“The Cloud” has become one of my favorite buzzwords. It’s my favorite because despite my disdain for buzzwords, it does get people to come and ask me what it means. In short, anything that is “cloud-based” is something that runs on the internet. One such application that we push on all of our clients is cloud-based backup of important files. So why backup your files to the internet? Why not back them up to a CD, DVD, or external hard drive?
There are a couple of good reasons to do so. First, in the field of Network Security and Disaster Recovery, it is law that you keep a good backup in a separate location. There’s no point in a backup on an external hard drive sitting next to your computer if the building burns down. Hurricanes, fires, earthquakes, and other events deemed “Acts of God” are responsible for tremendous losses of data for small businesses and individual computer users every year. Although lost computers won’t make for a tear-jerking human interest story, statistics show that it’s probably the end of those small businesses. Over 80% of the time, a company that loses all its data will be out of business within 5 years. The same is true for individuals who keep their data on a computer and back it up to an external drive. One of our clients had his laptop stolen out of his car. And his external drive was in the laptop bag that was stolen. When he realized what had happened, he was devastated. Years of work, contacts, pictures, and video were gone; and all the precaution he had taken to back up all of his stuff was worthless. It’s a heartbreaking scenario, and it happens all the time. The good news is that this scenario is easily preventable.
Furthermore, doing so isn’t too expensive. For an individual, Carbonite Online Backup provides an easy way put all of your important documents, pictures, music, and any other data you might have on the cloud. The software is designed to be intuitive and easy to use for people who are not tech savvy. A little colored-coded indicator on each file lets you know if data is backed up. The only question you need to ask yourself is this: how important is your data? Would you be upset if you lost it? If the answer is “yes”, then it’s time you considered a plan to back it up.
For small businesses, this issue gets a bit more complex. A small business owner may have need to backup data on a server, on multiple computers, or both. Is it then really practical for the owner to check the color-coded indicator on a dozen different computers? Most small business owners don’t check on the health of their servers on a regular basis, and adding a back-up strategy to a server only makes the issue more complex. However, there are answers such as Allevia Technology’s Managed Online Backup service. A light-weight software package runs in the computer or server’s system tray and uploads data to the cloud. The status of the software and its backup performance continuously reports back to Allevia Technology where it is monitored by a technician. If there is a problem with the back-up procedure, it is identified and remediated without the client even having to know about it. It’s a cost-efficient way to make cloud-based technologies work to the benefit of small businesses, and it makes these businesses resilient against data loss whether that loss comes in the form of an earthquake or a spilled cup of coffee.
If you’re interested in learning more about a cloud-based backup solution, or finding the one that fits your needs, please give us a call at Allevia Technology. Our technicians are here to help, and we love discussing technology with clients who want to know more. You can reach us at (865) 686-6677, or email us at [email protected].
