Data has become more essential than ever in businesses, especially as companies shift toward eco-friendly models. However, this greater dependence on data also brings various risks, such as data loss and theft. To meet environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals and sustainability targets, it’s crucial to have strong data backup strategies in place. Thus, organizations should not overlook the need of data backup even as they give increasing focus on these investment ideas.

Effective data backup solutions stop data loss and promote the ESG performance and sustainability of a company in the data-driven environment of today. This article discusses the role of data backup on ESG and sustainability to assist you in harnessing its benefits in achieving your ESG goals.

What is the Role of Data Backup in ESG (Environmental, Social, Corporate Governance)?

ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance) is a framework for evaluating a company’s sustainability and ethical impact. It is a model that allows firms to recognize and evaluate the non-financial hazards and opportunities resulting from daily corporate activities. However, attaining ESG and sustainability depends critically on data backup. In the following sections, we will explore its role in each vital area.

Protecting the Environment through Efficient Data Storage

Data centers and IT systems consume much energy, contributing to an organization’s carbon footprint. However, you can reduce this environmental impact using backup solutions that help to optimize energy use in several ways:

• Energy Efficiency

Efficient backup strategies can minimize the data used, leading to a smaller environmental footprint. Moreover, modern data backup solutions centers employ energy-efficient data tools, such as cloud storage, that use renewable energy. Thus, using these advanced tools also helps to reduce your overall carbon footprint instead of using inefficient methods. Offline storage media, such as magnetic tape and external hard drives, reduce energy use by storing data inactively.

• Efficient Resource Management

Regular data backup can help an organization optimize its data storage practices, allowing it to use resources more efficiently. This includes avoiding redundancy by only storing necessary data and discarding outdated storage practices that consume excessive energy and materials.

• Reduction in Physical Storage Need

Traditional storage methods, such as paper records, take up physical space and materials, leading to deforestation, increased waste, and inefficiency. However, with modern data backup solutions, organizations can reduce the need for physical storage, reduce waste, and conserve natural resources.

• Disaster Recovery

Backing up your data will ensure quick recovery without needing extensive physical resources in the event of a natural disaster or other environmental impact that could lead to data loss. When such events happen, an organization can minimize downtime and the environmental costs of starting from scratch due to data loss.

Enhancing Social Responsibility through Data Backup

Data backup plays a major role in fulfilling an organization’s social responsibility:

• Protection of Sensitive Information

Sensitive information must be protected and safeguarded. Thus, when organizations collect and store sensitive information, including customers’ and employees’ data, they must ensure privacy and security. Using efficient data backups that employ high-standard security solutions ensures maximum protection for such sensitive information, fostering customer trust.

• Regulatory Compliance

When your organization performs regular data backups, it complies with legal and regulatory requirements. Thus, data backup solutions help organizations adhere to data regulations and standards, enabling them to perform their social responsibilities and ensure data integrity.

• Stakeholder Trust

Generally speaking, stakeholders such as partners, customers, workers, and investors want to collaborate with and support an organization prioritizing data security. Therefore, you gain the trust of stakeholders when you use backups to guarantee the availability and integrity of data. Also, a robust backup solution will ensure immediate business continuity after a data disaster, fostering and maintaining trust with stakeholders, especially customers.

• Positive Social Impact

Companies can make positive social impacts when they back up data to protect their digital assets. Many modern businesses operate with these digital assets, including information. Thus, data backup indirectly supports employment and economic stability, which leads to a positive social impact.

Strengthening Corporate Governance through Data Backup

Data backup also plays a crucial role in strengthening an organization’s corporate governance. By implementing robust data backup strategies, organizations can:

• Regulatory Compliance

Many industries are subject to strict data protection that mandates regular backups. Compliance with these regulations shows good governance practices, helping to avoid legal penalties.

• Risk Management

By safeguarding an organization’s data from possible loss brought on by hardware failures, human mistakes, cyberattacks, or natural disasters, data backup solutions assist to control data risk. This is absolutely important since these events can seriously damage the company’s reputation and cause operational slowdown in the lack of a trustworthy backup plan. However, with a robust backup system, you can ensure quick data recovery, preventing loss of customer trust.

