Wednesday, November 7, 2012

What Makes Online Backup Services Crucial for Freelancers and Small Businesses

Small Business Online BackupSmall Business Online Backup, Traditionally workers relied on making routine scheduled backups into a secondary/external drive or on removable media, this was often a laborious task which meant that workers had to take time off and create the backups which took a couple of hours.

However they were Small Business Online BackupSmall Business Online Backup functional and if implemented frequently, allowed users to restore their files very quickly and easily after an upgrade or major data loss.

Although in practice it was completely different story because most people often forgot to make regular scheduled Small Business Online Backup archives. And backups were Small Business Online Backup always several days or weeks old, which simply isn\'t good enough as it meant that users had to re-do days of work in order to get to the latest version.

Recently there has been numerous online backup services like Mozy, Sugar Sync and Elephant Drive which promise to offer a far more superior solution to this age old problem.

The benefits of the online solution are numerous, namely

Can make real time archives as and when files are modified
Can archive multiple computers and use the backup services to synchronize files between multiple computers
Does not require physical backup hardware like a DVD-RW (and discs) or a storage device.
Can create backups anywhere from a laptop, which is great for people who work off laptops such as programmers, designers and freelancers
Often are cheaper in the long run and time saving the conventional backup methods

So there are many benefits to be had from using online backups, however there are drawbacks to online backups as well

Relies on internet connection to back up (and a fast connection as well)
Initial backup can be very slow, however once the initial snapshot has been made, further backups are quicker as only the modified files are sent for backup
Security concerns of uploading private files onto a web storage location (someone else\'s computers)

On balance online backup services sound like a great way to back up personal and work related files, and a great option for small businesses who cannot afford a dedicated lan based solution for their backup needs.

More shrewd users would use the online solution in conjunction with physical backup solutions e.g. fortnightly backups onto external hard drive as well as well as real time online backup with a service like Sugar Sync.

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