Local Backups vs. Cloud Backups

With the Cloud becoming more and more popular for the public, a debate has popped up between Cloud providers and Cloud users. That debate centers around the use of Local Data Backups vs. Cloud Data Backups. For the vast majority of companies and personal tech consumers, the idea of storing your critically needed data locally makes sense. Use an external hard drive. Set a reoccurring backup time on a daily basis. Forget about ever backing up your data ever again. However, with the Cloud becoming more accessible to private consumers and companies of all sizes, local data backups are giving way to Cloud backups. Here’s why. The Problem with Local Backups Local Backups Require Personal Data Encryption – Here is the thing about using your own locally stored hard drive to backup all your critical business data – it’s unsafe. Unless you are an IT expert who knows how to properly secure your local hard drive with secure encryption methods and security codes to make sure hackers can’t get in, your critical data is open to the world. For the personal user who only stores music files on their local external hard drive, a hacker doesn’t mean much. But for a company storing sensitive financial data or classified documents, security is a very real threat. Local Backups are Limited – A local external hard drive is a physical piece of equipment which takes up place on your desk and is limited to a storage capacity limit. Unable to grow from its stagnate state, a local external hard drive will not grow and scale with your company as you need more storage space for sensitive data. A local hard drive is 80gb, or 120gb, or 500gb. Once you reach that maximum potential, it’s time to purchase another hard drive. This might not seem like that big of a deal but for a company of any size, who shuffles through a ton of data on a daily basis, your local limit is going to be met and exceeded quickly. This will cause headaches and cost a lot of money. Local Backup Hardware Can Go Missing -Local backups performed via an external hard drive have a major built in security downfall. An external hard drive is easily stolen and can easily go missing. It’s not like your external hard drive is too heavy to move or is secured to your desk via a series of dead bolt locks. Just as easily as someone can pick pocket you while walking down the road, an external hard drive can easily be stolen and all the data siphoned off. The Physical is a Pain -So, let’s say you have a position which requires you to travel around the globe on a constant basis. You travel for business meetings. You travel for trade shows. You travel for industry events. You travel for industry work shops and your travel because sometimes you need a vacation. With all this traveling, the last thing you want to do is have … Continue

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