• Accountability and Transparency

Consistent data backup practices enhance transparency and accountability. They ensure that accurate records are available for audits, reporting, and stakeholder communications, which is vital for maintaining trust.

• Ethical Data Management

Data backup supports the ethical handling of data, which aligns with the governance principle of integrity and ethical conduct. As a result, an organization can showcase its commitment to protecting stakeholders’ information and ensuring proper data security.

• Decision-Making

An organization can access accurate and complete data with a reliable backup system when needed. Thus, you can make strategic decisions backed by correct information.

How Does Data Backup Foster Sustainability?

Data plays a crucial role in any organization, so data backup enables its sustainability by ensuring continuity, security, and efficiency. The following are some significant ways that data backup supports organizational sustainability:

• Quick Disaster Recovery

Backing up the data of a firm helps to stop human error, cyberattacks, or data loss during natural disasters. Having a good backup plan and disaster recovery strategy guarantees swift recovery in case of data loss, so reducing downtime and ensuring business operations carry on fast.

• Data Security

Preserving data in its original form is crucial, and regular data ensures that you can always restore data to the state it was before a cyber attack or disaster. Thus, an organization can always preserve data integrity and prevent unauthorized alterations.

• Cost Efficiency

Data loss can incur a significant loss for an organization, including lost revenue, legal fees, and damage to reputation. However, backup solutions prevent such loss by enabling quick recovery and optimizing data use and management, leading to long-term cost savings.

• Reputation Management

Improper data management can ruin an organization’s reputation during situations like a data breach or significant downtime after a data disaster. However, with robust data solutions, you can manage your reputation by fostering trust among customers and stakeholders. Quick data recovery also shows that an organization is reliable and trustworthy, ensuring sustainability.

• Operational Efficiency

Regular backups guarantee that data is constantly accessible for the operational requirements of an organization—that is, for analytics, reporting, and decision-making. It also lessens the effects of data loss on a company’s operations so that staff members may continue to be productive long after a data disaster.

Conclusion

Data backup plays a crucial role in ESG. Therefore, it has to be given great attention to guarantee responsible social and environmental effect, the improvement of corporate governance, and a sustainable company environment. Giving data backup top priority in your environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and sustainability plans can assist in safeguarding data assets and support the development of a more ecologically friendly digital future.

Storware places great importance on sustainability. That’s why we’re happy that the technology solutions we create support these values. Learn more from our other articles:

• Backup Under the Sign of Sustainable Development
• Server Virtualization: A Game-Changer For Green IT

備份和災難還原（DR）解決方案通常與可持續發展無關。然而，隨著數據保護格局的轉變，將「綠色技能」與技術知識相結合的能力將變得愈加重要。

至今，決定備份工具選擇的常見因素包括價格、功能、效率（由 RTO 和 RPO 指標衡量），以及與供應商的合作關係。能源效率在目前仍不是主要考慮，但隨著能源價格上升和《企業可持續發展報告指令》（CSRD）等新規範的引入，企業可能會越來越關注這一因素。

根據 Moor Insights & Strategy 的研究，到 2025 年，數據中心的電力消耗將超過全球總用電量的3%。其中，儲存系統將佔數據中心總能耗的 30%。隨著數據量的持續增長，系統啟動、資源遷移、備份和複製等過程也需要更多的能源消耗。

IT 部門面臨來自管理層、員工和客戶的壓力，要求他們提升系統性能、保障安全並降低成本。此外，隨著 CSRD 的推行，約 5 萬家歐洲企業將被要求報告可持續發展進展，這將對 IT 部門的運作產生直接或間接的影響。IT 領域的可持續發展不僅僅意味著減少能源使用，還涉及更加精細的基礎設施設計和合理的數據管理。

