| Data backup is so important. Backup means exactly | | | | but it was common for backups to be kept on |
| what it says: precious information is backed up so | | | | something like a tape, which many businesses often |
| that it will not be lost forever. Copies of data are | | | | stored in the same place as the actual data itself. Of |
| made so that, in an event of data loss, the copies | | | | course, anything that caused the loss of the original |
| can restore the original data. | | | | data, whether it was fire, flood or even burglary, |
| The issue of data loss has been catapulted into the | | | | would often amount to loss of data backup too. |
| public conscious on numerous worrying occasions in | | | | Tapes can also be easily lost or damaged. |
| the past couple of years. In 2008, a civil servant | | | | Online data backup is the best practice for business |
| accidentally lost documents that were top-secret and | | | | today. This is usually provided by a specialist |
| which contained the very latest UK Government | | | | company which builds a bespoke client software |
| intelligence on al-Qaeda by leaving them on a train. | | | | programme that will typically once a day transfer |
| Cue public panic. | | | | precious data to its own service provider by |
| Then the NHS also lost several millions of patient | | | | collecting, compressing and encrypting it first. |
| records in the same year with confidential patient | | | | Some companies can offer a service that backs up |
| information. | | | | as it goes, detecting each change and saving it as it |
| Added to that were the various Government bodies | | | | happens, rather than just once a day, and most |
| which managed to lose laptops containing data that | | | | online backup services maintain a list of all of the |
| wasn't encrypted. | | | | previous versions of files. Many companies that offer |
| But none of this necessarily means that the data | | | | this service also offer a free trial period. |
| wasn't backed up. It merely points to the limitations | | | | There can be disadvantages to online data backup, |
| of the hard-copy backing up of data, and the | | | | depending on requirements and circumstance. |
| possibility of human error. | | | | Sometimes data restoration can be slow; this is |
| Loss of data to a business can be like loss of its | | | | dependent on network bandwidth. |
| lifeblood. It's estimated that businesses who suffer | | | | Accessibility of data can also be affected if a backup |
| massive data loss from their computer systems, and | | | | provider fails to weather the economic storm and |
| by that we're talking the loss of databases, invoices, | | | | goes out of business. |
| emails, customer details, contracts and research, will | | | | But generally speaking, online data backup has many |
| struggle hard to survive for a further 12 months. | | | | advantages when compared to conventional backup |
| Data backup has long been good business practice, | | | | on a tape, for example. |