backup and recovery

On-premises backup and recovery considerations.

Taking the right approach with on-premises disaster recovery. The age of the Cloud has well and truly arrived, however, a large number of SMEs are still continuing to choose the on-premises backup and disaster recovery option. At ASL, we know the success of any backup and recovery solution lies in the planning. In choosing an on-premise solution, it’s extremely important to take into consideration a number of points before finalising your plan. What are the considerations for an on-premises solution? The first major consideration is whether to invest in building and maintaining your own system, which would include the appointment of IT staff with the appropriate expertise in the configuration and operation of the system. Suitably qualified personnel could be a) expensive and b) a challenge to find so you may want to consider the option of outsourcing instead. The second consideration is to determine the amount of data you need to backup and whether the purpose of this backup is file recovery only, if corruption has occurred, or data recovery, in the event of a disaster. Other considerations include: backup and recovery specifications – size and speed of storage environment RTO – recovery time objective or the maximum amount of downtime tolerable RPO – recovery point objective or how far back files are to be recovered application requirements – to accommodate real-time transactional data or static files internal or external implementation of the recovery – will consultants be needed to assist? data replication to off-site centre or cloud data amount kept on physical systems vs. virtual machines VM storage support backup server deduplication facility – to reduce storage and increase recovery speed backup to tape, disk or hot site – affects RTO Keeping your data from being exposed to third parties Keeping your data under your own control. Addressing these considerations will assist you in determining the nature of the data storage environment required. Why outsource your backup and disaster recovery to ASL ASL has more than two decades of experience in designing and implementing backup and disaster recovery solutions. We know how important it is that your IT systems, business applications and data are recovered as rapidly as possible to reduce the impact a disaster can have on your operation. Our experts have the specialist knowledge required to keep your IT systems up and running in the event of a disaster. For further information about on-premises backup and recovery solutions, contact ASL on 0345 862 0350.

ASL implements a backup and recovery solution for Boutinot Wines

Ensuring business continuity during head-office relocation. An effective and up-to-date backup and recovery solution is vital to ensuring business continuity. Failing to restore data can have far-reaching consequences, which is why we at ASL design and implement backup and recovery solutions that minimise service disruption and quickly get you back to work. We have 20 years of experience and have helped many UK businesses plan for disaster, which proved to be crucial during Boutinot’s office move. Customer– Boutinot wines Established in 1980, Boutinot is one of the leading UK-based distributors of quality wines from around the world. Distributing more than 1400 wine varieties, totalling 44 million bottles each year to UK and International retailers, restaurateurs and wholesalers. Boutinot’s requirement is for an IT infrastructure that is as robust as its supply chain. Having worked with Boutinot since 2015, ASL were engaged to help manage the IT systems relocation; when the company moved to a new head office in Cheadle Point, Manchester. The ASL approach A major hardware upgrade and virtualisation project was planned to coincide with the move. By upgrading at the same time as relocating, we could resolve any issues that arose using the new platform, which would minimise disruption. Our approach was to ensure the Boutinot back-up and disaster recovery environment was 100% up to date. We commenced work at 6pm on Friday evening, making sure everything was powered down and prepared for the move. After Boutinot’s IT infrastructure was professionally moved to their new site, it was then our job to rebuild the server environment in the new location. We re-attended site at 8am on Saturday, and within a matter of hours, we had all of Boutinot’s servers back online, with one critical exception. The critical issue – during transit damage had occurred which prevented a server from booting up. The ASL solution – using our powerful Backup and DR solution, we were able to export a brand new virtual copy of the server onto Boutinot’s new hardware platform. This was completed in under 2 hours, and all system functionality was fully restored. The benefits – the new hardware platform has enabled Boutinot to embark on a series of Windows Domain upgrades, Exchange upgrades, remote desktop services upgrades and SQL server upgrades, which are all built on their highly available platform. Within 3 weeks of the office move, we had successfully migrated all Boutinot servers onto their new hardware platform. In addition, we also implemented our managed network monitoring solution, to actively inform Boutinot about all aspects of their IT infrastructure, hardware and networking. Had our Network monitoring solution been in place, it would have identified the issue with the failed server before the move. If you would like to discuss implementing or upgrading your disaster recovery solution speak to us at ASL. Call ASL today on 0345 862 0350 and let us help your business to remain up and running.

