Off Site Data Backup Saves Business

The odds are 1 in 4 that you will lose all the data on your hard drive due to a virus, hacker or natural disaster, such as a fire, flood, or earthquake. In addition, industry analysts report that up to 50% of businesses who undergo a widespread loss of data cannot survive and go out of business. A brief review of the following backup methods show that they do not all offer the same amount of safety.

You might be backing up your files to a DVD or a CD, but these disks do not offer the security you might think they do. Although the files might copy just fine onto the disks, over time these disks can become damaged making the files impossible or very difficult to recover. And if you do not perform the manual backup onto disk, hundreds of hours of work and files will still be lost. In addition to that, your backed up files on CD or DVD are at risk in case of theft because the files are not encrypted.

Another popular method for backing up data is on an external tape storage system or a second internal hard drive. These devices work well if they have not also been damaged or otherwise corrupted in the same flood, fire, or lightning strike as the original hard drive. And don’t forget theft. And some reports say that up to half of all attempts to recover data on tape backups do fail.

The best way to keep your backups current and safe is to utilize offsite data backup services that specialize in keeping your files automatically backed up and secure until you need them. Offsite data protection and file recovery is a fairly easy process:

Local Software Installation

First you’ll install a small application that interfaces with the backup server of the online data backup provider. It takes about 20-30 minutes to set up the program.

Initial Backup of Entire System

Second, backing up files of this sort requires a fast connection, such as with a cable modem, DSL line or a T1 line. Third, you’ll need to schedule a complete backup of your system. All reputable offsite data backup providers store your data in server “vaults” second in safety only to that of the FBI and CIA, so don’t worry about that!

Web Management System

Finally, from almost any web connection anywhere in the world, you should be able to schedule regular online backups, verify the safety of your backed up files and retrieve them on demand, if a web interface is offered. You should also receive an encryption code unique only to you to access your online storage.

I’ll leave you with this proverb: don’t spend your days worrying about losing your data; worry about not having an offsite backup service to recover it. If you are looking for the perfect data backup strategy to protect your business, visit Data Backup Solutions.