Cloud Backup Services

After local backup, cloud backup is a crucial secondary backup location. Any reputable member of the IT Support Los Angeles Community will insist on backing up your data to the cloud. Opting for cloud backup services is essential to protect your data in the event of ransomware attacks and, most importantly, natural disasters such as fires or floods.

Do not think it will not happen. Turn on the news almost any day and you will see buildings and businesses destroyed by fires, floods, tornadoes, or hurricanes. It is only reliable Cloud Backups that ensure that data could be retrieved and restored and keep companies in business. It is your insurance policy.

Usually, the Cloud retains fewer copies of your files and should not be casually used for recovery due to slower internet speeds than your local network. This should only be used to retrieve data in case of a major emergency or disaster. Think of it as your offsite vault.

Types of cloud Backup Methods

These are the most common, but new cloud backup service providers emerge daily, with varying levels of reliability and longevity. It's recommended that arranging cloud backups should be entrusted to a managed IT services firm or a qualified IT professional. However, solo IT support services may lack the necessary knowledge and experience, especially concerning backups and cybersecurity.

1. Cloud Storage: AWS and Azure. These are typically very expensive, and they charge not only to upload, but also to download. (called Egress charges). You will often pay double without being aware of it until recovery is needed. It will be a shock, but if you need it, you will pay anything to keep your business alive, so you will end needlessly losing a lot of money. Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 offer a certain amount of cloud storage included in the product level of your monthly subscription.
2. Cloud Backup Software: Solutions like Carbonite, iBackup, iDrive, and CrashPlan are popular cloud backup service providers. These are often inexpensive, making them appealing, but they mainly offer file backups, which can lead to problems when you need them the most.
   
   1. To retrieve the data, you need the proper hardware. The majority of small businesses do not have the necessary hardware (servers mainly) that are immediately accessible for retrieval, so typically, a 3^rd Party IT service used.
   2. Those IT consulting services would require you to send an external drive over to copy the data onto. This process might take somewhere between 7-14 days - if you’re lucky. Again, can your company survive 14 days without your data? How much business do you stand to lose?

3. NO Cloud Backup: This will not protect against issues with your local backup (data can get corrupted, or hardware can fail on the backup server, etc..) and will not protect against Ransomware or natural catastrophe. This is not an option at all, but a lack of options – it’s a disaster waiting to happen.
4. External Drive: Backing up your data onto a drive, then physically taking the drive offsite: In theory, this could work but there are several issues here:
   1. It is tedious, requiring a lot of manual work. Someone needs to plug in, copy, plug out, remove, move it somewhere, rinse and repeat – human error is the #1 cause for any errors/issues that IT services firms face , and this method screams human error. If cloud backups were automobiles, this is a horse and buggy.
   2. Usually the staff that deals with this task (maybe the owner or another trusted party) are not IT support professionals and thus do not have the proper skills and tools to properly transfer the external drives – they usually just put it in the car as they drive and those road bumps shaking the external drive will eventually break it. At least put it on the seat and not in the trunk.
   3. Often the storage place would be geographically close – someone’s home, most likely, and if the office gets hit with a natural disaster, it is very possible that the house with the offsite copy will get hit as well.
   4. Will recovery be reliable? This is the most important factor. You backup and backup, but if the retrieval process is also not routinely tested, no one ever verifies the backup integrity, leaving it to chance whether it is going to work or not when needed.

The Solution

After exploring the different methods of cloud backup, it’s clear that to ensure your data is safe, you need to use a reliable cloud backup service provider. Ideally, this should be arranged through your managed IT services provider. Look for a provider with a solid track record, no hidden retrieval fees, automatic uploads, automatic data verification, and the ability to run a production server from the cloud backup.

That is the only solution that will protect you against natural or man-made disasters, hardware failure, corrupted local backups, compromised data integrity and major catastrophic downtime. Very importantly, it also protects you against hidden fees.

Why Take the Chance?

Call us today or simply fill out the form on this page for your FREE Backup and Disaster Recovery consultation via telephone. Tell us a bit about your business and your processes, and we will give you the best options to keep your company’s data and applications secure and protected. There is NO obligation to ever use our Managed IT Services.
818-805-0909

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