Earlier this week we shared some some data for those IT teams considering a shift from direct cloud backup to a hybrid model. In this follow-up we’re back with advice and data related to the WAN network bandwidth needed for managing a cloud operation within your business.
Each year in the budget cycle, IT Directors face the need to justify specific investments for the achievement of business objectives. One of the greatest challenges we see running a large cloud operation is the widespread lack of investment in WAN network bandwidth. This is particularly true for customers who are backing up directly to the cloud, with no on-premise appliance for quick, LAN-based recovery. The double whammy of no local restore appliance and low bandwidth to the cloud means delays and frustration for business users.
At Seagate, we track the Useable Download Bandwidth of tens of thousands of direct to cloud customers around the world. While useable download bandwidth varies regionally, we see that 40% of customers have only 7.82 Mbps available for a recovery from the cloud. This translates into a best case 8 hours to recover a 27 GB job. However, available bandwidth quickly climbs for customers from there. Customers with an on-premise appliance tend to have higher bandwidth to the cloud in order to accommodate larger jobs.
For those with 3.5 Mbps available download bandwidth or less, we recommend against trying to solve backup and recovery challenges in the cloud. Instead, we recommend presenting the distribution data provided in the chart above as a basis for increasing bandwidth to the internet. Remember, available bandwidth will always be lower than the total capacity purchased, as a network is frequently used for multiple purposes, particularly during business hours.
As a final assist in your budget planning, here is a table providing a basic guideline on job size recoverable from the cloud based on 80% network bandwidth utilization. We present this at typical target recovery times and typical bandwidths available from Internet Service Providers.
As before we’d be interested to learn how you calculate your figures. Please send any feedback to portalfeedback@seagate.com or you can always reach out to me directly at anne.vincenti
