The Simplest BC/DR Ever? Introducing Cloud Continuity for PCs

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Tracy Rock

Director of Marketing @ Invenio IT

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The new “Cloud Continuity for PCs” made a big splash at DattoCon19, and we love sharing it with our clients.

In case you missed it, Cloud Continuity is the official release (and revamp) of Datto’s “Direct to Cloud” service, which has been in beta since last year. At last year’s DattoCon, CEO Austin McChord teased the new offering during his keynote address, asking the audience:

“What if we could deliver a product that offers the point-in-time restore capabilities of our Continuity products, without the need for an appliance? And that’s exactly what Cloud Continuity does.

Okay, what is Cloud Continuity for PCs?

In a nutshell, Cloud Continuity for PCs is an image-based BC/DR solution that protects individual PCs without the need for a separate on-site backup device.

Data on each protected PC is backed up directly to the Datto Cloud – no appliance needed.

Wait, isn’t that how Datto’s backups already work?

No. The key difference with Cloud Continuity vs. SIRIS or ALTO, for example, is that there is no appliance involved.

In a conventional setup with Datto’s continuity solutions, a backup appliance is deployed on-site to copy data from the protected machine, such as a server. All that data is stored as an image-based backup and replicated to the Datto Cloud for added protection.

With Cloud Continuity for PCs, there is no local appliance needed. A complete image-based backup is transferred directly from the PC to the Datto Cloud.

Oh ok, so it’s kinda a cloud drive?

No – not at all.

Cloud-based “file-sync and share” apps, like Google Drive, Dropbox and Microsoft OneDrive, are NOT designed for data backup. These services merely sync some of your files to the cloud. They don’t protect you from common data-loss scenarios, like ransomware, accidental deletion or data overwrites.

Cloud Continuity provides a complete backup of your entire PC and stores it in the cloud. So when data loss occurs, you can restore the entire PC or individual files. It’s a reliable, all-in-one backup solution designed to provide continuity for your business.

What are the benefits?

First and foremost, the greatest benefit is the data protection.

Studies show that more than half of small businesses are not prepared for data loss, and an alarming percentage of companies shut down forever when those disruptions occur.

Cloud Continuity gives businesses an extremely easy way to back up data from their PCs to the cloud. And it enables a fast, full recovery when disaster strikes.

Aside from the data protection alone, there are several other key benefits: simplicity, affordability, reliability and more. Let’s take a closer look at each of these.

Simple deployment

Cloud Continuity for PCs makes it easier than ever for a small business to obtain the full protection of a professional BC/DR solution. This is attractive to smaller businesses that may not yet have the need to deploy a SIRIS, ALTO or other backup device at their location.

Businesses simply add the Cloud Continuity agent software to each PC they want to protect, and that’s it. Backups begin within minutes, and the PC is protected from all disaster scenarios.

Critical protection

At smaller businesses, users often keep important files on their own machines, as opposed to the company server. The problem with this is that these files might not be protected by the company’s central BC/DR system if its configured to only backup data from the server (or, these businesses may not have a server at all, let alone a backup system).

Cloud Continuity ensures that a user’s files, stored anywhere on the PC, are being protected. It backs up those files regularly so that they can easily be retrieved when disaster strikes.

Automatic backups every two hours

Cloud Continuity performs backups quietly in the background, so it doesn’t disrupt your work.

Plus, since backups happen automatically, you have peace of mind knowing that your files are being protected around the clock. A 2-hour backup frequency means you’ll never lose more than 2 hours of new or modified data, allowing you to maintain an aggressive recovery point objective.

Aside from the automatic backups, you can also manually initiate a backup at any time.

  • TIP: If your business requires even more frequent backups, then you’ll probably want to consider a continuity solution that leverages an on-site backup appliance. The Datto SIRIS, for example, can perform backups as often as every 5 minutes, ideal for businesses that are constantly creating new data.

All disaster scenarios

The backups don’t include just individual files, either. A complete snapshot of the protected machine is taken, including system data and application data.

