Offsite Data Protection is Better than CDs

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. You have a variety of choices for data backup, but they don’t all provide the same amount of data safety.

Maybe you already backup your data to a CD or DVD, but these disks are not always secure. Often data copies just fine to a CD or DVD, but when it’s time to recover the data, for various technical or mechanical reasons, it won’t recover when you need it the most. And if you forget or fail to put the disk in the computer and perform the manual backup, then hundreds of hours of work and files will be vulnerable to loss. In addition, your files will be compromised if they are stolen because CD and DVD backups usually don’t involve data encryption.

You might be one of many people and businesses backing up your data on a second hard drive or tape backup solution. Recovery of data is easy with these solutions but only if the cloned hard drive or tape backup is not damaged in the same fire or flood in which your original hard drive was damaged. And don’t forget the possibility of theft. In addition, research shows that tape backup fails to recover data as much as 50% of the time.

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 backup services usually involve a simple process:

Local Software Installation

First, you will install a small program that talks to the online storage backup server. It takes about 20-30 minutes to set up the program.

Initial Backup of Entire System

Second, to back up files over the internet, you need to have a cable modem, DSL or T1 line. Third, you’ll need to schedule a complete backup of your system. Don’t worry about the safety of your data because reputable off site backup providers encrypt your data and store it in super secure locations second in safety only to the CIA and FBI.

Web Management System

Finally, you will likely have complete control to schedule backups, look at and retrieve your files any time of the day through a web interface. You might also receive an encryption code known only to you to keep your files safe.

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. To secure your business, learn more data backup strategies at Data Backup Solutions.