By Sam | February 5, 2014

7 Reasons VPNs Aren't A Good Choice For Data Replication!

When it comes to configuring a robust and reliable backup strategy, Credit Unions are steadily pursuing data vaulting/replication solutions. At Ongoing Operations, we work with hundreds of Credit Unions to make sure their backup solution is not only operationally efficient but also meets their Recovery Time Objectives (RTO). With RTOs becoming increasingly shorter it is important to understand how the infrastructure choices can impact performance. This week one question came up regarding using your existing VPN connection to OGO to do your data replication.  Barry Lewis, our solutions engineer weighs in below:

Why You Shouldn’t Data Vault Using VPNs:

1. VPNs segment packets to reduce packets size to a specific size.
2.  VPNs  cause processing overhead, processor and RAM resources are needed, to handle the encryption process. This can be significant, especially with heavy traffic processes, like data vaulting.
3.  VPNs use TCP to encapsulate the packets. This adds additional TCP overhead to the traffic.
4.  The backup files are already encrypted.
5.  The backup files are only incremental components, so without the “seed” backup file they are useless.
6. The backup files are disk-image based, not changes in a file, so having access to this data without the related information to identify what it is makes it useless.
7.  Adding processing overhead, packet overheard, or any other overhead causes addition time for the data transmission. Even milliseconds count when sending GB or TB of potentially critical data offsite.

 Want to know more about replication and smart backup strategies? Contact us today for a free consultation! Check out this post too!

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