減少數據，節省能源

在個人和企業設備上，都充斥著大量無用的數據。對於企業來說，這些無用數據不僅浪費儲存資 源，還增加了成本。為了實現更可持續的數據儲存，企業需要明確認識到其過渡成本，但通過精 心規劃，可以有效克服挑戰。

能耗大的任務如儲存和備份會顯著增加能源消耗，特別是針對老舊或「暗數據」（ Dark Data）。這些數據往往對業務的實際價值甚微，並且對環境也有負面影響。比如影片文件，它們 被認為佔數據中心二氧化碳排放量的 70%。企業可以採用數據刪除和壓縮技術來降低儲存需求， 提升系統性能，同時減少備份時間和能耗。未來，這些技術可能會在可持續數據儲存實踐中發揮 更加重要的作用。

為了更有效管理數據，企業需要加強對儲存環境的可視性，並對不必要的數據進行有針對性的刪 除或存檔。例如，Pure Storage 兩年前推出了一項可持續性評估功能，能夠監控磁盤陣列的能耗 和二氧化碳排放量，並提供減少耗能的建議。

根據 IDC 的數據，90% 的數據中心仍在使用硬盤（HDD），而這些設備在能源效率方面也有進 展。Western Digital 的專家指出，應從整個生命周期的角度來評估硬盤的能源消耗。雖然 SSD 比 HDD 更具能源效率，但 SSD 的生產能耗更高。愛沙尼亞創新公司 Leila Storage 則提出了一 種創新解決方案，可以減少 HDD 的能耗。

Storware 與 Leil Storage 的合作

愛沙尼亞初創公司 Leil Storage 提供了專屬的備份和存檔儲存系統，包括標準版（最大容量 1.5 PB）、進階版（9 PB）、和企業綠色版（最高 15 PB），它們使用 Western Digital 製造的 28TB UltraSMR 磁盤。這些 SMR 磁盤比傳統磁盤具備更高的儲存效率和能源效益。

Leil Storage 計劃推出一個名為 ICE（Infinite Cold Engine）的模組，該模組可在磁盤閒置時自動 斷電，預計可節省多達 43% 的能源消耗。隨著技術的進步，到 2026 年這一數字有望提升至 70%。

Leil Storage 的設備目前已與 Cohesity 和 Rubrik 等公司兼容，並且正在與 Storware 的軟件進行 進一步整合。這一合作將為企業提供更可持續的備份和儲存解決方案。

關於 Storware

Storware 是一家專注於備份軟件的企業，擁有超過十年的行業經驗。Storware 的備份與還原解 決方案適用於各種數據環境，無論是虛擬機、容器、儲存提供商、Microsoft 365 還是運行在本地 或雲端的應用程式，均能提供支援。其小巧的設計使其能夠無縫整合進現有的 IT 基礎設施或企業 級備份方案中，提供極為便捷的備份保護。

Backup and DR solutions are generally not associated with sustainable development. However, in the changing landscape of data protection, “green skills” that combine technological awareness with technical knowledge will become increasingly important.

The price of the solution, functionality, efficiency (measured by RTO and RPO indicators), functionality or relations with suppliers are the most common factors that determine the choice of a backup tool. So far, a small group of customers attach importance to energy efficiency, although creating backups and disaster recovery processes can have an impact on electricity bills. It is not excluded that with rising energy prices, as well as new directives such as the CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive), entrepreneurs will start to pay more attention to this factor.

According to Moor Insights & Strategy, by 2025 data centers will consume over 3% of electricity. On the other hand, storage accounts for 30% of the total energy consumption of data centers. This coefficient is likely to increase. Managing and storing constantly growing data and the associated processes of starting storage systems, migrating resources, creating backups, replicating or ensuring a safe and functional environment require more and more electricity.

IT departments are under constant pressure from management, employees, and consumers who are making increasing demands on system performance, their security, and cost reduction. As if that weren’t enough, in the coming years there will be another challenge. Under the CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive), around 50,000 European companies will be obliged to report on sustainable development. This will also indirectly affect the functioning of IT units. Sustainable development in the case of IT is not only about using less energy, especially when it comes to its use in server rooms, but also about designing a more thoughtful infrastructure and rational data management.

