Overview

Corporate IT backup strategies need to focus on the data stored on centralised servers, as well as the protection of critical data generated on desktops and laptops.  This leads to a variety of manual and ad hoc procedures that not only burden the IT department but also seldom work effectively.  In fact, the Gartner group put the percentage of unsecured corporate data at over 50% and identified this as a major organizational risk.

While backup is often regarded as the responsibility of individual users, the cost of data loss has a direct impact on the corporate bottom line via lost business information, lowered productivity and decreased customer confidence.

ICSM.store Online Backup Server Edition is a service offering from ICSM.store providing industry-leading, secure data backup, recovery and remote access for servers.  The solution enables you to leverage your existing connectivity investment to better protect corporate information in a distributed environment while reducing your support costs and relieving the burden of backup and recovery on IT personnel.

ICSM.store Online Backup Server Edition makes use of the Attix5 Backup Professional software to automatically filter, select and copy data from customer’s servers to a highly secure, off-site Data Storage Platform, located in a secure data centre.  Thereafter, the stored data is replicated every 15 minutes, via Private Network, to a secondary remote data centre.

Attix5 Backup Professional is a small JAVA client, which is remotely deployed to user devices to automate the secure backup of data according to customisable file filters and scheduler settings.

Data transfer is reduced by as much as 98% by a proprietary incremental patching technique that compresses and transfers only the changed bytes within the user data set.  Secure encryption of all data ensures confidentiality while an intuitive user interface allows users to recover data immediately, and from any point in time!

The ICSM.store Online Backup service includes a centralised Monitoring and Deployment Console that allows the network administrator to customize departmental file filtering and backup schedules, as well as manage and track individual account usage.  Using ICSM Online Backup helps to maximise employee productivity, improve IT control and enables businesses to regain ownership of their most valuable asset – their data!

Features and Benefits of ICSM.store Online Backup

• Automatic backups by scheduler
• Intelligent data filtering and selection ensures completeness of backup sets
• Runs as a service (no login required)
• Easy restore in the case of data loss, virus attacks, hardware failure etc
• JAVA client allows cross platform functionality
• Redundant off-site storage means less down time and greater security
• Secure encryption of company data
• Easy to setup and use
• Reduced file server and network loads
• SnapShot option to address large data volumes during initial backup and in the case of recovery
• Open File Management Plugins available
• Trickle transfer with up to 98% bandwidth reduction
• Centralised administration
• Administrator – level file exclusion with full logging and error reporting
• Fully scalable, available for servers, desktops and laptops

Finally, the ICSM.store Online Backup Storage Platforms are hosted in ICSM’s own Data Centres, which are housed in highly secure disaster recovery buildings, which are owned and managed by IBM Business Continuity and Recovery Services thus ensuring the highest levels of physical data security.

How It Works – Technical Architecture and Description

ICSM.store Online Backup Server Edition is a key component of any enterprise backup solution.  It ensures that all servers backup data automatically over the network.

Firstly, a full backup is made of the identified data set, compressed and transmitted to the Storage Platform.  Proprietary SnapShot technology allows for large initial data backups.

An incremental patch backup is then executed that sends only the binary changes made to data files and then copies the data to the remote server.

The backup works over any TCP/IP network.  The administrator can access the data over the corporate Intranet, direct dial up or from anywhere in the world via the Internet.

All backed up data is stored on highly redundant Storage Platforms using RAID5 file servers, in ICSM’s own secure Data Centres, which are located in disaster recovery buildings owned and run by IBM Business Continuity and Recovery Services.

The Primary Storage Platforms are used for processing backups and act as the primary data store; thereafter the data replication takes place every 15 minutes and is transferred (via the ICSM Private Network) to a second remote site, otherwise known as the Mirror Storage Platform, thus providing the highest level of redundancy for the customer data – see diagram below:

How It Works – Software Components

Attix5 Backup Professional Server Edition – Client Agent

An easy to use, Attix5 Server Edition client agent is installed on each server.  The administrator will then choose an encryption key and ensure that the correct files and folders have been selected for backup. The Client Agent then automatically schedules backups according to the policies set up by the Administrator.

Remote servers will automatically detect network connections and backup whilst online. The client agent is a 100% JAVA application and, together with the correct JRE (Java Runtime Environment), can be installed onto most operating systems.

Attix5 Backup Professional Server Edition – Database Agent

Backup Professional Server Edition supports most popular databases and applications.  The Server Edition offers seamless integration with these databases and applications and enables online operations that do not eliminate end user access – through the backup of locked files.  The ever-growing list of agents currently includes MS Exchange, MS SQL Server, Lotus Domino, Sybase ASE, Oracle and GroupWise.

Operating System and Database Support

ICSM.store Online Backup Server Edition safely and securely backs up most common operating systems as well as open files and databases running on them.  ICSM.store Online Backup Server Edition currently supports:

Operating Systems:

• Microsoft Windows Server 2003
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
• Windows NT4.0 (SP6)

Server Edition plug-ins:

• MS Exchange 2000/2003
• MS Exchange 5.5 (NT4 only)
• MS SQL 2000
• MS SQL 7
• Email Notification
• Script Plug-in
• System State Plug-in
• Single Mailbox Recovery for Exchange

Note: Support for additional operating systems and database agents are frequently added. Please ask your ICSM account manager for the latest list.

Security Features

ICSM.store Online Backup Server Edition ensures your data is protected every step of the way, incorporating the leading security technology available.  ICSM.store Online Backup Server Edition uses the Attix5 Backup Professional Software power the solution and is the most secure product of its class in the world.  This means that any sensitive data stored, transmitted or accessed online using Backup Solutions is protected by ‘bank-level plus’ security.

The Key Security Features of ICSM Online Backup are:

• 448 bit encryption of all data stored on the ICSM Storage Platforms.
• 128 bit SSL encryption for data in transit across the Internet.
• RSA KEON – PKI and SecurID (plug-in).
• Intelligent file selection.
• Advance backup scheduling.
• Automatic offsite data transfer.
• Resume on disconnection.
• Network Monitoring.
• Version Control.
• LAN, WAP and VPN support.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that the cost to an organisation of lost, deleted or corrupted data can be enormous both in terms of lost time, productivity and money. Organisations can now eliminate the burden and associated data risk of manual tape-based procedures, saving time and money in the process.

In an environment where even a few minutes of lost data can lead to lose revenue, lost customers and lost reputation, you can trust critical data backup and recovery to the leader in the field – ICSM.store Online Backup Server Edition.

Attachments:

Direct Debit Form for Internet Services	[Direct Debit Form for Broadband and Backup Internet Services]	78 Kb
ICSM.store Order Form	[ICSM.store for secure online data backup.]	103 Kb