Disaster Recovery as a Service vs. Backup as a Service: What You Need to Know

Downtime caused by a data breach or a natural disaster can be detrimental to your business. According to Gartner, downtime can cost as much as $5,600 a minute and according to FEMA, 40% of businesses do not reopen following a data disaster.

To give your business the best chance of survival, you must implement a data backup plan as well as a disaster recovery plan to combat data loss and improve potential downtime. These services keep work running smoothly without interruption. However, is there a difference between the two? Are they interchangeable? Let’s discuss everything you need to know about these plans and how to use them best for your business.

BaaS: Backup as a Service

This model offers backup services for all files and databases that hold your critical data. Each item or piece of data that is backed up has been chosen prior by you and other end users. During a natural disaster or data breach, the files and data that have been backed up are easy to restore, decreasing downtime for your business.

This model is best for businesses that use simple networks and infrastructures. BaaS solutions often cost less than other solutions, making it a go-to for businesses who require low maintenance options. As for your responsibility, backups require you to determine what data requires backing up and what data doesn’t. Data that goes into the backup must be consistent, which is also your responsibility. Backup solutions offer scalable space and memory and can also be managed by managed service providers if desired.

DRaaS: Disaster Recovery as a Service

Disaster recovery as a service or DRaaS is the perfect solution for preparing for catastrophic data loss and downtime. During a disaster, your company’s reputation is at stake as well as the well-being of your organization. DRaaS solutions duplicate your existing infrastructure, giving you the ability to work after an event occurs.

DRaaS solutions restore the backup as a whole, often restoring the infrastructure immediately including your databases, files, applications, software and more. For infrastructure that has been custom built and is difficult to maintain and create, DRaaS offers your own infrastructure as a backup, only on a replicated server. Businesses who have larger IT budgets often consider DRaaS due to the cost of replicating servers and infrastructure. However, the investment is worth it in the case of a data incident.

Disaster Recovery as a Service and Backup as a Service: Comparing the Two

Although both solutions are a great choice for your business, it is important to understand the differences to make an educated choice on which is best. Let’s outline the differences in more detail below.

• Backup as a Service backups are determined by you and other end users within your business. The backups are performed within separate files and databases that you choose. As for Disaster Recovery as a Service, backups are performed at the server level, replicating the infrastructure as a whole. The backups include the entire operating system, software, applications and all of your normal business configurations.
• Backup as a Service solutions are made for systems that can be recreated easily with little to no rebuilding or designing. When downtime occurs, backups work to recreate your data and files. Disaster Recovery as a Service offers your business a duplicate of your environment including your applications, software and more. DRaaS is a good choice for environments that are difficult to maintain, build or are custom made to fit your business. During a data incident, a separate server is used to house your infrastructure for immediate use.
• Backup as a Service works best in environments that are able to work through a bit of downtime while data files are recovered. For environments that are unable to survive downtime of any kind or duration, DRaaS is best.

As you can see, both solutions have their own differences when it comes to data backup, infrastructure and downtime requirements. Which one is best for your business?

If you are a small to medium-sized business who understands your pertinent data, have a lower budget to satisfy and able to withstand some downtime after a disaster, a BaaS solution might be the best choice. For larger organizations with loads of data, huge infrastructures and difficult to maintain networks, a DRaaS solution could be best.

For businesses of all sizes, implementing both a BaaS solution and a DRaaS solution is the optimal choice. DRaaS will allow you to jumpstart your operations quickly after a disaster however, BaaS gives you quick access to your most important data, large disaster or small loss. Let New Era Tech help you choose between Disaster Recovery as a Service and Backup as a Service or both to find a solution that is best for you and your business.