Less data, less energy

A lot of unnecessary data lies on the disks of computers or smartphones – old photos, paid bills, never used recipes or emails from a few years ago. The same is true for corporate resources. On NAS servers, there is a lot of completely useless data that is often replicated. While for consumers, the mess on disks does not have a major impact on the household budget, for business users it can lead to a significant increase in costs. Organizations that want more sustainable data storage must be aware that there are costs associated with this, and the transition to new systems and operations can be difficult. However, with careful planning, some of the obstacles can be avoided or at least mitigated.

Energy-intensive tasks such as storage and backup significantly increase energy consumption, but the value of this data – especially in the case of older or “dark” data – can be negligible. They also have a negative impact on the natural environment. A classic example is video files. It is estimated that they are responsible for 70% of CO2 emissions generated by data centers. It often happens that a large broadcaster stores over a hundred versions of the same episode of a series on its servers, although it would be enough to limit this number to a dozen or so. Meanwhile, long-available deduplication and compression techniques help to clean up the server room of unnecessary data. These methods eliminate redundant or duplicate data, reducing storage requirements and increasing overall system performance. Minimizing the data footprint saves costs, shortens backup and recovery times, and reduces energy consumption. Everything indicates that deduplication and compression technologies will likely play a significant role in sustainable digital information storage practices.

However, in order to see irregularities and then put things in order, you need to have insight into data and storage environments. With greater visibility, organizations can make informed decisions about deleting or archiving unnecessary data, archiving it to the cloud or to tape. Pure Storage introduced a sustainability assessment function to its offer less than two years ago, which controls the level of energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions by the disk array, and then recommends how to reduce both coefficients.

It is worth noting, however, that according to IDC, about 90% of carriers in data centers are hard drives. Their manufacturers also have their own arguments for energy efficiency and sustainable development. For example, specialists from Western Digital recommend that in the case of HDDs, the entire life cycle of the carrier should be assessed. Although from the point of view of I/O, flash memory is more energy-efficient than mechanical disks, although much more energy is needed to produce SSDs than in the case of HDDs. In addition, interesting solutions are appearing on the market that allow you to limit the energy consumption of mechanical disks. One such example is a product offered by the Estonian startup Leila Storage.

While some manufacturers, such as Pure Storage, are announcing the imminent end of mechanical disks. that even by 2026. However, this is an unlikely scenario. Leil Storage is trying to prove that HDD users can also save a lot of energy and reduce carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere.

Collaboration Between Storware and Leil Storage

According to the Estonian startup, companies often make the mistake of assuming that erasure coding, media recycling, tape longevity, or 50% compression will achieve sustainable development goals. However, it is not that simple. Therefore, Leil Storage offers a shortcut, providing its own backup and archive storage systems, available in three versions: standard (maximum capacity 1.5 PB), advanced (9 PB), and enterprise green (up to 15 PB). Leil Storage uses 28TB UltraSMR disks manufactured by Western Digital.

This choice is not accidental. SMR disks are currently only used by hyperscalers. Unlike universal models with CMR recording technology, data is not written to magnetic tracks located next to each other on a single platter, but overlaps. This design allows you to fit 30% more data on the same area as with CMR media. Additionally, an SMR disk consumes the same amount of energy as a CMR disk, which translates to greater energy efficiency per 1TB of disk space (Leil Storage estimates it to be around 18%).

The startup will introduce a special ICE (Infinite Cold Engine) module this summer, which will cut power to unused disks. According to Leil Storage’s analysis, this will allow for a 43% reduction in energy consumption compared to a classic disk array. The startup predicts that as ICE evolves, savings will increase to 50% in 2025 and even 70% in 2026.

Leil Storage devices are currently compatible with products from companies like Acronis, Cohesity, and Rubrik. Recently, the Estonian startup began work on integrating its product with Storware software.