Backup Solutions – What’s out there?

Backing up your data

Dont let this be the only location of your precious data

In the old days, we performed backups on a Portable Hard Drive hooked up to your PC. You either backed up your files manually or used some third party software to schedule it.

Then came NAS (Network Area Storage) and people started to back up their files over a network.

Both systems were OK unless your backup devices failed, and you lost all the data.

Enter fast broadband and cloud backup. There are several ways to do this; I’ll share some of the more common ones.

Dropbox

One of the best-known cloud services or backup solutions, Dropbox is a robust, secure platform enabling you to store your data in the cloud. You can even securely share files with other people and collaborate on documents.

From the Dropbox website, “Dropbox is a home for all your work. You can store and share files, collaborate on projects, and bring your best ideas to life—whether you’re working alone or as part of a team.”

A free account enables you to backup 2 GB of data, with paid versions giving you up to 1 Terabyte and is a great way to easily backup your files.

Microsoft OneDrive

Similar to Dropbox, OneDrive is included with your Office365 subscription or purchased separately. With OneDrive, you can sync your local files to the cloud and also access them on all devices, tablet mobile or PC. Files are versioned so if you make a mistake you can quickly restore it to the olf version.

Google Drive

The main opposition to the Microsoft behemoth, Google drive also comes with G Suite or can be used separately.

Imaging – Disaster Recovery

For faster recovery and of your infrastructure, sometimes it’s better to image your entire hard drive using third-party applications from companies such as ShadowProtect or Acronis.

Disk imagining is the process of creating a replica of your computers hard drive onto another hard drive. The best imaging software will allow you to restore this replica on another laptop or desktop. When you login the first time, it’s just like using the old computer.

Cloning the drive preserves all the system data and installed software, so you don’t have to go through the process of reinstalling your software again.

You can set this at predetermined intervals, hourly, daily or weekly.

Whether your hard drive fails, or you get attacked by a virus or ransomware, you need to be able to get back up and running quickly.

To discuss your options for backing up your data, contact us at Webcom Solutions, we have over 25 years of experience with helping companies and individuals with backup solutions.