{"id":4410,"date":"2021-06-17T11:14:10","date_gmt":"2021-06-17T15:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/backup-disaster-recovery\/?p=4410"},"modified":"2021-06-17T11:20:28","modified_gmt":"2021-06-17T15:20:28","slug":"business-continuity-and-affordable-cloud-backup-how-you-can-save-on-storage-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/backup-disaster-recovery\/business-continuity-and-affordable-cloud-backup-how-you-can-save-on-storage-costs\/","title":{"rendered":"Business Continuity and Affordable Cloud Backup: How You Can Save on Storage Costs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BusinessThis is part of Solutions Review\u2019s Premium Content Series, a collection of contributed columns written by industry experts in maturing software categories. In this submission, JG Heithcock of Retrospect,<\/a> a StorCentric Company, explores how IT professionals and personal users alike can save on cloud backup and storage.<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"PremiumAn organization has much less assurance of business continuity\u00a0and overall data protection\u00a0without reliable backup\u2014yet some data storage\u00a0backup\u00a0is prohibitively expensive for many organizations. It\u2019s therefore important to understand your options for\u00a0data transfer and data storage\u00a0pricing models, particularly for cloud backup.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While some cloud storage providers charge customers for all interactions, other providers simplify pricing to only the storage amount. It\u2019s important to understand that your company’s operations are a big part of what determines cloud storage usage rates. Read on to better understand the full list of features that cloud storage providers may ding you for, as well as cost estimates for more economical options. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Let\u2019s begin by considering four key cost components that cloud storage providers may charge for\u2014alongside the ideal way to leverage backup software to interact with your choice of storage location effectively.<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. Storage<\/span><\/b>. <\/span><\/b>The core cost component that all providers charge for is simply the amount of\u00a0data storage\u00a0an enterprise\u00a0uses.\u00a0These costs might show up based on usage, or else as\u00a0a flat rate for “unlimited” storage.\u00a0By using backup software\u00a0for daily backups,\u00a0corporate\u00a0storage\u00a0use\u00a0will\u00a0rise\u00a0as\u00a0the software\u00a0stores\u00a0new or modified\u00a0files,\u00a0just as with\u00a0disk-based backups.\u00a0Some backup software includes a useful\u00a0grooming feature, which allows for\u00a0storage\u00a0management\u00a0while maintaining backup history.<\/span>
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  2. Downloads. <\/span><\/b>Many cloud storage providers will charge customers based on the amount of data they download, known as egress, so it\u2019s wise to confirm the pricing in advance. Top backup software helps by downloading data when it does different types of data verification, such as a restore or catalog rebuild. Verification download any uploaded data for integrity verification. You can also keep your download costs lower by disabling verification instead of opting for data compression.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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    1. API requests.<\/span><\/b> API requests\u2014the least expensive component of cloud storage\u2014refers to the number of\u00a0requests that\u00a0your backup software\u00a0sends to the\u00a0cloud storage\u00a0provider.\u00a0Keep in mind that\u00a0Amazon S3,\u00a0Google Cloud Storage, and other\u00a0large cloud storage providers\u00a0charge for these\u00a0services.\u00a0This may show up in billing as\u00a0“GET requests”\u00a0or\u00a0“PUT\u00a0requests.\u00a0For example, \u201cas\u00a0a\u00a0ballpark figure,\u00a0backup software can\u00a0use 20,000 PUT requests to store 1\u00a0terabyte\u00a0of data and 200,000 GET requests to\u00a0fetch\u00a01\u00a0terabyte\u00a0of data.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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      1. Uploads<\/span><\/b>. <\/span><\/b>Not many cloud storage providers charge for the amount of data uploaded, also known as ingress, but don\u2019t assume they won\u2019t,\u00a0since some do. Verify whether you can expect upload charges before signing on with a provider.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Examples of Potential Storage and Cloud Backup Fees <\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

        Now let\u2019s examine what\u00a0two\u00a0different types of businesses might expect to pay for these various services depending on the amount of data stored, which services they use, and which cloud service provider they select:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

        Large Design Firm\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

        A\u00a0large design firm\u00a0might have\u00a010\u00a0terabytes\u00a0of data,\u00a0with\u00a0100\u00a0gigabytes\u00a0changing daily and 100\u00a0gigabytes\u00a0restored monthly.\u00a0As an example,\u00a0opting for standard storage,\u00a0they\u00a0can expect an\u00a0average monthly bill\u00a0of around\u00a0$310.\u00a0Check out\u00a0this breakdown:<\/span><\/p>\n