3-2-1 Rule
Three (3) copies of protected Data on at least two (2) different storage devices with one (1) copy located at a secure remote location such as VMsources Secure Cloud
Antivirus
Antivirus products continually scan for known Virus Signatures on protected systems.
Antivirus systems can not protect against new vectors (Signatures) which have not been published by the Antivirus vendor.
Auditing and Compliance
Auditing and Compliance is the process by which facilities and systems are compared against known standards by qualified Auditors who then create reports which certify that the facility or system is in Compliance with the standards used, or make note of exceptions.
Backup
A Backup is an indexed archive of systems and data, usually compressed, and which needs to be Restore(d) prior to accessing the archived data.
Backup Copy
A Backup Copy job sources a (usually) Incremental Backup and copies the data to an alternate location. Backup Copy jobs are the normal source for Offsite Backup(s) and have the advantage of being non-disruptive if it takes many hours to transfer data to an Offsite location such as VMsources Secure Backups.
Backup Repository
A random-access storage system which can be used as the primary target of a Backup.
Best Effort
Best Effort represents resources which are not reserved or pre-assigned and may not be available in the event of greater than normal demands on Infrastructure, such as during a large regional Disaster event.
CDP
Continuous Data Protection (CDP) is near-synchronous Replication of data from source to target.
Cloud Computing
Cloud Computing provides ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.
Compute Resources
The resources required by the active state of a computing system while it is powered on (CPU and RAM)
CPU
Central Processing Unit (CPU) provides logic, controls I/O and performs all calculations based on information stored in RAM
Datacenter
A secure and audited location where Cloud Computing resources are housed. SEE ALSO: Server Room
Disk /vDisk / HDD
A computer Disk (AKA: vDisk, Virtual Disk, Hard Disk, HDD, SSD) is a non-volatile, random-access storage system on which data is stored.
DR
Disaster Recovery (DR) is the notion of how an Organization would recover following a Disaster such as physical loss of data (such as in a Fire), logical loss of data (such as in a Ransomware Event) or temporary loss of data (such as during a power outage).
DRaaS
Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) is a combination of Service Levels which includes at least Secure Backup and Replication.
DR Plan
A DR Plan is the written and documented procedure for an organization to recover during / following a disaster.
DR Test
A DR Test is the execution of the DR Plan sufficient to demonstrate that the Organization could recover following a disaster.
Endpoint Protection
Endpoint Protection differs from Antivirus in that it looks for specific behaviors which represent suspicious activity on protected systems. When discovered, Endpoint Protection will isolate (“quarantine”) systems until reviewed by an authorized administrator.
Some Endpoint Protection platforms are comprehensive enough to be considered to be complete Antivirus replacement, while others need to be used in conjunction with traditional Antivirus systems.
Failover
The process by which Replicated VMs are powered on and prepared for use at an alternate location, such as at a DRaaS Datacenter.
Full Backup
A Full Backup is an archive of protected data and systems which can exist on its own, without any other supporting files.
Grandfather-Son (GFS) Backup
Long-term retention of full backups on a schedule (Weekly, Monthly, Yearly)
Hardened / Immutable Repository
Veeam Hardened / Immutable Repositories are tested and proven by Cohasset Associates meeting the requirements for non-rewritable, non-erasable storage as specified by SEC 17a-4(f), FINRA 4511(c) and CFTC 1.31(c)-(d) – WORM Equivalency
Hypervisor
A platform which draws resources from its physical host hardware and allocates those resources to VMs which run as independent and isolated systems.
Incremental Backup
An Incremental Backup utilizes one Full Backup followed by successive increments of the data which contain only the portion that has changed since the preceding Incremental Backup. When a Restore is needed, the restoration process requires the last Full Backup plus all the Incremental Backups until the point of restoration.
MFA
Multifactor Authentication (MFA) is a process which requires external validation, in addition to the username/password combination. The most common form of MFA is 2FA (2 Factor Authentication) which sends a “push” notification or uses a hardware hey in addition to the username/password combination to validate users
Offsite
To a geographically separated location, usually with a minimum distance requirement of 100 KM., but possibly much more depending on: Power Grids, Flood areas, Geologic earthquake zones and much more.
Onsite
To the same location as active Workloads and mission-critical data.
Pool
Shared resources, such as IP addresses, CPU, RAM and Disk which are assigned Best Effort.
RAM
Random Access Memory (RAM) stores volatile data which can be accessed and changed frequently while a computer system is powered on.
Replication / Replica
Replication provides a ready-to-run (immediately accessible) Replica copy of a Virtual Machine at an alternate location. The primary advantage of Replication is that Replicated systems require no Restore prior to being accessible.
Restore
The process of extracting data from a Backup and placing that data in a location where it is accessible. The Restore process is often time-consuming, depending on the format of data and systems used.
Restore Points
A Restore Point is the state protected by a Backup Job each time it runs
Retention Policy
Retention Policy is the number of Restore Points which will be kept
RPO
Replication Point Objective is the time between Replication cycles that occurs in Asynchronous Replication. When met, the RPO is the maximum period of data loss to be expected.
RTO
Recovery Time Objective (RTO) is the amount of time for systems to become functional after a disaster, including the time required to update public DNS and other service pointers. RTO can vary from just a few minutes for DRaaS protected systems to many hours for systems which need to be restored from Secure Offsite Backup
S3 Object Storage
S3 Object Storage systems may be deployed to retain bulk or long-term Backups which were created targeting a random-access repository.
S3 Object Storage is not suitable for random-access or transactional data, and cannot be used as the first generation of a Full Backup or Incremental Backup because it does not support the locking and sharing mechanisms needed to maintain a single, accurately updated version of a file.
Secure Cloud
Secure, on-demand and elastic Compute and Storage resources located in geographically diverse areas.
Server
A dedicated Compute resource, either physical or virtual, which provides resources or services to users to access remotely.
Server Room
A dedicated area where Servers and other Compute resources are housed. The primary difference between a Server Room and Datacenter is that the Server Room has not been Audited against standards (Such as AICPA, NIST, ISO) whereas the Datacenter is Audited and in compliance with those standards.
VM
Virtual Machine (VM) any form of Compute resource which runs on a Hypervisor.
WORM
Write Once Read Many (WORM) refers to media which cannot be changed after creation for purposes of auditing and/or protection from Ransomware
PLEASE NOTE: Veeam Hardened / Immutable Repositories are tested and proven by Cohasset Associates meeting the requirements for non-rewritable, non-erasable storage as specified by SEC 17a-4(f), FINRA 4511(c) and CFTC 1.31(c)-(d) – WORM Equivalency.
