Choosing an Online Backup Service
A Backup Article Contributed by Melissa Larose
Choosing an Online Backup Service
Online backup is the hottest new trend in computer backup and storage. Maybe an online backup service is what your company might need to fulfill its data recovery requirements. If so consider the following information when researching and choosing an online backup team.
Research Online Backup
Researching any new service or system requires a lot of reading. First you need to understand what a product is supposed to provide you with. You need to quickly understand how it works inside and out as well as one can. You need to realize what it can do and what it cannot do. Then you start to interview the service companies. You must have a certain grasp of the lingo and system before you will even know what to ask for when interviewing the service companies.
The interview process, if you have done your homework, can inform you further. But beware when they start to speak in terms you do not understand, do not agree to anything until you do understand. Walk away if you have to but do not turn over your decision making process to someone that is making you feel like ill equipped. Especially when it comes to online backup and your data.
Why, you may ask, wouldn't I turn it over to the experts? Well eventually you will want to turn over the online backup but you need to make sure of what you are getting. Compare this to putting your valuable personal items in storage and just trusting that what someone has told about the storage facility is true.
Then you find out months down the road that the storage facility was not air conditioned, secure, or even a regular facility but instead an abandon warehouse space that several other people have access to. The ceiling leaks and the doors aren't sealed and your personal items have been exposed to the weather.
If you allow just anyone claiming to be an online backup expert to handle your valuable data backup without checking them out first then you could end up with damaged backup or no backup or unsecured online backup.
Online Backup - Read the Fine Print
When you feel comfortable with an online backup service and are ready to get down to details make sure you get what you need. Look for a guarantee of data availability. Look for an encryption of data before it is passed across networks. This ensures that theft and hacking are not going to occur. Never allow your data to sit on an online backup service's network unencrypted and open for all to read, copy or manipulate. Look for a fully managed operation.
Online Backup Provides 24/7 Service
Online backup should provide immediate restoration of data backup. It should be a matter of locating the file, pointing, and clicking to restore. You should have 24/7 access to your own data archives. The service online backup service you have chosen should offer a variety of ways to restore from the point and click to an actual copying of files to CD-ROM or a hard drive.
