Cloud backup services have become a great addition to data protection for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as a supplemental part of larger businesses’ backup strategies. In Part 1 of our three part series, we will look at what is meant by cloud backup services, how it works, and how it differs from other types of backup media. In Part 2 we will discuss why your business needs cloud backup services and Part 3 will look at reviews and price guides for cloud backup services. If you are looking for a trusted cloud backup services provider, contact DSC today.
What Is Meant by Cloud Backup Services?
“The Cloud” Defined: The term “the cloud” can be a confusing thing to understand. It gives you the idea of some remote location floating in the sky. However, when people are referring to the cloud, they are actually referring to physical locations. The locations are just remote and away from your physical location. The cloud includes software and services that are located on actual computers, and you can access them through the Internet. To learn more about the cloud, click here.
Cloud Backup Services Defined: Cloud backup services can also be referred to as online backup services. With cloud backup, you are actually sending a copy of your data to an off-site server where it is stored for you to access when needed. A server is a special computer that is used to process requests from other computers and deliver data to the computers over a network or the Internet. The off-site server is hosted by a third-party cloud backup service provider and is located on their premises. You send and access your data over the Internet to these “cloud” servers.
Cloud backups save a copy of your data on a remote server
How Cloud Backup Services Work
When someone talks about backing up their data, they are referring to making another copy of that data and storing it at a different location or on a different media. This is done so that in the event that you lose your data, you will have at least one other copy that you can put back onto your computer. This is known as restoring your data. Cloud backup means that you are storing that extra copy on a server located on the Internet.
Options Available for Cloud Backup
You can back up your data directly to the public cloud: Public cloud service providers such as Microsoft Azure, Google Drive, and Amazon Web Services allow you to store data on their servers. Some of these providers will give you a limited amount of data storage space for free and then you need to pay a fee per month for more storage space.
You can back up your data to a cloud service provider: Managed data centers will sell you space on their servers for you to use to back up your data. The data center will charge a monthly fee for this service. Many businesses prefer to use a data center as their cloud service provider rather than use a public one.
You can back up your “cloud” data to another cloud provider: This type of backup is known as ‘cloud to cloud.’ It involves backing up your data that is already on the cloud (usually the data that is created through a software as a service SaaS) to another cloud backup service provider.
Many businesses choose to use the services of a data center for their backups
How to send your data to your cloud backup service provider
The initial backup can take a long time if you are sending your data over a network. This is because there is usually a large amount of data that has to be transferred. To speed up this process, you can use a service call cloud seeding, which allows you to physically send a disk drive or a tape cartridge with your data on it to your cloud service provider. Your service provider will then copy your data on to their server and send your drive or cartridge back to you. Once this initial backup takes place, only data that has been changed will be backed up over the network.
How often do backups occur
The frequency of the backup will be determined by the level of service that you pay for.
Daily Full Backups: If you pay for daily backups then your data will be collected, compressed, encrypted and transferred to your cloud service provider every 24 hours.
Incremental Backups: You can choose to have only incremental backups, which take much less time than full backups. With an incremental backup, only the data that has changed since the last full backup will be transferred.
Disk drives are more expensive than tapes and the cloud for backups
How Cloud Backup Differs from Tape and Disk Backups
Tape Backups: With a tape backup, your data is copied from your primary computers or servers to a tape cartridge. Tapes can store a large amount of data and are relatively inexpensive to purchase and operate. Restoring data from a tape is rather slow though.
Disk Backups: Disks are not as portable as a tape but the time it takes to restore your data from a disk drive is much faster than using tape. Unlike tapes, disks are self-contained which means that there is less human interaction with them and a smaller chance of human error. They can, however, be much more expensive than tapes and the cloud to use as your form of backup.
Cloud Backups: Both tapes and disks will eventually fail. Tapes will last longer than disks, however, as long as your cloud backup service provider stays in business, the lifespan of a cloud backup will be longer than both tapes and disks. Cloud backup also means that your organization does not have to take the time to perform the backups; that is the responsibility of your service provider. The cloud can also offer you an unlimited amount of backup space, but it’s important to remember that more storage space will cost you more.
The lifespan of cloud backups is usually longer than both tapes and disks
Why Choose DSC for Your Cloud Backup Services
Digital Service Consultants has been in business for more than 33 years so we’ve established strategic partnerships that have grandfathered us in at below industry rates. This means that we can and do pass along those savings to our customers. This is why DSC has the best and most flexible pricing in Georgia.
Digital Services Consultants is a premier data center located just outside of Atlanta, Georgia in Buford, that offers you the best server colocation possible. Along with our top-notch server colocation, we provide a full range of internet- related and cloud services including cloud backup, system monitoring, software hosting, dedicated email, website development and implementation, web hosting, e-commerce, security, and a variety of related products and services. We also provide network support for Linus, Microsoft server and workstation platforms, Fortinet firewalls, and Cisco Systems. DSC has been a trusted name in the IT industry in Atlanta for more than 30 years. Contact us today for all of your internet-related requirements.
“DSC has a staff of professional employees that not only know how to rectify any problem that may come their way but they are always courteous, polite and willing to answer any questions you may have. I would recommend
DSC over and over. You can’t go wrong.”
– Tammy Jones
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DSC has been a trusted name in the IT industry in Atlanta for more than 33 years
DSC Gives Back to the Georgia Community
DSC is proud to be part of a thriving Georgia community and we care enough about our community to want to give something back. That is why we started the “Next Generation” training days. During the training, our students learned about the history of CPUs and GPUs. The training focused on the performance and success of different models and brands and which ones excelled during their various time periods. You can access an audio recording of the training on the DSC website for free. Click here to listen to this informative podcast.