Those of you that had been around when the most common device for storing data was the 5.25 inch floppy disk will remember how difficult it was to actually keep the data safe once it had been transferred to the plastic squares. Many of us lost data when we accidentally pushed them into our drives too quickly or carelessly. Talk about being literally bent out of shape.
And then came the smaller and, somewhat, sturdier “stiffy disks” – there was an improvement in the protection of data, but they too had a very short lifespan.
There was a sudden leap in storage device technology and the size of disk spaces on computers increased. Technologies like the compact disk and the thumb drive made it much easier and secure to carry data around. Advances in networking (and the internet itself) made it possible to store data at remote locations. Servers moved further and further away from the clients.
Somewhere along that line, the cloud storage technology was born. A person could have a server designed with all the specifications he or she wanted and have it up and running on the other side of the world. If you wanted, you could access it on the go, from any part of the world.
This technology makes it feasible and safe for any person or business to store data on such servers, and that is what they are usually used for: storage of important data. The easy access, easy availability and remoteness (ensuring safety and security) make these servers a good choice for backup storage.
By definition, Cloud backup is the technology that is involved in storing one’s most important data on an offsite, virtual server.
Although those in the tech industry advise people to make use of this technology to back up their data, there are many skeptics that either totally forgo backing up data or prefer to do it the old way: by storing data on local servers or using hardware like digital tapes to back data up and then locking them in safes.
A much simpler, secure and efficient way would be to go the cloud backup way. Here’s why:
It’s Nonintrusive: Today, your computer or server can be backed-up with you still working away. There is no loss in man-hours. In the old days, when a server needed to be backed up, everything including static (non-transactional) data needed to be stopped from being accessed for the backup to work. Now, even transactional data can be backed up without any issues. Everything is run in the background. Whether you have a resource intensive application running or are simply staring at your screensaver (Remember those?) your backup will be completed.
It’s Safer: The chances of the same disaster striking your server room while also striking your cloud backup servers are miniscule (unless you recently made someone very, very angry). As long as you have your hardware and infrastructure, you can be up and running in a matter of minutes, even if something goes wrong with your servers. In comparison to tape drives, you have the most secure method of storing data. Your tapes could easily be stolen from your storage. Companies that do backups know what is required to keep their servers and data secure – you probably don’t. With the right encryption, your data could be transferred to cloud servers and locked down without anyone being able to access it.
It Lasts Longer: Data that is stored on devices like magnetic tape drives or compact disks has a much shorter lifespan than that which is on a server. This is especially true if the cloud backup company that does your storage makes sure that they follow the required server room maintenance guidelines and sticks to protocols.
It’s Cheaper: The price of internet connection has been constantly dropping. In some countries, it is unbelievably low. On the other hand, the price of real estate has never stopped going up (except maybe during the hiccup that was the recession a few years back). Backing up your data on hard drives or even back up servers of your own, and then housing them in secure locations around you, is going to cost you dearly.
You will have to build a secure location. You will then have to make sure that the interior is suitable for your data storage needs (servers need to run at constant ideal temperatures, for example). Installing all the equipment might well drive you bankrupt. This is not even taking into consideration the manpower that will be needed to do the backing up and storing.
Depending on the size of the initial data, the first full backup might take time and cost you. But once that is done, all that will be needed to be backed up is the difference between the last backup and the present one (known as incremental backups) and that reduces your costs immensely.
Moving Data is Easy: Imagine you had to move your company’s location. Suppose you had an immense amount of data that resided on big servers. In order to move to your new site, you would have to shut your servers down, move them to the new site and then reboot them again. During the moving time your employees and clients will be in the dark. Your business will need to stop for those hours you are in transit.
On the other hand, if you had your data backed-up on a cloud, all you would need to do is setup your hardware at your new location and then have your data downloaded. You could start your new servers up, and once you are sure everything is working fine, switch the old ones off. No time is lost; no data is lost, and no money, either.
Less Bored Geeks: Although IT staff members are used to staring at their screens for long stretches of time, they would be wasted if you were to solely work on backing your data up. You could easily use these indispensable resources of yours on other aspects of your IT program and let the contractors take care of your data for you.
So, there you have it. In the future, more and more companies will be opting for cloud backup as resources become much more costly to bear on your own. If you don’t have a cloud strategy mapped out, then you should probably start looking into one soon.
