Picture this. You are at a party. You casually mention a problem you’ve had with your computer. You were probably joking and laughed a little after you described the issue.
Before you know it, someone you barely know creeps up to your ear and whisper the words “you need a server” and then disappears before they ever really showed up… a bit like HD DVDs.
You are left confused and on your own with those words ringing in your ear.
On Monday you commence the week’s work on your small business by calling your computer person. You tell them you need a server. Some of your computer guys will rub their hands with glee and forward you a quote ASAP. Others will ask you why?
Do you know why you want a server?
Don’t feel bad, most people don’t even know what a server is, let alone what they’ll do with it.
And you know what? Neither do I. Of course technically I know what a server is and does, I just don’t know why small businesses would need one these days.
To some degree, this is a symptom of a broader problem — technology for technology’s sake. Look around you and ask yourself what your favourite technology does for you, why and how well.
Chances are you’ll find the things that do the best jobs are specialists, not generalists, and were purchased to solve a problem (as opposed to sitting in the corner to increase the overall shininess of your environment).
Whether a server is a specialist or a generalist tool is up to you and your budget. If you suspect the ghostly server-suggestion appeals as a general solution to a myriad of ills, think again. I mean that literally. Think about it again. Then ask your computer guy the question they should have asked you: “What do I need a server FOR?” If you don’t understand the answer, then chances are it isn’t going to solve any of YOUR problems.
Here’s one example for you. Many people are sold servers on the promise of “better backups”.
However, in the last two years the cost-effectiveness and availability of simple cloud-based data backup and file sharing has dramatically improved.
To extend the example a little further, I am using a $1,200 box to centrally store my data on a RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks). I have added to that an offsite backup strategy which incorporates an additional external hard disk to the value of round $300. I have a weekly backup process that I execute religiously. Obviously, I am not paying for technical support so for me this is a cost-effective solution.
However, using a product like SugarSync — one example of many such products — I could store all my data in the cloud for $250 a year. You can weigh up the pros and cons yourself, and beware there are cons. It may even sound expensive for something you can’t touch or ever actually own.
However, when you consider the lifespan of computing hardware, this is actually quite cheap. All hard disks and technology fail sooner or later. Based on the cost of the hardware I have now, the money I’ve spent is equivalent to a six year subscription with SugarSync and we’ve not even factored in Moore’s law yet. That is a good bet. I doubt any of my hardware will last that long. When my hardware does fail, I’ll have nothing tangible left and I’ll have to pay to have it disposed of.
I could go on, but you get the drift.
Server me once, shame on you, server me twice… bugger! I just realised what that guy at the party actually said.
David Moore has 25 years experience in the computer industry and is now Principle PC Hater at ihatemypc.com.au.
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alan jones
March 10th, 2010 at 11:45 pm
Well, kinda/sorta. Cloud backup still makes much more sense in the US, Land Of The Free To Upload/Download As Much Data As You Want Without Additional Charges.
Here in the Land of Fleecing Hapless Broadband customers, to that US$250/year you’ll also need to factor in the possible bandwidth cost you might incur. First you’ve got to upload your existing data to SugarSync. US$250 buys you 250Gb of cloud backup. At best, you’re going to hit your monthly data limit on day one and spend the rest of the month on a snail-pace shaped connection. But maybe you’ll get to find out what 245Gb of excess data costs the hard way.
How much additional data gets used by your incremental backups from then depends very much on the nature of the work you do but if you’re in visual design or media, you might easily be generating an additional 10Gb a month of data to be backed up to the cloud. Better upgrade from that $39.95/mth broadband plan to the $69.95 plan or you’ll get hit with extra charges or shaped every month.
And then, when your local computer dies and you need to restore from your most recent cloud backup, get out your credit card again. Now you’ve got to not just pay for the extra download data charges to download your entire backup and begin the restore, you’ve also got to wait. And wait. And wait. Because it makes good commercial sense for SugarSync (and, to be fair, its competitors) to control their operating costs by not over-investing in fat pipes to push the data back down to your new PC (which they pay data charges for too.)
If the RAID array in the corner has been working properly, your catastrophic computer failure might only interrupt your work for a day or less. If you’re downloading and then recovering from a cloud backup service, count on at least a day just to download the backup before you begin the restore.
