The growth in online backup sites has been phenomenal. While it’s wonderful that everyone has finally got with the program and decided backing up their important data should be a regular routine, there’s still some confusion about online backups. While nothing is completely foolproof, a few distinct advantages come with this service.
Virtually No Hardware Worries
If you backup your data to your own disks or hard-drive, it’s better than nothing. However, these items can become lost or damaged. A fire or other disaster that destroys your home computer will definitely do the same to any external storage media if it’s not kept at an off-site location. An online backup provider will generally have redundant servers and locations in case of a hardware failure. Unless the entire company shuts down, you have virtually no risk of losing your data due to an equipment malfunction.
Access Your Data from Anywhere
While you can use programs like Tight VNC or other free open source software to access your data from a remote device at any location, this plan isn’t foolproof. If your Internet service is down or your power goes out, you won’t be able to connect through any type of desktop software. It doesn’t even have to be a major catastrophe! Something as simple as one of the kids turning the computer off can mean you can’t access a critical file just when you need it the most.
Use a Secure Connection
One drawback of using online backups is that you need a secure connection for file transfers. While the ftp protocol that sits behind many services is pretty good, the best policy is to use Putty when using File zilla to ensure a completely secure connection. Without this security feature, an innovative hacker could intercept your personal information as the data is being stored. This would be even worse than losing every single file on your system!
Remember to backup your system today!
