Introduction to the Service Security

Many businesses are beginning to take advantage of the substantial value and convenience of using Internet-based storage services for data protection and disaster recovery. The complete LiveVault Online Backup Service solution of online backup, recovery, and electronic vaulting managed services is ideal for small and medium businesses or remote sites with little or no IT staff.

LiveVault Online Backup Service allows companies to back up servers in multiple sites continuously and automatically over low-cost Internet connections. LiveVault Online Backup Service’s electronic vaulting protects data by archiving it immediately to a secure offsite location, where it is available for immediate restore operation or disaster recovery.

LiveVault Online Backup Service provides real advantages to businesses. Using unique byte-level replication technology, LiveVault Online Backup Service Agent software on each protected server copies only the bytes that change in your open files and databases, minimizing server load and bandwidth requirements. LiveVault Online Backup Service’s patented Time-Slice Restore technology enables point-in-time restores of historic file versions. A personalized web management interface (MyLiveVault) lets users manage the entire online backup and electronic vaulting process from a web browser. Finally a Service Operations Center (SOC) monitors and maintains the entire process 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Security, efficiency, and convenience are built into every step of the process to install and establish LiveVault Online Backup Service. The basic steps are:

Customer registers for LiveVault Online Backup Service.
Customer identifies servers to be protected and submits the certificate request.
LiveVault Online Backup Service establishes the account and creates digital certificates.
Customer downloads and installs LiveVault Online Backup Service Agent software and digital certificates.
On reboot, the Agent establishes a secure connection to the LiveVault Online Backup Service Internet Gateway server via a VPN tunnel.
Customer logs onto MyLiveVault, creates backup configurations, and starts initial synchronization backup (the only total backup).
Once synchronization backup is complete, then continuous byte-level protection begins.

Digital certificates (see Secure Transmission Over the Internet) will authenticate the secure Internet connections between protected servers and the LiveVault Online Backup Service Internet Gateway server. The LiveVault Online Backup Service Internet Gateway server is a server that sits between the Internet and the LiveVault Online Backup Service backup servers. Its purpose is to ensure secure and resilient connections between the customer server and the LiveVault Online Backup Service backup server. From MyLiveVault, the customer then downloads and installs LiveVault Online Backup Service Agent software on each protected server. Part of the installation includes linking the digital certificate file to the Agent software. Once this is done, the Agent will connect to the appropriate LiveVault Online Backup Service Internet Gateway server.

In addition to the digital certificate that is installed on each customer protected server (LiveVault Online Backup Service Agent), there is a digital certificate on the customer’s assigned LiveVault Online Backup Service Internet Gateway server and another on the LiveVault Online Backup Service backup server. From the setup process, each LiveVault Online Backup Service Agent knows the appropriate Internet Gateway server to connect to. When the LiveVault Online Backup Service starts, the two servers exchange their certificates. This is to verify that each server is connected to the appropriate other server. If this two-way authentication is confirmed, data begins to move through the secured Virtual Private Network (VPN, see Secure Transmission Over the Internet) tunnel from the customer server to the Internet Gateway server. If either server does not confirm the authentication, then the communication attempt is rejected and the connection disabled.

Once the VPN tunnel connection is established, the customer accesses MyLiveVault from an Internet browser, defines backup configurations, and starts the server’s initial synchronization (full) backup. As soon as the synchronization backup is complete, byte-level changes are sent to the LiveVault Online Backup Service backup server 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

LiveVault Online Backup Service allows companies to securely back up protected servers continuously and automatically over low-cost Internet connections to a backup server located in a protected offsite data center. These data centers are strategically located to eliminate risk and feature state-of-the-art physical security, UPS, emergency backup generators, fire protection systems, and more. Once there, your data is away from disgruntled employees, isolated from viruses, and safe from natural disasters. In providing this service, LiveVault Online Backup Service ensures the highest levels of data security, customer service, and operational reliability with features such as: password-protected SSL-level web access, industry-standard digital certificates, state-of-the-art VPN tunneling technology, a personalized web interface, patented byte-level replication and Time-Slice Restore technologies, and round-the clock monitoring by a fully equipped Service Operations Center.

Related Information

Secure Transmission Over the Internet