A Solid Backup Solution for Your Small Business
New backup and disaster recovery appliance offers many benefits, including affordability
In an article written last year for Latin Business Today called Backing Small Business Up in the Cloud, I described backup methodologies focused on a class of systems called BDRs (backup and disaster recovery appliances) for small businesses. The devices identified included off-site transfers and the ability to quickly recover from a business interruption. BDRs are a great choice for businesses that would incur significant financial losses if a business interruption caused operations to halt.
Since that article was posted Ive watched my favorite product, the Datto Siris line of BDRs, advance in features and ease of use. But while several of my clients use them with success, I have not seen a client with fewer than five employees use one because of the capital investment and high monthly cost.
A New Model to Consider
Fortunately, Datto recently released a new BDR line called Alto, which is positioned below Siris and aimed squarely at businesses with fewer than 10 employees and up to four computers to protect. (The lowest capacity models protect up to two computers.) Alto looks like an Apple TV or a cable TV set-top box. It is one quarter the size of the Siris device, which looks like a slim PC.
Alto has all the same features as Siris:
- Frequent backups as often as every five minutes
- Automatic off-site transfers
- Easy file and folder restorations
- Remote management
- Virtualization of any of the backups
And the Alto is priced to appeal to very small businesses. It can be purchased starting under $600 and a monthly off-site storage and support payment as low as $99 a month. Or a customer can get the device for free with a one-year commitment and a payment starting at $120 a month.