This means that the entire O/S volume is protected, allowing you to restore a computer back to an earlier state. So for example, if you use a critical application that stops working because the files are corrupted or infected with malware, you can restore the data back to its working state. This significantly minimizes the disruption so your business can keep running without flinching.

We’ll return to some specific disaster scenarios in a moment.

Cloud virtualization

This is a big one.

In addition to being able to recover individual files and folders, you can also virtualize the backup directly in the Datto Cloud. So regardless of where you are, you can get near-instant access to the protected PC’s files and applications within a virtual environment. This is a lifesaver in situations where you need to restore your most critical operations after a disaster.

Backup virtualization is already a key benefit of Datto’s SIRIS and ALTO devices, but with Cloud Continuity, you don’t need the appliance. The image-based backups can be booted as a virtual machine, powered by Datto’s cloud infrastructure.

It doesn’t matter if the protected PC has been tossed in the Hudson River. With Cloud Continuity, you can be back in business, using the apps from that PC on another computer in a matter of seconds.

Rollback after ransomware

Ransomware is a nightmare for every business, but it’s especially devastating for smaller companies that don’t have an adequate backup system.

Once a ransomware infection takes hold and encrypts your files, your computer is basically bricked. But with Cloud Continuity, you or your managed-service provider (MSP) can remotely rollback to a recovery point from before the attack occurred. This effectively restores the data and removes the threat.

Restore lost or stolen PCs

Small business PCs are increasingly mobile. Employees use laptops at the office and then take them home at the end of the day (as well as everywhere else in between: the subway, happy hour, coffee shop and so on).

This increases the risk of these PCs being lost or stolen. And in the process, all the data on those devices is lost.

Since Datto’s Cloud Continuity stores your backups in the cloud, you never have to worry that your important files are gone for good, even if the device itself is. You can restore all the data on another device, or virtualize it for even faster access.

No Internet? Backups resume automatically when the connection is restored

Unlike office desktops, which typically remain connected to the Internet all day, a work laptop is continually on the go, reconnecting to different networks throughout the day.

But a loss of Internet should not mean that the backup process gets interrupted. After all, if an employee is getting work done at the pub, at their home, or anywhere else, these changes need to be backed up as soon as possible.

With Cloud Continuity, backups automatically pause when the Internet connection is disrupted, and they resume again when the connection is restored. Additionally, the backup picks up where it left off – it doesn’t need to restart the backup from the beginning.

Even if you’re simply restarting the PC, there’s no need to manually restart the backup process or reconfigure anything. When it reconnects to the Internet, the backup resumes automatically.

Up to 1 TB of protection per PC

If you keep a ton of data on your PC, that’s not a problem.

Cloud Continuity backs up the entire operating system volume, up to 1 TB. This ensures that all your files are being protected, including the operating system itself.

Note that Cloud Continuity cannot currently back up other drives, including any connected USB drives or other external storage. For now, only the OS volume is backed up, ensuring that all your application data is backed up as well as all other files in the volume.

Straightforward pricing

Cloud Continuity for PCs is affordably priced to make it attractive to every business. Pricing is per PC, and that’s it. No surprise charges, no overages, no hassle.

Some MSPs may choose to bundle the service with other continuity products to meet the specific needs of the business. But ultimately, Datto’s simple pricing makes it easier than ever for organizations to deploy a dependable cloud-based continuity solution without a large investment.

System requirements for Cloud Continuity

Note that Cloud Continuity is currently only available on Window systems. Here are the system requirements:

  • Windows 10 (all 64-bit versions)
  • Windows 7 (all 64-bit versions)
  • Each protected machine must have a minimum of 1 GB of free RAM for installation and for backups to run

Request a free demo

See how Datto’s Cloud Continuity for PCs can fit into your continuity strategy. Learn more by requesting a free demo or by contacting our data backup experts at Invenio IT. Call (646) 395-1170 or email success@invenioIT.com.

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