Cloud Backup
GLOSSARY
There are a number of confusing terms bandied about
in the marketplace today regarding cloud computing,
data backup and storage systems—so much so that
consumers, professionals and even journalists have
trouble keeping them straight. These misunderstandings
are why companies like Carbonite, which offers cloud
backup, are mistakenly compared with or equated to
Backupify, which offers cloud-to-cloud backup.
To help you make smarter decisions about protecting
your personal and business data, we’ve complied a quick
cheat—sheet of cloud related terms for storage and
backup. We’ve included TL;DR summaries for those of you
in a serious hurry.
Photo Credit: Craig Lindsay, wikipedia.org Mammatus cloud
cloud, the
Any software system that resides on Internet-connected hardware, with access to that system delivered via the Internet, usually by way of a web browser.
TL;DR: The Internet
cloud backup
(
AKA:
online backup)
A service that replicates data either on a local hard drive or local file system and stores that duplicate data in the cloud. It is a specialized type of offsite data backup, in that the backup is conducted over a conventional Internet connection and the duplicate data is generally accessible from any web browser.
Like any backup, cloud backup systems are designed for the explicit purpose of protecting against data loss and minimizing the time it takes to restore lost data.
TL;DR: Stuff on your hard drive you back up on the web
Cloud backup providers include: BackBlaze, Carbonite, CrashPlan, Mozy, Norton Online Backup
cloud drive
(
AKA:
cloud sync, file sync)
An app that replicates files across multiple local hard drives by way of the Internet. Typically, cloud drive services—sometimes referred to as cloud sync or simply as file sync services—create a specific folder or virtual drive on your local machine and ensure that the contents of that folder or partition are precisely replicated on any other system.
Cloud sync services are generally intended to simplify data-sharing between PCs and collaboration between colleagues. Rather than email a copy of a document or file to a collaborator, the cloud sync services merely includes a synced copy of the data in the shared virtual folder or drive, allowing both parties to access it simultaneously and view or approve any alterations to the file.
TL;DR: Using the web to copy files from your hard drive to someone else’s hard drive
Examples include: Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft SkyDrive, SugarSync
Photo Credit: SuperStock Clouded leopard
cloud migration
The process of moving data and applications from on-premise systems to cloud-based systems, typically from a SaaS vendor.
TL:DR: Replacing Microsoft Office with Google Apps, or GoldMine with Salesforce
cloud storage
A data storage system accessible from the Internet, designed explicitly as a complement to or replacement for local storage on a conventional hard drive. Cloud storage is a category that encompasses cloud backup, cloud-to-cloud backup and cloud sync services; they are all subsets of cloud storage.
TL;DR: Files you manage in your web browser
Photo Credit: NASA Cat’s Eye Nebula
cloud-to-cloud backup
A service that replicates data stored in one cloud system and stores that duplicate data in another cloud system. Cloud-to-cloud backup is different from cloud backup in that it does not involve any data stored on your local hard drive. The primary systems protected by cloud-to-cloud backups are web-based applications—from personal apps like Gmail to enterprise-grade SaaS applications like Salesforce—wherein the user often has limited or highly regulated access to their data. Cloud-to-cloud backup systems extract data from these web apps and place them in entirely separate cloud storage systems, ensuring that a software glitch or security breach in the primary system does not irrevocably destroy user data. Cloud-to-cloud backup systems are also optimized to restore data from backup into the primary web application to minimize downtime and lost productivity.
TL;DR: Your stuff on the web that you back up somewhere else on the web
Cloud-to-cloud backup providers include: Backupify
cloud region
The geographic location(s) where data is stored
TL;DR: The actual country (and legal jurisdiction) where your data is stored
Photo Credit: NASA Aleutian Karman Vortices
data ownership
A principle that determines which party has final say over the disposition of data in a system: the user or the vendor. Data ownership is a key issue for cloud services, as the vendor has physical control over all data in a system and thus can often dictate what data customers can access, download and retain both within and without a cloud system.
TL;DR: The right to get your data out of a web server
disaster recovery
A plan and process for returning computing systems to full operational status after an unanticipated or unplanned system failure. Typically this involves a combination of both policies and systems. Cloud vendors often tout that they have removed the burden of disaster recovery from customers thanks to robust hardware redundancy, though such measures do little to address unauthorized access or user error.
