As an online business owner, it isn’t the fact that you might face a data disaster that should worry you as much as how you’re going to recover from it. Because, whether you like it or not, you will face server crashes, losses of data, theft due to hacking or all of the above – that is almost 100 percent guaranteed. What is also guaranteed is, if you plan ahead and are ready for it with a good disaster recovery plan, you can recover from almost any disaster relatively unscathed. And, on top of that, you’d be best-prepared if you used cloud computing to help you with the data recovery process.

What is cloud computing disaster recovery?

The phrase “cloud computing disaster recovery” refers to your business getting back online in the shortest possible time with the help of the backup data you have stored in the cloud.

The steps involved in the process include:

• Storing or backing up your data in the cloud
• Testing the backup data every once in a while to make sure you do indeed have a useable backup
• Connecting to the cloud servers and restoring the data as soon as possible following a disaster

Note: The second point here is important – you do not want to be stocking up on data that can’t be restored when it is needed. This makes it very important to test the data at random intervals to ensure its quality.

What are the advantages of cloud computing in disaster recovery?

Now, let’s have a look at the advantages you can expect when you put your back up in the cloud and can retrieve it when disaster strikes (knock on wood!)

The data is offsite.

The first rule in keeping backup data safe is to keep it as far away as possible from the original data. When you have your backup stored in the cloud, it is in the furthest place you can really take it. A good hosting provider will even make sure your data is kept on more than one server – to backup your backup plan. This way, when disaster strikes you will be ready to get back up again with your data intact.

It is a cheaper solution.

Keeping your back up data in the cloud will save your business the cost of having to setup a backup system in your own back yard. You will have no expenses incurred in buying the hardware or software, you won’t need to create storage spaces for the servers and then pay for security and upkeep and you won’t need to invest in administering it. You just need to hand the data over to your hosting provider.

Restoring data is quicker.

When you have your data online and you have access to it over a decent bandwidth, you can rest assured the time it takes to get your system back online will be minimal. You won’t need to setup a server to temporarily store the data or use a medium as an installation device. As long as the server is connected to the internet, you should be able to have your system re-installed in a short time and without a glitch.

High scalability with ease.

As a business, you will continue to grow. And as you do so, your data and the information you need to keep safe will also grow. You won’t need to worry about the space or hardware required to back your data up because all it will take to add resources is signing up for a bigger plan. You can double or triple your resources within a matter of minutes and with the stroke of a few keys on your keyboard.

Your data is location-independent.

Let’s assume you have your own servers that are physically located in your business’ server room and a sudden flood or hurricane took out your servers.

Natural disasters tend to occur over and over again in certain places, and you’d be pushing your luck placing your servers in the same spot, right after you were hit by a flood or hurricane.

The wiser choice would be to move your server room to somewhere safer and then restore your data. Alternatively, with your data backup stored in the cloud, it wouldn’t matter where you went – you’d be able to restore it from any place on the planet.

Any business can do it.

Armed with data backup and recovery on the cloud, you will have access to the latest technology without having to hire the technical workforce required to handle it. The data backup company (or the data hosting providers) will take care of all aspects of your backup and its safe storage. As a matter of fact, any decent computing architecture can be backed up without experiencing technical issues. You can sign on with a cloud data backup and disaster recovery service provider and start protecting your data today.

This means, your data’s security will be at par with your bigger competitors – at a fraction of the cost.

The future is now!

The advantages of moving your backup to the cloud today are countless. With this kind of technology available to you and your business, it would be reckless to have your data stored anywhere else. If you haven’t already, maybe it is time you embraced the future of data security and started looking into online backup data storage and recovery.