ASL private Cloud hosting solutions for ERP vendors

Taking a flexible approach to hosting ERP solutions Many claims are made about cloud computing, in particular – cloud-based solutions are faster, easier, and cheaper to implement than traditional ‘on-premises’ alternatives. While the cloud certainly requires less upfront capital investment and alleviates some technical complexity, the claims made don’t always match reality. As an ERP vendor, it’s likely that your customers and prospects (heavily influenced by software giants such as Microsoft), are expecting you to offer a cloud-based alternative to your traditional ‘on-premises’ ERP solution. With so much hype, it’s not surprising that your customers are being persuaded that the future belongs to the cloud. Overcoming the complexity of ERP hosting. Unfortunately, ERP in the cloud is not quite as simple as the hype would have you believe. ERP is often complex, customer specific and must be capable of changing to meet differing business demands. The one size fits all philosophy doesn’t apply, and that has implications for the cloud deployment of solutions where: customisation is the norm integrating with third-party ‘on-premises’ solutions is essential exporting data is a daily occurrence 24/7 access to the entire operating environment is non-negotiable adding to existing IT resources needs to be fast, efficient and cost effective multiple environments are necessary for testing and upgrades. Where companies are able to standardise their business processes, it may be true that cloud-based ERP software, on platforms such as Microsoft Azure, are faster to implement than traditional ‘on-premises’ solutions. However, in reality, it’s often the case that standard packaged solutions fail to meet the needs of many businesses, which is particularly true within the manufacturing and distribution sector. These businesses need: package software that can be modified to meet their specific requirements IT environments that can adapt quickly to a change in market conditions freedom to change software to gain competitive advantage immediate access to systems during unexpected emergencies a flexible charging structure to reflect the uncertainties of complex ERP implementations pricing models that are transparent and allow reliable budgets to be set throughout the lifetime of the project. The implications for independent software vendors (ISVs) are clear: project delays, resourcing issues, capacity planning, shifting goal posts and bespoke software can be costly and inefficient under a restrictive cloud model. A flexible approach to hosting is therefore required for ERP vendors. Why ASL’s private Cloud ERP hosting is the right way to go. Our Private Cloud Hosting Solution for ERP vendors overcomes the challenges of ERP hosting. Our pragmatic approach enables ISVs to work with professionals who understand the challenges of implementing ERP solutions. We come from an ERP background and have more than 20 years of experience providing robust hardware and infrastructure solutions that truly accommodate the needs of fast-paced, high transactional manufacturing and distribution businesses. We’ve taken everything we know about robust on-premises deployments of ERP solutions and made certain that our cloud solutions follow the same principles. Our ISV partners can confidently promote the cloud without worrying about the restrictions and pricing uncertainty that typifies the big cloud providers. The following table identifies key points of difference between ASL and Microsoft Azure: Requirement(s) Azure ASL Hosting Availability requirements with SLAs âœ“ âœ“ Ability to respond quickly to incidents *Refer to MS guides âœ“ Incident escalation *Refer to MS guides âœ“ Disaster recovery and business continuity *Refer to MS guides âœ“ Ease of integration with third party in cloud and on premise solutions *Refer to MS guides âœ“ Speed of deployment âœ“ âœ“ System performance âœ“ âœ“ Proactive system monitoring âœ“ âœ“ Moving out of the cloud to on-premise *Refer to MS guides âœ“ Easy management of the system *Refer to MS guides âœ“ WAN Integration (e.g. MPLS) âœ— âœ“ No in-house IT Knowledge required âœ— âœ“ Pricing clarity âœ— âœ“ Working with ASL, you can be confident that your customers’ cloud deployment will be straightforward, expertly managed and delivered on time with no hidden or unforeseen costs. To learn how your business can deliver ERP cloud solutions that work in the real world, call 0345 862 0350 to discuss partnering with ASL or email sales@aware-soft.co.uk

Dell Data Protection|Rapid Recovery. The new name in backup and recovery.