TL;DR: A plan for getting all your business software and data online back after a disaster
encryption at rest
A promise that all data in a cloud application not currently being viewed, processed or transferred is encrypted. While nearly all cloud services encrypt data transfers using SSL browser connections, encryption at rest ensures that unauthorized employees of a vendor can’t simply browse your data from their internal system, and that any hacker that gains unauthorized access to a vendor system can’t read your stored cloud data either. All mature cloud security and privacy polices will have encryption at rest guarantees.
TL;DR: A plan for getting all your business software and data online back after a disaster
privacy policy
A documented policy which explains when and how a cloud vendor is allowed to share or disclose the data you store in a cloud application, as well as the circumstances under which the vendor can disclose metadata about your usage of a cloud service. Privacy policies are particularly important for advertising-supported cloud vendors, as they spell out what types of usage data a vendor can present or sell to advertisers.
TL;DR: A policy for how and when a vendor is allowed to share your data
Photo Credit: NASA Wave clouds
retention policy
The documented policy which determines for how long, and in what formats, production and backup data is maintained and accessible. Regulatory and
government oversight bodies often dictate minimum retention policies for certain data and certain industries. Mature backup systems will disclose their retention policy for your backup data, and enterprise-focused backup solutions will allow for customer-defined retention policies.
TL;DR: Will you store my data forever or does it expire
RTO
The Restore-Time Objective (RTO) is a benchmark for how fast lost data is recovered from backup files, placed back into an active production system and is ready for full customary activity. RTOs are measured in standard units of time— seconds, minutes, hours, days or even weeks, with critical data and systems held to a much shorter RTOs than non-critical systems.
TL;DR: How long it takes your disaster recovery plan to work
saas
Software-as-a-service (SaaS) is an alternative to traditional installed software. SaaS applications are accessed via a web browser, data created by or loaded into these applications is stored on non-local web servers, and the costs of these applications typically follow a monthly subscription model, rather than a one-time license fee.
TL;DR: Will you store my data forever or does it expire
service credits
The amount of money you pay for a day’s, week’s or month’s access to a cloud service is the value of a service credit for that application. As most cloud services bill on a monthly basis, a service credit is usually equal to 1/30th the monthly subscription cost. Service credits are typically invoked when cloud providers are compensating a customer for poor performance or inaccessibility. For example, a service going offline for a day may result in a one day service credit being applied to your account, such that the day lost is effectively free.
TL;DR: The days of free service you get when your vendor fails their SLA
SLA
The Service Level Agreement (SLA) is a documented aspect of a cloud service customer contract which explains both the guaranteed level of uptime and what sort of compensation a customer can expect for failing to meet that threshold. SLAs also typically spell out levels of customer support and—most importantly —a cap on service credits that can be earned as a result of SLA violations by the vendor.
TL;DR: The fine print that tells you how low your uptime can get before a vendor stops charging for it
TOS
The Terms of Service (TOS) document is a set of rules by which the customer of a cloud service must abide to retain access to the service. The TOS is of critical importance because it spells out precisely what behaviors could result in the suspension or deletion of user data or user accounts. TOS violations are typically limited to criminal acts or attempts to “game” the service by accessing unpaid-for or unauthorized features or service levels.
TL;DR: The fine print that tells you when and how a vendor can kick you out of a cloud service
Image credit: Claus Lunau Oort cloud
uptime
The percentage of time a cloud service is accessible, as measured for a given length of time. For example, most uptime guarantees are 99.9% per month, which means that the service will not be down for more than 43 minutes and 12 seconds in a typical 30-day period.
TL;DR: The percentage of time a web service doesn’t return a 404 error
vendor lock-in
The measures a vendor takes to ensure that leaving their services are sufficiently difficult, making it almost impossible to replace them with a competing vendor. In cloud systems, vendor lock-in typically involves an absence of methods for extracting data from a cloud application, or the use of proprietary data formats that are incompatible with the competing systems.
TL;DR: All the ways cloud vendors hold your data hostage
Need more guidance on the world of cloud computing and data backup?
Check out the Backupify Resources Page.
