Online Backup

Online Backup is something that until a couple years ago was just a dream for every single IT administrator. It consists of a local computer or network that has some Internet access and a remote server, also accesible through the Internet, where backups will be stored.

As residential and business Internet connection speeds keep increasing, online backup services will become a more commonly used tool by regular users, as backing up files over the Internet can take a handfull of bandwidth and narrow band connections simply weren’t able to handle such big transfers.

Performing an online backup can be done as easily as just connecting to a remote server via FTP and copying files to it, this task, even though sounds too technical, can be achieved using almost every operating system and the file navigation software that’s included. However doing a backup via FTP manually requires some time to select files, keep an eye on updated files since the last backup and a lot of patience to watch files being transferred one at a time.

That’s why most online backup service providers will also provide some software that allows you to perform more advanced backups (like incremental backups) and will also automate the process so that there’s no user intervention needed. Most programs offered by online backup providers are user friendly, which means that you don’t need to be a techie to set them up and start backing up your data.

When signing up for an online backup service, there are several things you should keep an eye on, like how much space will you be using, if there are any extra charges for transfer bandwidth or the security placed by the provider to protect your privacy, since you won’t want any prying eyes looking at your personal data. You should also make sure that the software needed to perform backups is available for your operating system and that it’s constantly updated to support newer operating system releases.

You should also make sure that the service is being provided by a reputable and solid company, so that you can be sure that they won’t disappear overnight, as that could be the day when you desperately need your backups to restore some lost data.

The main drawback of online backup is that you need an Internet connection to access your files, so if you desperately need to access your backups from a location where there’s no Internet access at the moment, you won’t be able to restore them nor to get your files.

Mobile Internet users should avoid using online backup services since most mobile internet connection services throtttle your bandwidth or have monthly transfer limits and there’s no way to know how much data will be uploaded beforehand.