Natural Disasters Highlight The Need To Back Up Digital Data

This past week tornadoes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes and tropical storms caused extensive loss of life and millions of dollars in property damage. In the areas affected, both brick and mortar storefronts and Internet dependent businesses suffered incalculable damage from both property damage and lost revenue.

Do you have a personal blog or a vigorous e-commerce website to promote your products or services? What would it cost you in time, money, headaches and hassle to re-build your site in the event your hard drive crashed or your computer was stolen or destroyed? If the threat of natural disasters are not enough to motivate you to back up your digital data, additional data-ending events loam: acts of terrorism, accidents, equipment failure or operator error. Unless you have a dependable backup plan in place, all your digital content including videos, photos, documents and music could be lost forever.

Although many Internet users periodically back up their critical files to a rewritable DVD, thumb drive or external hard drive, there is no assurance that these methods are safe and secure in the event of a catastrophe.

Savvy webmasters recognize that a reputable online backup service is the best insurance. An online continuous back up service offers distinct advantages: precious data is stored at off-site server locations ensuring data stays safe and available even if your local data is compromised, lost, stolen or destroyed. Also known as “cloud computing,” online back up services are the hottest trend in technology.

When choosing a reputable online back up service for your data requirements, consider these points.

• How much does it cost?• Does the system upload new or updated files immediately?• Does the plan provide for sharing or syncing data?• Will the system back up open files?• Does the plan cover multiple computers?• Does it offer adequate storage for large files?• Does the company offer 24/7 customer service and support?Prior to selecting an online back up service, do the research and read consumer reviews of the top online backup services: a bit of time spent now will save you countless hours and lost data if a natural disaster causes your computer or web host to crash.