Cloud hosting servers have become the darlings of technology these days. Every decent business is looking for a way to get rid of all those clunky servers they have in their server rooms and move to the “in” way of doing things.

Those that can, have already phased out their machines and made a complete transfer while those that prefer to hold back data or information they can’t, or would rather not, part with usually go for hybrid data hosting and serving architectures.

The bottom line is that everyone is trying to move towards cloud hosting as it increasingly becomes the data storage and service standard of the day.

The advantages, of course, are great: data can be accessed efficiently and the chances of server failure are cut down significantly while speed of access is increased as is the data security.

But like all matters technology, things can, and quite often do, go wrong – even with cloud hosting architectures implemented – the worst of which is when a cloud server goes down.

Depending on what has occurred, damage can range from temporary loss of access to data (which could last for a few minutes to hours or even days) to total loss of the data and worse, the total inability to retrieve it (in case of total deletion).

Now, many people seem to think that just because data is stored in the cloud it eliminates the need for backup.

That isn’t so; because the cloud was mainly designed to allow virtual access to data from any device and in any location. It also cuts down on the need for huge data storage media that was prevalent before the technology was widely adopted.  This makes the cloud an enhancement rather than a substitute of external storage options.

This means, data can be lost and therefore backups need to be done and that is the first way to avoid data loss when cloud servers go down.

Backups

Backing up cloud data can be done in two principle ways: back up to the cloud and onsite backup. Both have their pros and cons.

In the case of the cloud-to-cloud backup, although it is more secure than having to store it onsite it is expensive and thus more feasible in cases where data is very sensitive but not bulky in nature. Also, it takes longer to backup large files online – even with a broadband connection.

Onsite backups, meanwhile, are cheaper, easier to manage and are relatively faster to perform. But it comes at an increased risk in security breaches and damage (since the data will be stored on or near the premises of the business itself, thus, – to some extent – defeating the purpose.)

So, careful consideration needs to be done on which way to go.

Going the Legitimate Way

Cloud hosting companies, like any other company, have strict laws they have to adhere to. We all remember the case of Megaupload, the once popular online media storage and sharing site that was shut down because of legal issues and went offline one day taking all its users’ data with it.

Now, although the chances of businesses storing their data on servers that belong to companies with shady reputations are very low, there are instances when they are known to have happened. And it’s not only because of legal issues, there could be instances when the cloud hosting companies run into financial trouble and have to fold or are liquidated or they are bought up by larger companies who then simply “retire” them.

Businesses should therefore research the cloud companies they intend to host their data on to find out about their stability and legal track records.

Location of Data

Countries and regions across the world have agreements that ensure the jurisdictions, ownership and security of data that are stored on, or moved between, their servers – cloud or otherwise.

The physical location of the servers determines the legal jurisdiction presiding over the data: data stored in the UK is subject to the UK’s and EU laws while data stored in the US is subject to the US laws.

But things get a little more complicated in cases where there is data replication (which is common in the cloud storage environment) to enable redundancy and allow for quicker access of data. These servers could be spread across many countries around the world, which makes legally retrieving data a legal nightmare.

Therefore, businesses should carefully research the location of their prospective cloud hosting providers’ servers. They can focus on those that have all their servers in the US (or whichever region they are in) and thus eliminate the need to deal with legal issues come data recovery time.

So… to recap, to ensure that no data is lost when a cloud server goes down, businesses should:

• Make it a point to have a strong backup policy in place.
• Make sure they deal with legitimate and legal cloud hosting companies.
• Make sure they choose a cloud hosting provider with all its servers located in the US.