Introduction
The demand and need for backup online storage is becoming increasingly high as the volume of emails increases, as well as web content, distributed file sharing and other online activities that use any type of data. Although online storage provides consumers with a major convenience, there are also concerns that deal with security levels.
Backup online storage is changing the way we store and access our personal data. With backup online storage, you can access any of your files from anywhere you have Internet access. As with any form of data storage, there are advantages and disadvantages. Comparing these can help decide if backup online storage is the best option for you.
Step 1
One of the advantages of online storage is the fact that customers receive the capacity they need in order to store the massive growth in data they experience. This is convenient in that the company does not have the additional costs for physical storage space in the form of storage servers.
Step 2
Online storage allows a company, large or small, to change its need for storage up or down at a moments notice to meet the terms of demand. This makes it easier to handle the ever-changing demands throughout the seasons. An example of this seasonal change is when a company experiences an extremely high increase in transaction data over the vacation season.
Step 3
The accessibility factor is another advantage with online storage. Users can access the information they need from anywhere in the world. As long as users are authorized to do so, they can access data at the blink of an eye, making it easier and more valuable as a contributor to effective decision making. On the other hand, depending on the transmission volumes, the broadband costs may become affected.
Step 4
Security is the major disadvantage of online storage. If data is stored completely online, it can easily be lost if there is no backup system in place. High-value information can also be hacked into by various Internet users, so security is a major threat to the safety of the company.
The biggest benefit of backup online storage is storage capacity scalability and remote access. With backup online storage, anything uploaded can be accessed anywhere you have an available Internet connection. This also includes accessing data on a different device or Operating System than the data was originally uploaded from. This makes backup online storage great for document, photo and music synchronizing across multiple devices or computers.
Step 5
On a business level, backup online storage allows vast amounts of data to be shared and hosted, without the overhead and maintenance of a physical data server on premises. However, this can be an advantage or disadvantage, depending on the stability and up time of your backup online storage provider. This can also cause security concerns as well, as the security and privacy of your data are in the hands of a third-party provider. If your business deals with private client data make sure you know the ways your data is protected on the backup system.
While these are two of the major concerns and potential disadvantages to using backup online storage, you may run across other possible issues. Another big disadvantage to backup online storage is that your data is inaccessible without an available Internet connection. Even with Internet access, unless you have a fiber connection or high-end cable Internet connection, access speeds to your data will be slower than traditional on-site server storage or external storage mediums, such as flash drives and external hard drives. The larger the files stored in the system, the more relevant this issue may become.
How often you plan to access or change the data can offset file size issues. For example, if you upload a 30-minute video file to backup online storage, it could take a significant amount of time to download, if you wanted to make changes to it. Each time you wanted to change the video. this process would have to be repeated, including uploading times as well. However, if you only wanted to view the video from the online backup point, this would provide a robust and easy way to stream a video to any of your devices.
