Some vitals stats I could gather from google/IDG/Gartner around -

1. Almost 200M employees work remotely (off their desk)
2. Close to 637K laptops are lost on US airports annually
3. 65% of users do not do a backup before they start the travel
4. 90% of users do not backup while on the move

In the last 6 weeks I (personally) have heard same statement from at least 8 VPs or CXOs - “I lost my data/notebook during last travel at …” and none of them had a backup

If I have to summarize, the top three reasons I heard from these guys were -

1. My backup software dose not work over WAN
2. I had limited bandwidth connectivity
3. I hate backups - they slow down my PC and work

So, the main problem looks like availability of bandwidth and inability of the backup softwares to work well over WAN/Internet.

One very vital aspect missed by administrators is the extend of data duplicate between corporate users.
Not very surprisingly, over 80% of data duplicate between corporate PC users in terms of emails/docs and its not the data but these duplicates which actually choke the bandwidth and the storage.

One of the most disruptive technology in storage today is “data de-duplication” - ability to save single copy of duplicate content. This feature in particular can be very very useful for corporate PC backups as it can cut down on duplicates and shrink the backup size. This can potentially save up to 80% of backup time, bandwidth and storage !!

Thanks to the tape-backup legacy, most existing softwares have server triggered backup mechanism which creates a problem from the traveling user connected to company’s infrastructure using WAN. Since the PC does not have a fixed IP address the server can’t reach it and hence the backup fails. This particular problem has been addresses by new generation PC backup softwares which use client triggered backup mechanism (as opposed to server triggered).

Summarizing the above, the following features is what (in my opinion) you should look for before choosing any laptop backup product -

1. Smart bandwidth prioritization sets only a percentage of bandwidth for backup
2. Super Secure - inSync uses SSL encryption over WAN and doesn’t need a VPN for backup.
3. WAN Optimization - Automatic Network sensing for choosing appropriate packet size and bandwidth.
4. De-duplication - saving single copy of duplicate data.

So, next time you plan to purchase a PC backup solution for your company, keep these points in mind.

About 200 million employees work remotely, i.e. they are not at their desk while accessing emails, sending work updates or editing financial sheets and about 70% of this working force never plans a backup before starting or during the travel.

With over 600,000 notebooks lost on US airports, this post discusses the key concerns in remote-backup, shortcomings in existing solutions and how they can be addressed.

Remote Backup Requirements
Some of the key requirements for remote or on-the-move laptop backup are -

1. Availability of sufficient bandwidth - Statistics show that on an average a business PC has about 8GB of important corporate data with over 80% of this data is usually in form of archived emails. The differential change in this data is about 2% (blame the email archival formats and post processing used by most of the email clients like Microsoft Outlook). Transferring this differential data (160 MB) over a WAN connection can be a problem especially when the user wants to spend that limited time accessing and answering the new emails.
2. Network access to backup server -While traveling, the users often cannot access enterprise LAN or VPN, which restricts their access to organization’s secure resources. While working over the WAN the user’s PC does not even have a static (publically visible) IP address. This makes it impossible for the backup server to contact the user’s PC and fire a backup.
3. Security -Working on the WAN, un-encrypted data backup/restore can expose the corporate information making it vulnerable to eavesdropping or stealing.

Limitations of Existing Solutions
There are two major design limitations in most of the existing solutions inherited from the tape-backup legacy -

1. Server triggered backup - Earlier when mobility was not an option, network backups used to be driven by a central backup server. The legacy still continues, and the server-triggered backup architecture imposes three limitations on network access and security especially when the user is traveling. The server initiates and sends network requests out-side the corporate network and unlike the web or email server, this is a special case and needs more attention.
Also, the PC must be visible to the server on a published IP address all the time.
2. Dependence of low latency, high bandwidth network - Thanks to the tape-backup legacy, most network backup systems today use same old R-Sync style checksum algorithms for incremental backups. And because of large no. of network interactions required in these algorithms, the backup systems works better on low-latency networks for less network turn-around time and faster execution.

Solution
Two features are a must for all the remote bacukup solutions -
1. Client Triggered Architecture - Backup agents/clients equipped with intelligence to initiate backup and restore can make backups over WAN possible. It would also add to the security and scalability of the system.
2. Data de-duplication - Al most 80% of the corporate data on PCs is duplicate between users. Data De-duplication and compression intelligence in the backup agent can effectively reduce the backup size by 90% and boosting the backup speed by 10 times and reducing bandwidth and storage usage by 90%.

In the past few years, the concept of online laptop backup or remote backup service has gained immense popularity among small and large organizations. Unlike traditional backup, the new enterprise laptop backup has demonstrated its efficiency in many ways and managed to increase the productivity of many companies.

