Our CopyAssure solution utilises immutable snapshots to provide ransomware recovery for IBM i by validating each snapshot captured. However, there is a misconception that they’re the same as backups, which they are not. Below, we clarify the difference.
Backups
VS
CopyAssure
A backup strategy ensures there is a copy of your data stored separately from production. It covers all systems within the business. Backups require a lot of capacity and are normally stored on slower, more affordable media away from the production environment.
PURPOSE
An immutable snapshot strategy ensures a business can recover critical systems following a ransomware attack or system corruption to ensure the business is back up and running as quickly and as smoothly as possible. An immutable snapshot is a space-efficient copy of your system which is quick to recover and is stored close to production, usually on production-level storage arrays.
Backups are usually a daily process. They can be stored for weeks or months to enable recovery of data to historic points in time.
FREQUENCY
AND
RETENTION
Immutable snapshots have the flexibility to run daily to hourly. They can be retained for long periods of time but typically are stored for between 3 and 7 days.
Backups are typically not validated until they are required. This means zero-day attack malware can be present in your backups. Backups also are not always recoverable due to corruption.
VALIDATION
With CopyAssure, every immutable snapshot is booted and validated to prove its usability, then stored away for future use. If validation fails, our CopyAssure service will monitor and troubleshoot to ensure a high validation success rate moving forward.
Backups can be slow to recover due to various factors such as slow media, transfer of data to the environment, and the validation process.
RECOVERY
Recovery is quick and simple, as our previous validation of the snapshots provides a known good recovery point with a known recovery time.