Cloud Backup vs On-premise backup

With data importance never been greater, it is critical for all businesses and organizations to utilize some sort of backup strategy or service to help protect its data and ensure a reliable recovery strategy. The current discussion about data backup focuses on cloud and on-premise backups.

Cloud Backups

On the one hand, the cloud stores the data in data centres with thousands of servers, sent over the Internet using encryption to protect the information, which operate on a subscription basis that is billed monthly or yearly. Cloud backups can come in either a private cloud service or a public cloud service: 

• Public clouds are the most common type of cloud computing deployment, whose resources (like servers and storage) are owned and operated by a third-party cloud service provider (like AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud), although the management of these devices depends on the service plan purchased (IaaS, SaaS, PaaS), being the most common for backing up data the SaaS model. The puclic cloud is a multi-tenant environment, meaning that these computing resources are shared by multiple individuals or companies, with all data secured by encryption between them.
• Diversely, a private cloud consists of cloud computing resources maintained by the cloud solutions vendors but dedicated solely to one business or organization. Private clouds are the preferred cloud option often used by government agencies, financial institutions, or any other mid- to large-size organizations with business-critical operations seeking enhanced control over their environment.

On-premise Backups

On the other hand, the traditional, more well-known option, on-premise backup refers to private data centres that companies house in their own facilities and maintain themselves typically in a separate location than the main data center site. On-prem infrastructure can be used to run private clouds, in which compute resources are virtualised in much the same way as those of public clouds (however, private clouds can also be run on leased third-party hardware).

Making a decision

As with any business decision, the model chosen will likely depend on the priority and importance of the below business needs:

As seen, it is important to consider the organization needs, since both on-prem and cloud computing can provide a business with the IT infrastructure desired: a cloud backup solution would bring ease-of-use, smaller price tag, scalability and automation, while an on-prem approach brings control, stability and built-in personalized behaviors. Or maybe the solution comes for opting for a Hybrid cloud backup solution, which provides a combination of both models: the cloud storage is integrated with the local backup to ensure critical data is protected in the event of a disaster.

Jaume Campeny and Alba Massa