| The most important asset of any business today is | | | | - Tape backup is not secure. The data stored on |
| the accumulated knowledge of all its employees. Most | | | | them can be restored and read by anyone who has |
| of the time, that knowledge is stored using email, | | | | possession. |
| spreadsheets, accounting software and engineering | | | | - Online data backup programs encrypt files before |
| documents stored on company file servers. | | | | they get sent over the internet and stay encrypted |
| Information Technology departments then backup file | | | | on the remote file server. |
| servers using backup tape drives. But tape drives are | | | | - Tapes need to be stored offsite at a place like Iron |
| a dying technology largely because they are slow, | | | | Mountain. |
| expensive and take a lot of man hours to maintain. | | | | - Online systems are by offsite by nature. |
| And who ever checks backup tapes to make sure | | | | Reliability: |
| they are working properly? | | | | - Tapes wear out after a certain amount of use. Plus |
| Many companies are turning to online backup sites to | | | | the data on them will naturally degrade over time. |
| outsource their backup processes. When companies | | | | Tape drives have a limited lifespan too and need to |
| outsource their backup processes, they can save | | | | be replaced. |
| money in a number of ways. | | | | - Since with online data backup, your files are stored |
| Cost: | | | | on large arrays of redundant drives, the files stored |
| - Online backup can be scheduled automatically so | | | | will last indefinitely. |
| there are virtually no labor costs. Tapes require daily | | | | - Storage systems used by online backup companies |
| maintenance. | | | | are designed to keep your data safe even if drives |
| - Tapes for backups cost anywhere from $50 to $80 | | | | go bad. If a tape goes bad, it can often be the only |
| per tape or more. | | | | instance of those files and are therefore lost if |
| Security: | | | | anything happens. |