Based on file synchronization, the laptop/PC backup solutions are innovative and functional at the same time. Laptop sync refers to having the same version of a file on two different locations, one that is generally the PC/laptop and another remote server. When you say synchronization, it means that the files will undergo the same changes at both locations, being especially useful for mobile businessmen and for backup purposes. Forward-looking laptop backup also implements a type of sync that can compare the two versions of the file, copying only the difference between them (if one exists).

Searching the Internet for enterprise laptop backup will certainly leave you a great number of choices to make. What you have to do is decide for a laptop backup product that suits your company and its needs. Modern laptop sync solutions have the advantage of encrypted information, increasing the security for the data that is transmitted over the Internet. Along with the compressing information and preview changes options, the latest generation of laptop backup solutions seems to be quite advanced and efficient. All the technological advances have finally said their word, providing us with PC backup solutions that are time saving and cost-effective.

Laptop backup products are already used by hundreds and hundreds of companies out there. They are all interested in the features of such products, with automatic file saving and remote backup. Specialists in the field are constantly releasing new and improved versions for the enterprise laptop backup and it is probable that such solutions will dominate the market in a few years from now. As problems with slowed-down speed connection have been solved and new features have been added, such products are likely to become used at a global level.

Looking after your available bandwidth, specialists have introduced for the laptop backup products the bandwidth scheduler. These versions are widely preferred by mobile users, needing to protect and store essential data on a central server. Becoming more available and certainly having appealing characteristics, laptop backup products are surpassing traditional backup solutions by far. They have the great advantage of allowing ongoing use of the files that have been stored, even if the server of the company does not function. A high-speed Internet connection allows for laptop sync to happen and the files can be operated on without any problem whatsoever.

If you are going to use laptop backup products for the first time, you will definitely be pleased with the kind of service rendered. Backups are rapidly made, the program taking just a couple of minutes to be setup and security is never an issue. You have the WAN optimizer for high-quality functioning but also many other features that will convince you of the need for optimum data protection, no matter if you are a mobile, laptop-addict or a dedicated home-office computer user! Enter the modern era of computers and choose the most suitable laptop backup solution for you; it is a decision that you need to take if you want your business to be able to face the competition and survive in this cruel business world.

For any enterprise, the definition and amount of “critical data” on laptops and desktops is increasing. This is fueled by increasing security concerns, user mobility and cross-geography office expansions (global expansions / decentralization). While the expectations have increased, the existing backup solutions haven’t adapted well with these changes. They still continue to depend upon large computational resources and dedicated and trusted network/media for backups.

In short, the key requirements for an enterprise PC backup should be -
1. Simple, Fast, Scalable
2. Light weight and resource/power friendly
3. Secure and Internet friendly
4. WAN and bandwidth optimized
5. Support for incremental sync for large binary formats like Outlook PST
6. On-demand (remote) restore.

Features Explained -
1. Simple, Fast, Scalable
“Backing up your PC is one of those things, like eating right or changing your oil on time, that everybody knows they’re supposed to do, but too few people actually carry off well…” Walter Mossberg, The Wall Street Journal

Today no one has time to schedule and monitor backups. This should be have maximum a client side five minute setup and should monitor/backup automatically and Fast.

2. Light weight and resource/power friendly
Laptops are replacing desktops in most of the enterprises, but the software still hasn’t evolved.

Backups should be resource friendly and optimized low power consumption. Also, simple options like - “Don’t backup when i am on battery” make a lot of difference.

3. WAN and Bandwidth optimized
Every company has a reasonably good percentage of mobile workforce. And usually this includes the top-tier management (CEO, and likes). With increasing laptop thefts and data risks, backups should be WAN/Internet ready.

The user should be able to choose a bandwidth (something like use 10% of my bandwidth) and the backup solution should just do the job, even over the weakest internet links. This also greatly helps in cross-office backups and backup consolidation efforts.

4. Secure and Internet friendly
Security is very important, specially when you are over WAN/VPN. Most of the backup solutions are Server triggered, making security policies for firewalls and monitoring very diffic ult (every one is afraid, when they see data flowing out of their network).

The backups should be client triggered, so that the server side firewalls just allow and monitor inbound traffic. Also,The solution should be able to securely setup encrypted/authenticated channels to backup. (SSL channels are best, when it comes to WAN/Internet)

5. Support for incremental sync for large binary formats like Outlook PST
With data increasing, and WAN coming into picture it is very important that the backups are incremental in nature and only the changed bits are copied back to the server.

6. On-demand (remote) restore.
Sending an email to admin to get the data back is surely complete NO, specially when the user may be off-site/traveling. The backup software should facilitate a smart (possibly browser) based remote and secure data restore.

So next time you choose a backup software for your personal or enterprise needs, make sure it has evolved to have the above mentioned features.

And remember - backup more, backup often.