There was a time when tape-based backup was widely believed to be the only feasible backup solution for remote offices. But tape backup alone is no longer the only realistic solution and centralized backup solutions are coming to the forefront.

As a result of this shift, enterprises have re-evaluated tape-only backup solutions and don't like what they have found. According to a report by ESG, nearly one-quarter (24%) of companies say that twenty percent (20%) or more of their tape-based backups fail. As such, depending on tape backup alone creates an unacceptable level of risk.

Fortunately, advances in technology have made centralized backup easier to manage and less of a drain on the WAN. Centralized backup solutions like those from Double-Take Software uses real-time data replication to reduce the risk involved with tape-only backup and data recovery. A centralized backup solution takes the tape-only backup responsibilities out of the hands of non-technical resources in each remote office, and puts them in the hands of experts back at a central data centre.

Centralized backup solutions from Double-Take Software replicate data from each remote office to one central location. A centralized backup solution from Double-Take Software, used with tape backup strategies, can reduce the per-location costs associated with tape-only solutions. Immediate savings with a centralized backup plan include recovery software licenses for each location, a tape library at each location, and off-site vaulting.