How scalable is your storage system?

You may not have considered the scalability of your cloud storage systems as an important aspect until now. However, it is an essential element for all companies that regularly store information in the cloud to back up their company and customer information and data.

In this post we would like to define this concept, as one of the key points you should choose when betting on a cloud storage and backup system.

What is scalability

Scalability is an aspect that has to do with the long term. That is, how much capacity does the SaaS tool you use have to be able to meet your needs, or if on the contrary, it would force you to change tool over time because it does not have enough resources in storage space to supply you.

We talk about scalability in a wide variety of fields, but in backup, it is especially important. Many companies have not taken this into account and find themselves having to delete old backups, or need to tidy up their company’s stored files.

Why scalability is important when it comes to backups

Companies are often unaware of the space requirements they will have. Exceptional measures may be taken, or management decisions may be made that require large files to be stored on company computer systems.

If the backups you make are increasing in number and weight, you will probably find that they start to grow exponentially and that there will come a time when the space you have contracted for will become too small.

When the company that offers you the storage space, gives you the opportunity to keep expanding, then we can talk about a scalable system. You can expand or reduce the contracted space according to your needs at any given time. However, if the company you work with has a limit that does not meet your expectations, you will be using a backup procedure that is not scalable and that will create problems in the medium or long term.

It is not only the space they offer you that matters

Another aspect to keep in mind is that we may be taking up more space than we really need. That is to say, if you do not organize and order the files you back up, you are probably creating automatic copies of files that you do not really need and that are taking up space.

It is also a problem when backups are not overwritten, so you store several versions of the same file, and they are all taking up space. You probably don’t need the old versions anymore, because you have only one valid version and the rest are no longer useful to you. In such a case, the best thing to do is to optimize the backup procedure that is in place in your company.

What do I do if my storage system does not offer me scalability.

If your cloud storage system does not offer you sufficient scalability, one of the decisions you may have considered is to hire another system. However, we believe this is a mistake and complicates backup management. It is better to have a single backup system and procedure in the cloud, so that recovery is easier and there are no multiple passwords.

A separate issue is data redundancy; that your company deliberately wants to store an exact copy in two different cloud storage systems, so that in case one failed, you would still have the other. The truth is that cloud software-as-a-service has greatly improved its security and sometimes this level of data redundancy is not necessary for most companies.

If you feel that the cloud storage tool you are using does not offer you enough guarantees, is not scalable enough, don’t wait for your storage space to fill up completely. Start backing up with a scalable system.

Are free solutions the best way to backup?

There are those who use free tools when it comes to storing their backups. They do not always take into account, for example, whether these tools comply with the requirements of the Organic Law on Data Protection, nor do they really know where the servers on which company files are being stored are located.

This is clearly a risk to your security as a company and that of your customers, which we absolutely do not recommend. Use a cloud storage system that provides you with full guarantees for making backups and storing them, that offers good scalability and allows you to work safely and confidently.