Episodes

In this episode, we uncover the troubled history of Carbonite, a once prominent cloud backup provider plagued by lawsuits. In one Carbonite lawsuit they were the plaintiff, in another they were the defendant. From using inadequate storage arrays to failing to protect customer data, Carbonite's story serves as a warning for backup customers. Learn the importance of thoroughly vetting backup vendors and the risks of blindly trusting marketing claims. Don't miss this deep dive into Carbonite's mult...

In this episode of The Backup Wrap-Up, Curtis and his co-host dive into the chaos caused by Salesforce's accidental "modify all" permission change in 2019. They explore the fallout from this real-world SaaS disaster, including how Salesforce scrambled to restore proper permissions and the frustration felt by impacted customers. Curtis and his co-host discuss the crucial role third-party backups could have played in mitigating the impact of this incident, and why relying solely on a SaaS vendo...

In this shocking episode of The Backup Wrap-up, we delve into the jaw-dropping data loss disaster that struck global consulting giant KPMG at the height of the 2020 pandemic. With one errant click, a Microsoft 365 admin accidentally wiped out months of critical Teams chat data for a staggering 145,000 employees. Join host W. Curtis Preston as he unravels this extraordinary tale of digital destruction and explores the crucial lessons it holds for organizations relying on Microsoft 365 and othe...

In this important episode of the Backup Wrap-up, W. Curtis Preston, AKA Mr. Backup, takes you on a deep dive into the shocking story of the OVHCloud data center fire of 2021. This catastrophic event left hundreds of customers scrambling to recover their precious data (often without backups), exposing the startling truth about OVHCloud's data center and backup practices and the devastating consequences of misplaced trust in cloud providers. As usual, Curtis is joined by guest host Prasanna Mal...

In this episode, we uncover the little-known but cautionary tale of Musey, a startup building an interior design app that catastrophically lost everything when an admin accidentally deleted their entire Google Workspace account. We dive deep into: How a single slip-up by an admin led to over $1.5 million of intellectual property stored in Google Drive getting instantly wiped out Musey's desperate attempts to get their data back by contacting Google and even filing a lawsuit How not ...

In 2014, software-as-a-service company Code Spaces disappeared overnight after a devastating cyber attack. Thousands of coders lost access to their work when insufficient cloud backups failed under pressure. The company was forced to go out of business. Learn the tragic tale of how Code Spaces ignored standard data protection rules, putting their business and clients at risk. We’ll unpack what went wrong with their cloud architecture and backup systems, allowing a single hacker to destroy the...

In this information-packed episode, backup guru W. Curtis Preston and expert guest Prasanna Malaiyandi explore the elements of crafting an effective disaster recovery (DR) runbook. They discuss how a properly structured runbook eliminates confusion during crises by clearly outlining responsibilities and contacts. From making runbooks accessible and absorbed to keeping them actionable with constant updates and tests, they share the 8 critical factors for DR success. Tune in to transform your back...

Disaster lurks around every corner - ransomware, natural disasters, human errors. Are you thinking about all the data and systems at risk. Is your organization prepared? In this episode, Curtis and Prasanna pull back the curtain on the disaster recovery decision - to build or to buy? They unpack the tradeoffs around cost, complexity, control, and even cybersecurity. Whether you're an anxious IT leader losing sleep over business continuity or just disaster recovery curious, you won't want to m...

Creating an effective DR strategy means understanding the critical differences between hot, warm, and cold recovery sites. Join backup guru W. Curtis Preston and his cohost Prasanna Malaiyandi for the latest Backup Wrap-Up as they outline real-world strategies to match your RTO, RPO, and budget. You’ll learn the unique benefits and challenges of using both primary for hot sites, and backup replication to cost-effectively create warm recovery sites. They also tackle the complexities of cloud D...

When disaster strikes, you better have a solid plan for where you’ll recover your operations. Join me, W. Curtis Preston, and Prasanna Malaiyandi, as we explore the nitty-gritty details of your three main options for a disaster recovery site. We’ll dig into the pros, cons, risks, and costs associated with rolling your own DR site, hiring a third-party service, or leveraging the public cloud. Each path has its twists and turns. How do you keep a secondary site in sync? What if a regional disas...

Staying resilient in the face of disaster is crucial for any organization today. In this episode, we dive deep into crafting robust disaster recovery plans that help you outmaneuver outages. We discuss critical groundwork like taking inventory across environments and analyzing risk to determine what to prioritize recovering when the worst happens. Whether it's ransomware, natural disasters, or other threats taking systems down, smart preparation makes all the difference. Key highlights inc...

Are your backups collecting virtual dust rather than readying you for the next unavoidable disaster? Get back to basics on crafting an ironclad disaster recovery plan. We outline the essential infrastructure, applications, staffing, and execution steps often glossed over by the check-the-box enterprise crowd. Going beyond mere data recovery, we detail considerations around standing up replacement infrastructure, understanding system interdependencies, and restoring functionality faster with i...

