Online Backup is Easiest Backup Solution Available for UK Business

Backing up important data is a must; I recently heard a phrase "there are three types of business, those who backup, those who have lost data and have learnt and those who will lose data.  Every business know they should backup because there are very good odds that data loss will occur, but many find the task technically daunting and avoid the issue.  An excellent solution for the technically or financially challenged is online backup.

The requirements of online backup software is surprisingly limited, all you need is internet access, preferably broadband speed.  Once installed it will take no more than 5 minutes to configure (tell the backup software what you need to backup and how often).  Once you have installed and configured you no longer need to get involved in the dreaded backup process ever again.  All your important data will be automatically backed up every night to a secure infrastructure.  The flexibility of an online backup solution also means you can install the backup software on as many servers or computers as you like and back them up to a single account.

Traditionally online backup solutions were only used by the enterprise market, but as the cost of data storage hardware has reduced and broadband has become wide spread any type of business can benefit especially smaller businesses or organisations with disparate data spread over several satellite offices or laptops.  

So why use an online backup solution?  All businesses who wish to backup their data have essentially two ways to go, either backup onsite (locally) or offsite (remote).  This may sound an obvious statement but and onsite backup solution will backup your data to CD, DVD, external hard drive NAS server or tape media which will be stored at your office or building.

Because your data is backed up on media which is always close by you are able to restore quickly but the flip side is this media is then subject to the very same disaster from which you are protecting.  For example if you backup your computer or server to an external hard drive and you have a flood, then there is more than a good chance data will be lost from both locations.  The same theory can be applied to fire, theft, data corruption and virus.  

Online data backup solutions will automatically transfer business data away from the locality of your computer or server to a secured data centre.  As you can imagine, you now no longer need to purchase expensive backup software and spend time managing it and now you have protection against any disaster.

What makes online backup to smaller businesses is automation. Because you have instructed the backup software to move your data offsite at certain time of the day you can sleep easy knowing this will happen.  There is no need for you to ever get involved ensuring you can spend your time with more proactive tasks.

Online backup solutions do have many other advantages over traditional backup methods such as storing your data at multiple sites in different countries ensuring your data will always be available, data encryption, before your data is moved offsite it is encrypted to the highest levels ensuring nobody other than you can read your data, and instant recovery, should all your data be lost, then your online backup provider will be able to send you all your data on an external drive on a next day basis.

If you work in the financial, insurance or medical industries a certified online backup supplier will also help you meet your regulatory requirements of data storage.

The most important decision you will make is who to trust your data with.  So with this in mind how do you select a suitable online backup provider?  Your first step is to type online backup into Google, and for support reasons make sure you choose the country specific option (There is no point searching for a provider in the UK if you reside in America), I guarantee there will be a minimum of 100,000,000 pages for you to read, joy. Once you have your results view the top ten options, ignore the adverts as anybody can be listed there.  Google is your best friend, within the main results page there will only be listed details of reputable sites which have been around for some time.  Select at least 7 companies to call, talk to them to make sure they are human and can support you straight away, remember if your server goes down and you need your data shipping to you ASAP you will not be able to do this via email.  Once you have made contact ask the following questions:-

·         How long has the online backup provider been trading?  Don't accept any less than 5 years.

·         Where is my data stored?  Don't accept a single data centre and if they offer multiple data centres make sure they are replicated on a live basis.

·         What service level agreements do you offer?  Don't accept anything less then 99.99% availability.

·         What data restore guarantees do you offer?  You must choose a company who has data loss liability insurance.

·         Who has access to my data? The answer to this must only be you.

·         Are there any additional costs?  You should look for an online backup provider who offers a fixed monthly cost.

·         What happens when I exceed my backup quota.  Only accept a provider who offers a least one week grace.

After reading this article I hope you now understand how easy an online backup solution can be and how beneficial it can be for you.  You are now fully equipped to be able to choose the best provider for your needs.  So remember, there are three types of business, those who backup, those who have lost data and have learnt and those who will lose data.  Make sure you are the smart one.

Article Source: http://www.theukarticledirectory.co.uk