One tool that prevents a computer mishap from turning into catastrophe is the file backup. Your kid accidentally dropped your laptop to the floor. If you had a backup, then the cost could just be as simple as replacing the hard disk. A file backup could also prevent a catastrophe from turning into a total loss. What if there was suddenly an office fire. If you were wise enough to store your backups somewhere else, then all you have lost is really just a few hours transferring your backup to another computer.
Advantages
Online backup is an evolution of the manual backups you had to do regularly. It is software driven and the files are automatically stored somewhere – beyond the reach of fires, burglary or floods. Online backups free you from the steps you had to do manually like change CDs or format tape drives.
If your data is confidential, the software can encrypt the data for you using standard, well known algorithms such as Blowfish or AES.
The size of the backup is often reduced by monitoring only the parts of the files that changed. It is not necessary to send the entire file to the backup server, just the difference between the older and the newer version.
Disadvantages
Of course there are disadvantages to online backups. Since data has to travel on the internet, restoring your files can be slow. If backup volume is large, it may become necessary to transfer the backup on DVDs and ship it to your computer’s location. If the backup provider is out of business, then your data might be lost forever. Another limitation of online backup is that your internet subscription might cap your downloads thus large volume backups might be impossible.
The biggest advantage offered by online backup is that it is largely automatic and is a totally hands process. It can be done at night so that your normal work flow is not interrupted. Online backups make it possible to do regular, even daily backup of your data, something that we hated way back when backups used to be performed manually.