In this episode, Curtis and Prasanna do a deep dive on the differences between data backup and data archiving. They thoroughly explain that while backup focuses on restoring systems and files to a prior point in time, archiving is all about being able to search and retrieve specific information for legal or regulatory purposes. Key reasons you'll want to tune in: Learn exactly why companies archive data and how regulatory compliance and legal eDiscovery requests require specialized archiv...

We’re going back to basics in 2024! Our hosts revisit their smash hit episode from last year all about protecting those traditional data sources like physical servers, VMs, laptops, desktops, and mobile devices. From on-prem to mobile, should it all get backed up? How and why? Tune in as Curtis and Prasanna rehash their spirited debate over backup best practices across your infrastructure and walk through real-world examples of what can go wrong. It’s chock full of fundamental wisdom for data pr...

This timely episode features an in-depth discussion between cybersecurity expert Melissa Palmer (@vmiss) and hosts W. Curtis Preston and Prasanna Malaiyandi on the crucial role preparation and planning play in effectively responding to and recovering from the inevitable ransomware attack. They stress that flying by the seat of your pants without an incident response plan when ransomware hits leads to chaotic, inefficient efforts and substantially higher costs. Melissa outlines pragmatic steps o...

Changing your organization's backup system is no easy task - it requires careful evaluation of requirements, risks, and capabilities. Many admins get stuck with backup environments they've outgrown or that lag on modern demands. On this episode, backup guru W. Curtis Preston and his cohost Prasanna Malaiyandi lend their expertise to help you determine if and when migrating your backup solution makes sense. You'll learn: Key indicators that your current system is no longer fitting your nee...

After diving into the details of the recent Okta breach enabled by password manager vulnerabilities, Curtis and Prasanna tackle the growing issue of copy data sprawl. They define copy data management – the practice of tracking and governing all duplicated production data for backup, DR, development, analytics etc. What problems result from copy proliferation? How feasible is a single consolidated platform? What regulatory and cost implications exist? Tune in as our hosts break down best practice...

Tired of backup windows and 24-hour recovery point objectives? Then it's time to learn about how snapshots and replication work together to create near-continuous data protection, or near-CDP. In this episode, backup experts W. Curtis Preston and Prasanna Malaiyandi dive into leveraging snapshots for instant point-in-time recovery and replication for an offsite copy. By combining these technologies, you can achieve recovery point objectives measured in minutes rather than hours or days. Li...

Ransomware attacks and data breaches dominate the headlines, but is your data protection strategy truly secure? This must-listen episode dives deep on an unsung hero of cyber resilience - tape. Tape may have been written off by some as a legacy technology, yet it offers unparalleled air gap protection that no hacker can penetrate. Top experts from Fujifilm and IBM (sponsors of this episode) reveal the major advances that make modern tape more scalable, reliable, and cost-effective than ever b...

What does "air gap" really mean when it comes to backups? Curtis takes us back to the early days of offsite tape backups with Iron Mountain to explore the principles behind physical air gaps. We learn about barcode tracking, unmarked vans, and multi-factor delete authorization. How do modern "virtual air gaps" in the cloud compare? Are backup vendors misusing important security terms? Join us as we separate marketing hype from real backup protection and learn timeless lessons around alerting, ac...

In this episode of The Backup Wrap-Up, host W. Curtis Preston discusses the importance of understanding the difference between snapshots and backups. He emphasizes that storage snapshots should not be considered as true backups. The episode also covers the recent 1Password and Okta hack, highlighting the frustration of such incidents, especially for those who advocate for password managers and cloud technologies. Tune in to learn more about the risks and implications of relying solely on snapsho...

In this episode of the Backup Wrap-Up, W. Curtis Preston and Prasanna Malaiyandi discuss Continuous Data Protection (CDP) and its potential as the next great thing in disaster recovery. They explore the concept of meeting an RTO and RPO of zero and question why CDP isn't used for all backups in DR. Tune in to learn more about CDP and its role in backup and disaster recovery. Article mentioned in the story: https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/10/ransomware_attacks_register_record_speeds

In this episode, W. Curtis Preston, aka Mr. Backup, and Prasanna Malaiyandi discuss the fundamental technology of replication in data protection systems. They explore what replication is, how it differs from other methods, and why it's not used for everything. They also delve into the differences between synchronous and asynchronous replication and why it matters. The hosts also share news of a backup company called Alcion, which recently raised funding with support from Veeam, a backup company ...

In this episode of the Backup Wrap-Up, host W. Curtis Preston discusses the importance of distinguishing between a copy and a backup to ensure the protection of valuable data. He also explores key backup concepts such as multiplexing, incremental backups, block-level incremental backups, and source-side deduplication. The episode kicks off with a discussion on the recent MGM hack, highlighting the significant impact it had on the hotel chain and the potential for personal information leaks. Tune...