What’s so special about Dell’s upgraded AppAssure backup and recovery software solution? Several months on and Dell’s re-branding of the AppAssure software solution – now called Dell Data Protection|Rapid Recovery, has been a huge success. Rapid Recovery delivers all of the features you’d expect in a backup system, but when its Live Recovery features are activated, it truly stands out from the crowd. With Live Recovery, applications resume normal operations minutes after an outage, getting you back to business straightaway. You no longer need to waste valuable time waiting for issue diagnosis and repair, because as soon as the Live Recovery copy is mounted you can get straight back to work. In addition, the much improved interface is easier to use and understand. Dell Data Protection|Rapid Recovery delivers; Automatic protection of growing virtual environments. Assure system, application and data availability across physical, virtual and cloud environments. Easy connection to all leading public clouds. Cost reductions as all capabilities are included in the one solution. Reasons to upgrade to Dell Data Protection | Rapid Recovery With Dell Data Protection|Rapid Recovery you can recover anything to anywhere. It provides a simple, flexible admin-friendly solution, that enables you to protect your systems, applications and data across physical, virtual or cloud environments. You can run without restore, and recover in 15 minutes. It’s the next generation of AppAssure software, that provides a reliable, admin-friendly solution that can either be deployed as software or in a scalable appliance form. It allows you to rapidly resume business operations after a major failure. Whole systems, applications and data can be recovered in a matter of minutes. Optimisation can improve your users’ application experience. Users have instant access to data during restores, as though the outage never happened. Data protection is matched to your needs. Simplified processes through a comprehensive management interface. License through ASL and achieve cost savings. ASL are Dell Data Protection | Rapid Recovery solution specialists. In partnership with Dell we offer a way to rapidly recover your data and server infrastructure. We provide; Offsite data replication. Latest Dell servers/hardware at our secure datacentre. Unlimited restore capabilities. 24/7/365 access to Dell Rapid Recovery engineers. By licensing through us, rather than directly through Dell, you can reduce costs, deal with experts that understand your business and speed up your deployment – just call us to find out more on 0345 862 0350. Already got it, no problem? We also provide hosting resources for replication and disaster recovery, if you purchased Rapid Recovery direct from Dell then you’d have to provide these yourself. Replication hosted in our ASL data-centre delivers reliability, resilience and offers you total peace of mind. Call us on 0345 862 0350, to discuss the benefits of upgrading to Dell Data Protection |Rapid Recovery

What IT disasters should you prepare for?

The top 5 causes of IT disaster – is your business prepared? For most, the word disaster recovery conjures up images of environmental catastrophes such as earthquakes or flood, however for those businesses that have experienced an IT disaster, the reality is often far more mundane but as easily catastrophic in nature. If you’re thinking – I don’t need to plan for disaster because I don’t operate my business in a flood area, have fire prevention measures in place, and being in the UK I’m low risk for other natural disasters, think again. You’re only ever one step from disaster, and should the worst happen you need a backup and recovery plan in place to protect your business from loss, BOTH data and financial. What IT disasters should you be preparing for? You’ve ruled out an imminent earthquake and your business is fortunately located 1000s of miles from Tornado Alley, so what are the more likely disasters you will face? Computer virus Today viruses are a common occurrence that can infect or delete mission critical data, the worst of which is Ransomware. An infected machine that remains connected to your network will systematically encrypt all of the network files it has access to, making them useless. Hardware/equipment failure The most common example is the failure of a hard drive in a server. Malicious intent The most obvious perpetrator is a hacker trying to gain access and cause damage. However, not all malicious intent is from the outside, sometimes the damage can come from within. A disgruntled employee can easily delete/corrupt data to cause an IT disaster. Environmental catastrophe IT disasters can be caused by natural events such as flood; however, they can easily be caused by structural failures within the office environment. For example, a water leak from pipes above or next to where your servers are located, can easily lead to disaster. Human error Humans make mistakes, from overwriting critical files to deleting sensitive data. By regularly backing up your data and having a recovery plan in place, you can protect yourself from disaster. Can you afford downtime and financial loss? NO? Contact us at ASL for no-obligation backup and disaster recovery advice 0345 862 0350 How can you prevent permanent critical data loss? Most businesses are at risk of experiencing some form of IT disaster. The obvious thing therefore is to take the threat seriously, and plan what to do when it happens. By assessing likely risks and considering every eventuality, you can take control. Knowing what might happen can help you to plan how best to restore your critical data and services, to keep your business up and running. For advice on disaster recovery contact us at ASL. Can you afford not to have a backup and recovery plan? Any business that has experienced a disaster, will tell you that the cost and losses incurred by not having a plan in place, were far more than the cost of developing and implementing one. Downtime equals losing time, money AND customers, and this is something that no business can afford. The simple fact is customers are fickle and vote with their feet, and most businesses that experience extended outages and downtime lose custom. After all, why deal with a business that has production issues or can’t access your data, when you can go elsewhere? If disaster has already struck and you need to prevent it ever happening again, or you’re concerned about what could happen if you lost critical data, then contact us at ASL on 0345 862 0350. About ASL Disaster Recovery Services. For over 20 years we have been a specialist disaster recovery provider for SMEs across the UK. We have the expertise you need to implement a disaster and recovery solution that minimises business disruption and financial loss through downtime. ASL keeps UK businesses up and running 24/7/365. Find out more about our disaster recovery service by calling 0345 862 0350.

