Offsite Tape Storage Beats Local Hard Drive Storage

Did you know that you have a 1 in 4 chance of losing all of your pictures, music, spreadsheets, reports, programs, and everything electronically valuable due to a natural disaster or an evil virus programmer? In addition, industry analysts say that almost 50% of business that suffer a complete data loss do not recover and soon go out of business. There are many ways to backup your data, but they are not all equally safe.

CDs and DVDs are probably the most common way to back up files, but they don’t offer the kind of security that you might think they offer. You might believe that the disk copied the files perfectly, but many times when you need the data, the files are corrupted or missing due to damaged disks or other technical failures. 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. Not only that, but these disks are not usually encrypted so all of your data is at risk in case of theft.

Another way to store your computer’s data is to copy everything to an internal or external hard drive, or a tape backup system. You will likely be able to recover data easily with these devices but only if they have not been corrupted or damaged along with the original hard drive in the same natural disaster or virus attack. And don’t rule out the theft option. And some reports say that up to half of all attempts to recover data on tape backups do fail.

The easiest and most worry-free way to secure your files is with the services of an off site data storage company. Offsite backup services usually involve a simple process:

Local Software Installation

First you’ll install a small application that interfaces with the backup server of the online data backup provider. Setup of the program is usually very simple and takes about half an hour.

Initial Backup of Entire System

Second, you’ll need to have at least a connection as fast as a DSL or cable modem. Third, perform a full system backup during an opportune time. For secure storage, respectable offsite data backup providers store your files in highly secure “vaults” that are maintained and observed 24 hours a day.

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 be issued an access code that will keep your files safe from intruders.

  To protect your files and your business, get more information about data backup strategies at Data Backup Solutions.