Please close the gate: Securing data at the edge

[StorageExperts]

Industry analyst Gartner expects three-quarters of enterprise-generated data will be created and processed outside a traditional centralized data center by 2022. Keep your ROBO data safe with HPE RDX.

Although most enterprises have great solutions and specialist teams managing their large networks, the picture may not be so rosy for remote and branch offices (ROBOs). Both in physical and technology terms, small, branch offices, and home-based workers sit at the edge of big business. That means they can be soft targets for cybercriminals. Missing BIOS protections, reuse of local administrator passwords, out of date antivirus software, live network jacks in common areas—these are just some of the loose practices that can easily occur in an environment where there is less likely to be an IT specialist present. 

According to industry analyst Gartner, in 2017 around 10% of enterprise data was being created and processed outside a traditional centralized data center or cloud. By 2022, Gartner predicts the figure will reach 75% [1]. That’s a massive risk management issue for any organization with branch networks, autonomous remote offices, and significant numbers of people working from home. And a significant responsibility for anyone working off a laptop or PC.

One solution is to backup data to the cloud so that the process is automated and can be centrally managed. But although this is fine for recovering individual files, it may not be practical in a disaster recovery (DR) scenario, or for data created in between the daily backup cycle. Many ROBOs may not have high speed broadband links connecting data centers to cloud backup targets. It may take many hours or even days to retrieve data in an emergency and statistics[2] show that losses multiply rapidly the longer it takes to recover IT after a disaster.  

One way to avoid bottlenecks is to supplement operational backup cycles to the cloud with some kind of local, low-cost, disk-based device. But although a local USB HDD drive can make fast work of storing and retrieving data, it isn’t really designed to be a backup device for business data, and it certainly won’t handle the rough and tumble of a busy office. And yet many small network environments end up with several (or more!) HDDs locked in a cupboard or worse, just "floating around" the IT coordinator’s desk.

So what’s the answer?  HPE RDX removable disk storage.

RDX provides IT departments responsible for ROBOs with locally based, fast, rugged inline storage for critical data. It can be deployed internally in a 1U rack for server backup and externally as a desktop device to protect some or all clients. With drag and drop simplicity, it’s easy for even untrained users to manage. And with a range of different sized cartridges (up to 4TB), there is plenty of capacity to scale up as your storage needs change. Finally, the RDX dock unit is backwards and forwards compatible, so you only need to buy bigger cartridges to take advantage of extra capacity.

HPE RDX complements secondary storage and cloud-based data protection by providing a low-cost, local, and highly secure source for backup and recovery.

With HPE RDX, no one has to remember to do the backups. Working in fixed disk mode, the Windows OS takes care of everything. And thanks to RDX’s rugged portability, data can easily be moved offsite to create an "airgap" barrier against cyberthreats. Essential data is never far away and can always be accessed, without the hidden costs, significant time, and unpredictable connectivity of a cloud restore.

That’s the 3-2-1 rule nicely covered off: three copies of the data—one live, one in the cloud, and, as a last line of defense, one copy safely stored offsite!

Hackers may think they’re pretty smart, but as far as I know they haven’t yet taught their malware to jump!

---

Meet Around the Storage Block blogger Doug Cirruzzo, WW Product Manager, HPE RDX. In addition to product management, Doug provides category sales and marketing support, working with partners and customers across North America. Doug’s passion for SMB sales has helped him achieve continued success across the IT industry in various roles. 

[1] What Edge Computing Means for Infrastructure and Operations Leaders; October 18, 2017

[2] https://www.sec.gov/news/statement/cybersecurity-challenges-for-small-midsize-businesses.html