Why Backup Online? An Introduction To Online Backup And Storage Services
Every week, 140,000 hard drives crash in the United States, and yours could be one of them. Data loss can cripple a business of any size. Your data is what keeps your business alive. Statistics show that 93% of all companies that suffer serious data loss go out of business in the next 5 years.
What causes this massive data loss? A big 44% is simply hardware failure. You may not know this, but hard drive makers have shortened their warranties from 36 to 12 months in recent years, which is not a good sign. About 30% of data loss is due to human error, such as accidentally deleting or overwriting files. There are also programming errors, viruses and disasters like fires, thefts and floods. Add to that the fact that 12,000 laptops are left every week in airports, and it should be easy to see why we all need to back up our files online.
Backing Up Files The Old Fashioned Way
The old way to back up files was to insert a CD or disc, copy your data to it manually, and then store it somewhere you hope it will be safe. This takes time to do yourself, and there’s no way to guarantee the safety of that data. Between human error and various potential disasters, you’re running the risk of losing it.
Online storage offers some excellent advantages to the user:
- With online backup and storage, you don’t have to do anything. Storage programs are designed to save data automatically, which means that you don’t have to. Personally, the last 2 years I have been using Norton 360, which apart from internet security, antivirus and registry optimization capabilities, it includes the online backup feature. I cannot over-emphasize the importance of being able to restore lost files from the “cloud” as well as the positive impact of this service on the well being of my online business. Symantec also has developed the Norton Ghost, a known software which is a complete backup tool.
- Data can be stored on multiple servers where it will be safe in case one server crashes. It is encrypted to protect your privacy.
- Online storage systems make it easy to manage and retrieve your files any time you need them. These sites operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and you don’t need a customer service representative. With your password, you can access the data yourself remotedly from anywhere in the world even from you mobile phone.
Disadvantages Of Online Storage
Of course, it’s not without its disadvantages. Sometimes retrieving your data can be slow, depending on the company’s bandwidth. The company could go out of business, leaving your data difficult to access. If you lose your password it will be time consuming to retrieve your data through the customer service for safety reasons. Finally, in order not to slow up the internet connection the initial back up may take several days depending on the quantity of data.
Online Backup Services
However, these are all very rare occurrences. You can protect yourself by using a trusted and well estamblished company that has over a million happy users. One of the most trusted name in online storage is SOS Online Backup. SOS Online Backup was founded in 2001 and it offers a variety of service features in a very low price for both personal users and businesses, and it uses the most advanced technology to ensure that your data is safe and retrievable anytime.Other trustworthy companies where you can maintain your files are Rebit and LiveDrive.
Written by Steven