Azure SQL backup: 3 ways the cloud offers superior disaster recovery

Half of businesses are leaving their data at risk due to limited disaster recovery plans.

Of these businesses, 17 percent do not backup their business data at all.

In a time where cyber-attacks are becoming more frequent and sophisticated, not having a backup plan could be the straw that breaks your business’ back. This is why it’s essential your business invests in the right backup and disaster recovery initiatives, such as Azure SQL backup.

While an on-site backup plan can offer you fast recovery times, one-time costs and some portability, it can cause numerous detrimental problems.

The downfalls of on-premise disaster recovery

Although an on-premise solution might seem like the simplest option, it’s certainly not the safest. Ultimately, backing up your data on-site can lead to:

Data loss. Did you know that 67 percent of businesses who suffer data loss do so because of hardware failures? Unless you have a well-managed infrastructure, a single outage could become the end of your disaster recovery plans.
Lack of continuous backup. How often does your business backup your data? If you’ve only got one copy of your data onsite, imagine what could happen if your office experiences a break-in or a flood.
Hidden costs. Certain tasks, such as general IT maintenance and support, can slowly accumulate into a hefty sum of hidden costs. Not to mention, an unforeseen disaster or security breach can result in the cost of replacing your hardware itself.

With the clear unreliability of on-premise disaster recovery solutions, it’s time you set your sights on a more sustainable, secure alternative.

3 benefits of Azure SQL backup

In this blog, we’ll discuss three benefits of cloud backup on Azure SQL and how it triumphs over on-premise disaster recovery.

1. Automatic, hassle-free backup

Securing continuous backups is important for any disaster recovery initiative. Without up-to-date copies of your data, an outage or security breach could result in you losing t business-critical information.

With Microsoft’s cloud database, Azure SQL, your data is backed-up automatically, with no additional charge. Not only does this eliminate the need to replicate data manually. You also needn’t worry about running out of on-premise storage.

The time of each restore depends on the type of backup:

Transaction log backups occur every 5-10 minutes
Differential backups happen every 12 hours
Full database backups are created weekly

Depending on your chosen service tier, the retention of your data can be anywhere from one week to ten years (with Azure’s blob storage long-term retention).

2. High availability and reliability

Unfortunately, on-premise servers often suffer from unexpected outages or performance issues. By transferring your data to the Azure SQL database, your business can take advantage of a 99.9 percent rate of availability.

The database is maintained, upgraded and patched by Azure, ensuring that you’re not wasting time managing your assets or suffering from data loss. Ultimately, this means that your company’s valuable assets are safe.

3. Unparalleled scalability

Regardless of how often your team backups data on-premise, you’ll inevitably suffer from some storage hurdles at one point or another. Whether it’s the cost of provisioning new servers, or the issue of finding room for physical hardware, on-premise disaster recovery initiatives can be a burden.

With Azure’s flexible platform as a service, you can scale as you see fit, either adding more compute power or more databases or by removing any CPU you no longer need.

This flexibility allows you to store data backups without any worry, helping you to hit the ground running if you ever experience any data loss.

Get the right IT support

Unfortunately, 60 percent of small businesses that suffer a data loss incident shutdown within six months. You simply can’t afford to leave your data unprotected.

When it comes to securing your data and investing in a solid disaster recovery solution, Azure SQL backup is the way to go.

But, how do you go about migrating your existing on-premise database onto the Microsoft cloud?

Without the right expertise or support, your migration to Azure SQL backup could become messy at best and at worst a disaster. To ensure your data is kept safe during its transition, it’s vital you enlist the help of an expert cloud service provider who is well-versed in Azure and its offerings. Not only can they help you move your database, but they can help you to manage your new environment too.

If you’d like to learn more about Azure SQL backup, please contact us today.