Need
Today's era is an era of uncertainty. With increasing uncertainty, and the rapid digitization taking place, the individual and not just the corporate are going digital. Loads of critical information is regularly fed into the computers but who knows next moment the hard drive crashes or suddenly an earthquake hits the area. Here is where the role of online backup provider ropes in.
Scope
At individual level, these devices are brimming with our personal information ranging from digital pictures, downloaded music, our favorite movie collection and what not!
At the corporate level, companies today operate in multiple units across multiple locations and the business processes and flows have purely become digital. A lot of information critical to the business is simply stored in the office desktops.
Usability
Thus, creating a back up for our important information becomes important. If the information is manageable, it can be done in a local hard disk but what if a natural disaster occurs and one loses both the device and the hard disk ?
Online service providers are a clear answer to the above asked questions. They create an online copy of our information stored at servers at multiple sites. Thus, the whole information is risked from location contingencies and can be accessed from any other computer over the world with a simple Internet connection!
Advantages
- Eliminate the need to maintain bulk CD's and other storage devices
- Quick Online Backups after short duration's
- Boon for employees with work from home options
- Risks of corruption on online storage is less when compared to easy wearing out of CD's
- Information can be retained for long time
Services Provided
| Backup Features: | |
|---|---|
| Automatic Backup: | Just download a software and the rest will be taken care of automatically |
| Archiving: | Save specific versions in a file to restore original data while syncing or backups |
| Incremental Backups: | Save the files whenever changes are made |
| File Managers: | Organiser files for easy retrieval |
| Versioning: | Creates a version every time the document is saved. |
| Access: | |
| Remote: | Ability to access the data from other location |
| Mobile: | Access backup data through mobile apps |
| Security: | |
| Level of Encryption: | Strong codes protect data leaks during transfers and storage at servers. |
| Multiple Servers: | Lost data/corrupted data at one server can be backed by intact original copy at other server |
| Support: | |
| Customer Care: | Solve your queries on the phone |
| Online Support | Live Chat | E-mail us or chat with our representatives |
| FAQs: | We already have answers to most of your questions |
| Tutorials: | Step by Step procedures to clear your doubts |
Major Players
The major players operating under this category are
| MyPCBackup: Package | Key Offer | |
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| JustCloud: Package | Key Offer | |
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| BackupGenie: Package | Key Offer | |
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| Zipcloud: Package | Key Offer | |
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| BackBlaze: Package | Key Offer | |
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How to choose
Assess your needs
- Amount of storage space required : The plans and their prices vary on the plan depending upon the amount of storage space required. Certain providers even provide unlimited space with a discounted monthly or annual subscription.
- Mandatory and optional features : One must carefully evaluate the must-have features as per his individual requirements or the requirements of the company. Certain features come for free and others are priced at a premium.
Security and Reliability
- The provider should be reliable n careful handling of your critical data and should have good security encryption mechanisms for the safe transfer of your data.
User Friendliness
- Choose a provider which provides easy to understand user interface and tools.
Customer Support
- Stuck somewhere and do not know how to proceed further? A company representative should be accessible to you at every hour and location to guide you on the phone or over the web.
Latest Trends
- Virtualisation : Providing a virtualisation instance of the server from offsite backup.
- Application Online Backups: Integration with VM Ware, Hyper – V, Share Point etc.
- Online Backups to be aware of the hyper visor environment.
- Upgrading technologies to accommodate the adoption of cloud platforms.
- Imaging today is only at the level of back up appliance. Needs to be upgraded to online only backup solutions.
Disadvantages
- Data can be hacked if the security systems of the providers have loop holes.
- Any error in synchronisation may create confusion about the multiple versions of the file.
- Access becomes difficult if the internet connect is slow or not there at all in emergency.