The 31st of March was World Backup day and it’s a great time to put a backup in place. Businesses are losing huge amounts of data every day, because ‘backing up’ is not a priority. This is your reminder that it’s time to make backup a priority! But how? What’s the easiest, most effective way for your business to backup?
You’ve heard of file backup by many names: Cloud Sync, Cloud Backup or Cloud Storage. They’re all similar enough to be confusing and meaningless enough to be anything. Here’s what they mean and which one you need today.
Cloud Sync
Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud, etc are services that sync up with a single folder on your computer. They mirror it. When a file changes in one, the sync service rushes to change it on your computer too, so they are always the same. Cloud Sync services are flexible for remote employees. They’re easy to use, need no training, and the free tiers are enough for most individuals. This all sounds amazing, right? Except…when things go wrong, they go wrong big time. Deleting a file means it disappears from the Cloud Sync drive – almost immediately. Overwriting a file does the same thing. And if an employee makes edits to the wrong file, then those edits are there to stay. If your local copy becomes corrupted (or ransomed), the corruption uploads too. Some Cloud Sync services now offer a 30 day backup option. But you may not notice the file was missing within this time.
Cloud Sync services are fantastic for productivity and accessing files on the go. But they are not a backup option.
Cloud Storage
Amazon S3, and Microsoft Azure, are examples of secure backup sites. They are massive buildings full of storage drives that work like your local hard drive. But, you have secure access to them via the internet. In fact, when you use a cloud sync app like Dropbox, they’re actually sending your data to one of these locations. Sync services have a constant connection between the storage center and your folder. But as explained above aren’t good for backup. You have another option. You can access cloud storage on a per/GB basis yourself and upload your entire backup as desired. It won’t update with changes on your local network, but it will be safe from disaster. When you need to retrieve a file, you login and download it.
Your backed up data is secure, protected against disaster, and always available to you. This is a high-risk solution though, as it relies on human intervention, and chances are this plan won’t work. We recommend an automated solution so you can get on with business AND keep your data protected.
Cloud Backup
A good cloud backup service works in the background to track changes to files and make sure you’re backed up. You can roll back individual files, and even select from earlier backups. They use cloud storage centers ensuring your data is always there when you need it. High-security and redundancy are the norm in cloud storage centers. Even better, neither you nor your employees need to worry about when it was last done.
The One You Need
Let’s take a moment to talk planning. We recommend starting with the 3-2-1 strategy. This means having 3 copies of your data. The first copy is on your computer. The second is on an external backup drive. And the third is offsite in the cloud. This strategy keeps your business operating when data disasters occur. And it is an investment in your uptime. We can help get you set up with the 3-2-1 method. For a scalable and cost-effective solution, consider Diva Backup.
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