Small Companies NAS can be a Double Trap
RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Drives) recovery is not a new data management problem, but it is becoming more evident that a growing number of companies, falling into this predicament, are the ones who are least prepared to recover financially from this type of loss.
Cherry Systems, Inc. is technically capable and highly successful in recovering data from RAID systems used by medium and large corporations, predominantly due to the fact that these companies can absorb the relatively higher cost of the recovery and are able to proceed with the full recovery. However we are observing a disturbing change in some end users' ability to complete these recoveries.
The source of this problem shift is that an increasing number of incidents where data is lost involving RAID's, and have a low rate of completion, are in the area of small businesses; for example a small law firm, CPA practice, a wedding photographer, or a Dental office etc. The low completion rate is not attributed to technical limitations. It is due many times to the fact that these types of small businesses can't produce or allocate the funds to pay for it. Up to 50% of small businesses struggle to pay for such a recovery. It is apparent from numerous studies over the past 20 years, that the overall impact on the small business could be devastating and the business will quite likely fail within 3-6 months.
The other 15 to 20% of issues involving the inability to complete the recovery is due to the fact that these small businesses, for no fault of their own, are sold on the solution that an inexpensive NAS or a cheap file server, many under $500 (see picture above), will get the job done. The reality is that many times these inexpensive storage devices are performing according to what they were designed to do, work only for a short while. Keeping in the spirit of low cost they include cheap drives, inadequate voltage supply, and poor ventilation, and to complicate matters, these customers are also told that the redundancy will protect them. Therefore, very few users implement a backup system due to the additional cost and the complexity in monitoring.
As inevitable as it is with most highly technical and complex technologies, comes that fateful day when the NAS device is "inaccessible", with no warning, and no recourse. After all, they were meant to be as inexpensive as possible and part of it is achieved by stripping away from the NAS, the important aspects of monitoring and recovery functionality.
Cherry Systems Inc. is known for our relentless effort to find a way for these small businesses to overcome the financial hurdle. We have been successful in helping the client negotiate with their business insurance adjustor, and to get reimbursed by their business insurance carrier. Also, we can negotiate a workable payment plan, which will allow the customer to get the data they need to continue operation.
