Automatic Remote Data Backup

With so many data backup options available, choosing the right option can be a daunting task. There are times when people opt for very expensive data backup devices but these devices themselves wear out by the time a data loss crisis appears. For example, many people backing up on tapes and optical media realise that the media itself gets bad after a certain period of time. Therefore, all the data backup efforts can go down the drain.

Data loss incident can strike anywhere and at anytime. As a result, your business needs to be prepared to handle the disaster at all times. After all, who could have predicted a wide scale tragedy such as 9/11 terror attacks? Prior to the attacks, human threat to electronic data was almost non-existent. Even though it used to be common for companies to experience virus attacks that affected the company’s website or operations for a day or two, 9/11 type of human threat was largely unheard of.

Very often, people invest a lot on onsite data backup systems. But what happens when a data loss tragedy devastates the entire office building? Not only do you risk losing your primary data but also your backed up data. Therefore, if you want to protect your data from not only data loss disasters but also onsite data loss disasters, you should opt for automatic remote data backups.

What are Automatic Remote Data Backups?

Remote data backups are different from the usual backups because in remote backups, the data is backed up in a location that is at a considerable geographical distance from the primary office site. Traditionally, people used to perform remote data backups by transferring the backed up data in data storage devices and subsequently transporting these devices to a remote location. However, users these days need not engage in such a cumbersome process.

Automatic data backups allow the data to be transmitted over the Internet via a web interface. Subsequently, this data is stored in an extremely secure technology centre that is at a considerable geographical distance to ensure that the data is protected even if a data disaster strikes the entire geographical area.

Since automatic data backup transfer involves transmission of data via Internet from one server to another, people get somewhat concerned about the safety of their online data. However, you need not be concerned about your data leaving your secure office servers because when the data is transferred online, it is encrypted.

The data is not only encrypted once it leaves your office server but will also be encrypted when it is restored back to the company server. Therefore, whoever requests for the data will need an encryption key in order to access the data.

Advantages of Automatic Remote Data Backups

Companies using automatic remote data backups are bound to be in a financially advantageous position. Automatic remote data backups do not require purchase of any expensive data storage equipment for storage or recovery. If companies were to use ordinary data storage media for data backup purposes, the cost of purchasing several data storage devices can be high, especially if the size of the data to be backed up is huge.

Automatic remote data backups do not require any human intervention or supervision. Therefore, companies need not hire dedicated IT staff for data backing up purposes.

By adopting automatic remote data backups, you ensure that your business runs as usual, no matter what data calamity strikes you. Automatic data backups allow quick restoration of data. Therefore, you are likely to minimise on your business downtime to a large extent during a data loss crisis.

What More Could One Ask For? Is There a Catch?

Automatic remote data backup may be the solution to all your data loss problems. However, since you are transferring your valuable data to a third party service provider, you need to be sure that the confidentiality of your data is never compromised. In addition, you need to make sure that the service provider has appropriate procedures in place to ensure that only authorised personnel are allowed request for backup copy of the data.

There are times when the remote data backup software does not work with all operating systems. In such cases, when you update or change your operating system, service might be disrupted. Therefore, make sure that you ask for such specifications beforehand.

About the Author

James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. If you are concerned about data loss and would like more information on Data Recovery see http://www.fields-data-recovery.co.uk