The Ins and Outs of Online Backup Services
The onset of data loss is not so much a question of 'if' but 'when'. The importance of backing up our data has been ingrained in our brain -some of us had to learn the lesson the hard way.
Online, August 22, 2012 (Newswire.com) - The onset of data loss is not so much a question of 'if' but 'when'. The importance of backing up our data has been ingrained in our brain -some of us had to learn the lesson the hard way. We have all armed ourselves with hard disk drives and made a backup copy of our data. The problem, though, is that portable hard drives are vulnerable. They can crash due to several factors: shock, overheating or simply wear and tear.
Thanks to services such as Dropbox and Google Drive, everyday users now have an alternative channel to back up their personal data and work documents. With just a click of the mouse, users no longer have to worry about permanently losing their data. Document retrieval is also a cinch as the user can simply access the link: now there is no need to lug around a hard disk.
Other file hosting service providers also provide the service for free, although this comes with several compromises. Security measures are at best basic and this means hackers can easily gain access to the files. Also, these web-based providers generate revenue through advertising so users are exposed to a multitude of advertisements.
For businesses, their option is to look to cloud storage. This involves uploading and storing data in virtualised pools that are hosted by third party data centres. The clients can access the service through three options: web service application programming interface (API), a web-based user interface or a cloud storage gateway.
Chef amongst the advantages of using cloud storage is that companies can offload maintenance-related tasks to the service provider. This includes backing up an avalanche of data, which is a time-consuming task. The responsibility of maintaining or troubleshooting the physical storage devices is also off the users' shoulders. Cloud storage is also cost-effective in that companies only pay for the amount of storage space they use.
Just like file hosting services, one huge disadvantage of cloud storage is that it is susceptible to attacks. Human errors or technical glitches can compromise the confidentiality of highly classified documents. Also, depending on the budget a company is willing to spend on WAN bandwidth, the speed of accessing the documents can vary. This may in turn reduce productivity.
As it is, the proliferation of online backup services does not mean that hard drives are in danger of being phased out. Hard drives are still the preferred choice when it comes to backing up and storing data. In most cases, damage to the drive is not irrevocable. Take steps to determine the severity of the damage. Be sure to turn to specialists to rectify the problem if it's severe; any tinkering with the disk may cause further damage. Unless the damage is severe, data recovery centres should be able to repair the hard disk and retrieve your data.