Now imagine you’re in an office setting and you’ve lost three PCs, for which you’ve been paying SugarSync US$300 a year for a three user account. Not only is your team stopped dead until you’re able to suck those backups back down over your expensive, slow internet connection, but you’ll need to download something like 100GB of data before you can even begin the restore.
Here’s another alternative: Backblaze.com is a hybrid solution. The US based company allows you to download your backup for restoration, but if you choose they will instead FedEx you the backup on a set of DVDs, or on a USB drive. And when I asked them if they’d extend their free shipping offer to international customers, they said yes.
[Reply]
David Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 8:44 am
…it was just an example, a very intentionally brief example.
I did say it is one of a myriad of such solutions.
The problems you cite are definitely to be considered.
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to backups (read back through my previous Anthill posts on just theis topic).
Regarding time for download from cloud based backup, I have found that most people don’t want or need all 250GB of data now.
In fact most small business and home users get away with 30 to 60GB cloud storage and only ever want “the document they were just working on” and email back immediately. The rest is there for when it is needed.
Thanks for your feedback
David
[Reply]
Paul Zagoridis Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 11:43 pm
Nice points Alan – you beat me to them. I’ve just had my second external HDD fail at home. The first was 250GB and the recent was 1TB. All containing our ripped CD collection, photos, archived email, documents, research.
I’m pulling my hair out thinking a $900 WD Raid box may be the solutions because most of the data is digital content.
No David I don’t need all 250GB of data restored in one go. But 180GB of it is our family media. So I’m feeling the pain.
Cloud based backups wont work for that in Australia.
So your idea of multiple external hard drives is tempting with an off-site backup.
hmmm but how to backup the 2 laptops, 2 desktops, 2 ipods and 2 MP3 Players while synchronising our media.
I suspect I need a server AND a backup device.
[Reply]
David Reply:
March 15th, 2010 at 4:35 pm
Did you read my reply Alan then?
Clearly not.
IT WAS JUST AN EXAMPLE!
THERE IS NO SILVER BULLET!
This may help you work out more clearly what you really need http://anthillonline.com/data-backups-%E2%80%93-face-it-you%E2%80%99re-screwed/
Arnaud Reply:
March 12th, 2010 at 8:31 am
Why on Earth would you have DVD’s fedexed to you from the States?
Keeping your content at home or bringing back your small business’ server backup HDD will not help you. You don’t need to backup documents from your PC to the cloud in the hope that you will be able to download them or have them fedexed to you when your PC breaks down.
There are so many solutions hosted on the Internet that will render your computer hard disk obsolete. When you use these solutions such as hosted CRM, documents, office suite, etc. you don’t need to backup.
So the next time your PC crashes when you are using cloud based solutions, you get up, switch on your spare PC and continue working in 5 minutes. And if you do not have your spare PC, then repair/buy a new one and again, start working straight away.
I actually use cloud solutions only (except for my MS Office suit that I got with my PC) and I do not fear any hardware failure. If you want to know more, I would be glad to give you some examples.
Cheers
Arnaud
[Reply]
Big Aussie Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 11:51 pm
@Arnaud:
What a trusting soul you are. “The Cloud” doesn’t always have a silver lining. Ask any of those users who were using the Free website hosting service provided by a company purchased by Yahoo. Within 6 months the service had a price on it. Users were given notice to pay up or leave. Anything can happen to “The Cloud”…
A report was delivered recently in Europe outlining Risk Assessment of Cloud Computing: http://www.elasticvapor.com/2009/11/cloud-computing-risk-assessment-report.html
Like the man said: there are many and varied alternatives for a backup strategy. So long as you have at least 1 backup strategy in place, you are further ahead than more than 60% of Australian Small Businesses, according to a study by Gartner Group last year. Frightening, but true.
[Reply]
Paul Zagoridis Reply:
March 25th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
Actually for most of my business requirements I expect to move to google apps or something similar over the next 12 months.
Sadly it’s my personal family media that is at greatest risk. Photos not so much as a flickr or other account can take care of that. I’ve invested great effort of cataloging and tagging my music (off CD) and soon DVD’s (I’m sick of scratched disks failing). Losing all that due to a hard drive crash scares me.
I think I’ll implement a multiple backup strategy, although a nice RAID-5 box would be nice.