Why should a backup and disaster recovery plan be your top priority?

Creating a backup and disaster recovery strategy to protect your business from loss. With a solid backup and disaster recovery plan in place, your business can be protected from significant operational downtime. Planning against outages is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. With the right plan in place, you can significantly limit the financial losses that can be incurred through downtime. While the term disaster recovery might conjure images of natural disasters such as fire and flood, there are many more mundane events that you need to consider and protect yourself against, such as: Machine and hardware failure No business is entirely immune to hardware failure. Having a disaster recovery plan in place ensures that your business does not suffer interruption or data loss. By outsourcing your data backup and recovery, you can protect yourself from financial losses caused by major service interruption and downtime. Human error Humans make mistakes and are a weak link that can cause data to be lost, or incorrect data to be entered. With a disaster recovery plan a series of incremental online data backups can be made, to enable files to be quickly and easily be restored in an error-free state. Service outage Today’s customers are very demanding, and in all sectors competition is fierce. It’s vital to ensure that you safeguard against downtime and interruptions to service, because if customers can get a better service elsewhere they will. It takes a lot to earn customer loyalty, and IT disasters such as data loss or extended outage of service can quickly erode their trust. IT disasters are unacceptable to customers, and therefore it’s better to protect against this happening, rather than dealing with it after it has. ASL disaster recovery solutions All businesses are vulnerable to IT disasters, but by ensuring your data is backed up, protected and can be quickly recovered, you can keep your business up and running without significant service interruption. At ASL we are an enterprise-class backup and recovery service provider. For well over 20 years we have been keeping SMEs around the UK operating ‘business as usual’. We ensure that systems and data are rapidly restored to keep our customers doing what they do best, which is running their business. We formulate backup and disaster recovery plans to minimise service disruption, to limit the financial losses that can be incurred through downtime and outages. Reasons to outsource your backup and DRP to us: By outsourcing to us you can guarantee your business is fully prepared for disaster, we help you to ensure business continuity. We provide: virtualisation through the complete offsite replication of systems and data latest servers/hardware for disaster recovery at our secure datacentre unlimited restore capabilities scaling up and down of storage capacity as needed near-real-time daily backups increased flexibility improved performance access to engineers 24/7/365. We enable you to reduce your costs on backup software, license fees, hardware updates and man-hours wasted backing up. We free you to concentrate on running your business. For more details on the disaster backup and recovery service we provide, call us on 0345 862 0350

How to choose the right disaster recovery solution

Choosing the best Microsoft Dynamics backup recovery solution The right backup and recovery solution is not a ‘one size fits all’ approach.If you were to ask us – how can I protect my Microsoft Dynamics environment from data loss – our response would depend on your unique requirements. Our extensive experience providing MS Dynamics backup and recovery solutions, has taught us that what’s appropriate for one company, is not necessarily appropriate for another. Working out the best recovery solution is dependent on many factors: your recovery point objective – which is how much data you can afford to lose or re-create your recovery time objective – which is how fast you need to recover the type of data you are trying to protect the scenarios you may need to recover from – virus attack, hardware failure or data corruption your budget. A solution that works for one business might not work for another. Which is why we use our specialist knowledge and expertise to develop cost effective, tailor-made solutions according to specific business requirements. Preparing your MS Dynamics DR plan Data backup Regardless of business size, the first step in any disaster recovery solution is regular data backup. There are various approaches to this, such as SQL dump to disk or virtual machine backup, and the one decided upon, depends on the complexity of your IT environment. Any backup strategy needs to take into account security considerations, and will be defined by: type and frequency of backup required nature and speed of hardware method of testing backups how the backup is stored where the backup is stored. Once a strategy and method for backup have been formalised, the next step is to ensure that backed up data can be easily restored. Data recovery A well-designed recovery strategy minimises data loss and maximises data availability. The recovery strategy defines: how databases should be restored to meet availability goals how databases should be restored to minimise data loss who should recover the data where the data should be recovered to. ASL Microsoft Dynamics data backup and recovery solutions By outsourcing your MS Dynamics recovery to us after a system failure, we enable you to focus on adding value to your business. Our recovery service offers: reliable and simplified daily backups FULL virtualisation – live standby virtual servers provisioned for all key servers service desk monitoring 24/7/365 complete offsite data replication secure data centre storage unlimited restore capabilities. To discuss what MS Dynamics backup and recovery strategy would best suit your business needs, call us on 0345 862 0350

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