Barracuda is now offering monthly payments for their line of firewall and backup appliances. Rather than make a one-time purchase for the device, and pay annual fees for updates, support, etc., firms can simply subscribe to these devices “as a service”.
Firms who prefer OpEx to CapEx spending will likely capitalize on this new option. As always, however, there is a price-premium for choosing this route. One can achieve the lowest overall price by purchasing outright.
The monthly fee paid includes hardware, updates, support, cloud storage and device replacement. We feel based on the features, cost, and reliability, there are few services that can rival this in the SMB space.
Firewalls, backups and disaster recovery are some of the most vital IT services a professional organization needs. This brief post will outline the various Plans, Cost, Features, Pricing and Uses of this service.
Plans
All plans come with a hardware appliance which has a fixed amount of local storage. This appliance keeps entire copies of your backups so that if you need to restore, you can from this local appliance, versus initiating a multi-day drip download of your data.
You choose a device based on the total size of your data storage needs. Small firms 1-5 users in size will usually go with the 190 model, which includes up to 250GB of local storage. Firms that are between 5-25 users will usually pick between the model 290 or 390, featuring 500GB-1TB total storage capabilities.
For firms that utilize VMWare, and who would like to utilize LiveBoot in the Barracuda cloud during downtime events, you will need to double your storage capacity for this feature.
From here, the rest is automatic. All of these devices (re: 190, 290, 390, etc.) have the same features. And they will back up everything: files, databases, VMs, system state engineering, AD, etc. Remember, not all backup solutions are created equal. If you are backing up just your files, you are missing the boat.
Features
The features you get with Barracuda are what make this solution so competitive. Remember, Accellis implements Barracuda, Datto, Symantec Backup Exec, Carbonite, Mozy Pro, Veam, ShadowProtect, and many other services. But it’s this BaaS offering that has us and our clients drooling. Let’s review the top features. Many of these features are simply nowhere to be found with lesser solutions.
Inline Deduplication
ID refers to the service checking for duplicate materials and removing those from your schema. This saves local and cloud storage space, bandwidth requirements, and backup costs.
Virtual Machine Integration
VM integration helps organizations running VMware remote access technologies. If you run virtual networks or virtual desktops, this solution will take care of everything.
Replication
This refers to the fact that your data backup is happening each day both locally, on the hardware appliance, and in the cloud, via replication. Once the device is setup, your data is being mirrored to geographically redundant data centers with physical security and investments in continuity (i.e., generators, back hardware, personnel and more). It also features 256-bit AES encryption, meaning world-wide security for your data while in transit.
Offsite Vaulting
This allows you to move monthly and yearly backups, quarterly snapshots, VHDs, etc. off the local appliance without losing the data. What happens is you send it to the vault where it is stored by Barracuda. This reduces the total amount of local storage required and thus reduces the cost of the hardware appliance.
Unlimited Cloud Storage
You need a hardware appliance that offers enough storage locally to handle your backup needs. But when it comes to what you sync to the cloud, there is no limit and no extra cost. And, for what it’s worth, cloud storage is the more expensive of the two. Unlimited storage means you can keep years of data backups and images, allowing you to retain important information with more confidence.
Local Management
Local management refers to the fact that you have a local appliance to which you can backup; this means faster & more complete backups. More importantly, it means a faster restore. Rather than waiting for a download of your entire data store (which may be GBs or TBs in size, and therefore may take days or weeks to download), you have a local copy, meaning you can restore immediately.
Instant Replacement
IR means if your device dies, Barracuda will replace your backup device, load it with a copy of your data, and have the new one at your site the next day. Moreover, every four years, they are going to ship you a replacement device regardless, meaning you’ll get refreshed hardware, speed, and increased storage at no additional cost.
LiveBoot
LB allows VMware clients to spin an image in the Barracuda cloud so users can work while the network is being fixed. More simply, if you server crashes, you can run your whole network from the Barracuda cloud as if nothing happened. Then, when your server is fixed, just switch back over to your local network. There is a performance decrease when you switch between running locally at internal speeds and running in a cloud where speeds may be truncated by your ISP.
Use
BaaS is good for small to medium sized firms who prefer OpEx to CapEx and who need the certainty of a high-end solution. Many firms use a mix of technologies and implement a complex schema, creating an environment of poor security and pure uncertainty! Here, we run over a few of the advantages of BaaS:
If you run multiple backup technologies at once (i.e., Carbonite plus Shadow Protect plus DropBox, or any other combination) you can benefit from a single point platform.
• Less conflicts among competing backup software
• Less complexity when dealing with one suite vs multiple
• Less duplication and redundancy in your backups, saving money, space and bandwidth
• More certainty that all critical data is being backed up, rotated offsite, and retained safely
If you run physical, external drives or tapes offsite periodically, this solution is for you.
• Lowers risk associated with lost or intercepted media
• Never need to manually run something offsite or check if the person responsible did
• Saves you the hard cost of drives or tapes & their degradation, and the soft costs of complex management
If you don’t have confidence in your IT company or the state of your backups, or if you don’t have confidence in your firm’s Disaster Recovery preparedness:
• Replaces the worry that backups are old, incomplete, corrupt, or lost due to age or degradation
• Ensures 100% coverage for all mission critical data: emails, documents, databases, engineering
• Allows for granular restore down to a single piece of mail, meaning less loss in a restore
• Ensures the firm is meeting its obligations to retain important information (re: ABA model rules, HIPAA, FINRA)
• Ensures all backup data (files, database, engineering, etc.) are encrypted to AES256 standards (encryption is safe harbor)
Getting Started
Accellis is Barracuda certified and has setup countless Barracuda firewalls, routers, backup appliances, archivers and more. You can always call us to learn more. You can also work with your own IT company or work with Barracuda directly. Always compare the purchase route against the BaaS route to fully understand the cost premium your firm will pay for the convenience of less capital expenditure and no long term commitments.