On September 16th, one of the largest cloud storage providers, Nirvanix, announced that they will be shutting down. Their customers were given two weeks to move their data elsewhere. We want to inform you of how this could affect your data and how to avoid being subject to a situation like this in the future.
How Does this Affect You?
Many data backup providers rely on outside companies to host their cloud storage service. Nirvanix is one of those outside companies that hosts cloud storage for a list of popular data backup providers. If your data backup provider is listed here and you are currently subscribed to their cloud storage service, then your data is subject to Nirvanix’s closure.
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How Should I Prepare in the Future?
Cloud storage is a fairly new concept that is both efficient and cost-effective. However, it is not completely reliable just yet. This unreliability comes from the companies who host the service, not from the service itself. Almost anyone can host a cloud backup service because, as in the case with Nirvanix, they rely heavily on venture capital. Once the venture capital runs out, they have no choice but to shut down and erase all of the data stored in the cloud. In order to avoid a situation like this in the future, we recommend that you choose your data backup provider carefully by using the following criteria:
1. Know Your Cloud Vendor. As mentioned above, just because you know who your data backup provider is, doesn’t mean you know who your cloud vendor is. Many times the cloud service is outsourced. Find out who exactly will be hosting your cloud storage.
2. Choose an Established Cloud Vendor. The longer a company has been around, the more stable, and thus more reliable they will be. Choose a vendor that has not only been around for a while, but also has strong financials. This will mitigate your risk of a shut down.
Btech has found what we believe to be the most reliablecloud storage vendor for credit unions: EVault. EVault has been offering cloud data backup for 15 years and is owned by Seagate, a $15 billion company. Should you ever lose any data when using EVault, DriveSavers offer seagate data recovery so that you don’t lose your data forever. By choosing EVault, you can ensure that your data will be safe and secure for as long as you need it. Learn More About EVault»
