Online Data Backup Services Elk Grove

What you need to know about online data backup services in Elk Grove

Many companies have either already made the switch to online data backups or have always used online data backups. This is entirely understandable because they offer many advantages over traditional data backups. They do, however, require a slightly different approach to management. With that in mind, here is a quick guide to what you need to know about online data backup services in Elk Grove.

You (still) need to keep track of your data’s physical whereabouts 

In the world of traditional data backups, you store your data on physical media and then you, personally, organize the storage of the physical media. You may not take your storage media to an off-site storage location yourself, but you will presumably write the address on the packaging for the delivery company. You will presumably manage your on-site data backups yourself. In both cases, you will know exactly where your data is being held and who has care of it.

In the world of online data backups, however, you will only know who has access to/contact with your data if you undertake robust due-diligence before hiring either in-house staff (IT and other) or IT services vendors. Likewise, you will only know where your data is being physically stored if you organize it yourself, either directly, or through a robust agreement with an IT services vendor.

You absolutely must do this because legally and ethically, you are responsible for the safekeeping of any data you own. You will be the one targeted by law-enforcement and compliance programs if there are any issues. This means that you need to minimize the likelihood of there being any issues and also ensure that you have a decent chance of getting redress from your IT services vendor if there are. Putting all this together means that by far the safest option, especially for SMBs, is to stick with local vendors (i.e. ones which operate under the same legal system).

The concepts of on-site and off-site works slightly differently 

If you’re working in a private cloud then on-site and off-site may mean exactly what it says although this is not guaranteed. It is perfectly common for companies, even SMBs, to have private clouds which are located off-site. The key point to understand, however, is that in the world of online data backups, both in the private cloud and, arguably even more so, in the public cloud, the concept of on-site and off-site often has a different meaning than it does in the world of data centers.

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“On-site” simply means in the cloud you use for your regular operations, regardless of whether or not it’s actually located on your business premises. “Off-site” means in another cloud, which ought to be located somewhere other than your business premises so that it is entirely separate both from your regular cloud and from your regular physical place of work (assuming you have one).

It is really important to be clear about this distinction because it is false economy to try to save money by only taking an online data backup to your main cloud even if it is “off-site” as concerns your business premises. Regardless of whether you are in a private cloud or a public cloud, this will leave you with absolutely nothing to fall back on if anything happens to your main system.

For SMBs in the public cloud, remember that data security is a shared responsibility. The cloud provider secures its platform against external threats and you protect your access to it from misuse (accidental or deliberate). If your access is compromised and your data is deleted, that is your problem, not your cloud provider’s. This is one good reason to have a proper off-site data backup. The other good reason is that it lays the foundations for a cloud disaster recovery solution.

Online data backups and disaster recovery 

An online data backup is the foundation of a cloud disaster recovery solution, but to have a complete cloud disaster recovery solution, you need to add the tools your team needs to work with the data, for example, an operating system and applications. If you’re already working in the public cloud and taking an online data backup to another public cloud then it should only take a very little extra work to create a complete cloud disaster recovery solution.

If you’re working in a private cloud, the situation is a bit more nuanced, but it may be worth looking at your options for using the public cloud. You can normally use it to store your online data backups (which is usually permissible as long as they are encrypted first) and you may find that it is feasible to use it on a short-term basis as a cost-effective disaster recovery solution.

If you’d like to speak to a reputable and experienced online data backup services provider in Elk Grove, please click here now to contact Salient IT.