSafe R4 was a 4TB NAS that was fireproof & waterproof. This product is no longer available.

backup strategy. We value redundancy and multiple backup copies of client information, databases as well as Exchange and .PST files. We also recognized that the missing link was disaster protection. What if the hard drives crashed or a fire ripped through our building. The simple solution was to connect the ioSafe hard drive directly to the NAS. It may sound elementary ( and it very well is) that for $500-$1,000 small businesses could now afford a solid data backup plan that may very well keep them in business should disaster strike.

Our Setup

In our office we have an Exchange server, ReadyNAS 1100, ioSafe Solo and the first generation ioSafe S1 (the ioSafe S1 is no longer manufactured).

We run a mixed environment with a combination of PC and Mac. [Our graphic designer prefers the Mac platform for all of the wonderful imagery you see on our website today - thank you Mr. Maximumedia :) ]  The ReadyNAS 1100 acts as our office file server with seven (7) workstations connecting to it on a daily basis. The ioSafe Solo is directly connected to the ReadyNAS and we utilize the built-in backup manager to backup our RAID 1 hard drives to the ioSafe. This set-up gives us TRIPLE REDUNDANCY, fire protection, water protection as well as the best in class ioSafe Data Recovery Service (DRS) with up to $5,000 of forensic recovery should our ioSafe hard drive break for any reason, no questions asked.

Cost

As the cost of storage has dropped tremendously in the last few years you can now get an ioSafe + NAS for as little as $500.00. A quick Google search reveals that the ReadyNAS Duo can be found for under $160.00, add in 2 x 1TB hard drives for $55 each and an ioSafe Solo starts out around $150.00.

Total Cost of NAS + ioSafe TODAY: $420.00

Shown above is the ioSafe S1, 1st Generation fireproof hard drive from ioSafe. This product has been replaced with the ioSafe Solo and ioSafe SoloPRO.

Several years ago when we first implemented our setup the price was much higher with the ReadyNAS 1100 priced at $2,300 and came with 4 x 500GB hard drives. Toss in the ioSafe S1 at $3,000.00 and you were digging deep into your pockets.

Total Cost of NAS + ioSafe 5 YEARS AGO: $5,300.00

That's an 80% drop in cost over five years! 

Comparing the PROS & CONS

At first glance combining the benefits of NAS storage and an ioSafe hard drive may seem confusing (especially to small business owners that are not IT or tech junkies at heart). However when you start to break down the benefits and compare apples to apples there is a tremendous value to the SMB to implement this or a similar data backup plan.

PRO's

RAID. RAID. RAID. Yes, the value of redundancy cannot be emphasized enough and multiple backup copies are always better than one.

Standby Hot Spare - with a 4 disk RAID set up you can run two (2) hard drives in a RAID 1 (mirrored backup copies) and have an extra hard drive on standby in case one of the drives in the RAID crashes. The standby drive will automatically kick in and begin making a backup

Remote Access - With the NAS in your backup loop you have access to your business data without sending it to the cloud where it may be subject to more risk than it might be worth. We'll leave that up to you to decide.

Disaster Protection - fire, flood, accidental deletion, you name it and the ioSafe DRS has you covered with no questions asked. It's remarkable that ioSafe is the only hard drive manufacturer that offers this service with their product.

CONS

More Equipment - yes, with this setup you must now purchase two (2) pieces of equipment. For many small businesses or mom & pop shops extra equipment is often a no, no.

Price Points - While many of our readers with say that the ioSafe + NAS set up is a cheap way to get data protection they are presuming that every business has the same cash flow as they do. The reality of the small business world is that budgets are tight and most of the time non-existent until year 3,4 and even year five.

To sum things up if I could help all of our small business clients implement the ioSafe + NAS system I would. This setup works very well for the majority of our clients and without a doubt a mixture of brands still achieves the same goal. Whether it's a Seagate BlackArmor NAS, NetGear ReadyNAS, Western Digital NAS or an HP MediaSmart server the point is that combining ioSafe hard drives with network attached storage is a very wise choice for the small businesses around the world.