Cloud backup is important in today’s technology-driven society, it’s a good idea to stay up to date on different ways of protecting your private information. Storage devices such as flash drives and hard drives will eventually fail. Ensuring your important information is backed up is imperative. A great solution to this is cloud backup. There are a many different cloud backups to choose from today, but there is also other important information that goes with saving your data to the cloud. Read on to find out why cloud backup is important.
What Is the Cloud?
The cloud is simply someone else’s computer. Cloud backup is designed to store large amounts of data. These services have lots of redundancy in place to ensure no information is lost. Therefore, cloud backup is a good place to store important documents you cannot lose. These online data clouds are accessible from computers and smartphones by setting up an account with the organization which runs the service. Finding a reputable provider is the most important consideration when choosing a cloud backup service. You are entrusting your private information with this provider.
Easily Transportable
A major benefit of cloud backup is the ability to access your files from anyplace if you have an internet connection. Most services allow for easy file syncing. For example, if you had a desktop computer and a laptop, you could use the provider’s software to share important files between each computer. This can be extremely useful if you started working on a document on your desktop and wanted to continue working on it in the recliner. Many services also allow you to manage your files directly from their website. Simply sign in and you can manipulate them in any way you see fit. Organize files by creating folders, edit a word document, and even look at photos.
The Cloud Is More Reliable
Hard disk drives and flash drives fail over time. While cloud backup providers use hard drives and other storage devices that can fail just as consumer grade devices, they have redundant systems in place to prevent data loss. The cost for cloud backup is minuscule compared to how much time and hardware would be required for a consumer to implement these safeguards. These services also have very little downtime, due to their redundant nature, so you can access your important documents at any time.
The Cloud Can be More Secure
Saving important documents on your local computer could be at risk. Most operating systems, like Windows, do no encrypt the hard disk by default. Even if you have a password protected user account, a malicious actor could still gain access to the files. While this seems bad keep in mind, they need physical access to your computer in order for this to happen. If your documents are backed up on the cloud, it’s much harder for a malicious actor to gain access to your cloud backup account. For a secure cloud backup account, ensure you are following secure password recommendations and utilizing multifactor authentication. A quick overview of multifactor authentication is, you need to have two things to login to your account. Something you know, like your password, and often something you have, such as a smartphone with a temporary code sent to it. If you only have one or the other, you cannot login. You need both to gain access to your account.
Storage Requirements
Cloud backup is important and another consideration is your storage requirements. These requirements vary from person to person. You must determine which documents and files will cause a major headache if they were lost. For example, losing tax documents and financial information will take a long time to rebuild and gather those files again. Some precious family photos may fall in to this category as well. If you’re backing up videos, they take up much more space compared to documents and even photos. Again, ensure you are only backing up files you cannot reasonably obtain another copy of. This will keep your storage requirements low thus saving money as backup services pricing is heavily determined by your storage needs. A good amount of space is 500GB. Again, it all depends on what you’re storing. If you’re backing up lots of videos, 1TB would be a good starting point. Thankfully, it is easy to upgrade your storage plan. Start out low and go high.
Takeaways
In summary, the cloud is simply someone else’s computer. In this case, it should be a well trusted cloud backup provider. These services offer a place to store important information which you cannot afford to lose. They also offer convenient ways to access and modify files. Cloud backup can be more secure as long as you are using a good password with multifactor authentication. Finally, storage requirements are different for everyone. Start with the lowest option and work your way up as needed. Cloud backup is important because storage device fail and losing important documents can be detrimental.
If you need any assistance setting up cloud backup, feel free to contact Computer PRO Unltd.
