Backups are alternative copies of your original data which can be used to restore the crucial files and folders, if it is lost due to any reason. Backing up data and protecting is the hardest and most important challenge on todays world. Accidental deletion, system failure, viruses, power spikes and other similar incidents are some of the reasons due to which data loss may occur. So everyone needs to keep a backup of their data in order to prevent any unfortunate consequences.

Remote backup is the best way to restore data the most effective way and it includes less human power, fewer mouse clicks and little time to restore data back. One can keep their backups as online backup or external hard disk backup. Each have its own advantages and disadvantages.

External hard drives allow users to save files from their computer on another separate hard drive. Online file backup is the process of storing the contents of your computer’s hard drive through the Internet using a third party online backup service. Online backup is a better solution for most consumers for several reasons.

1. Reliability

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External hard drives have the same hardware failure issues that the internal hard drive in your computer has. They will eventually fail or crash and put the stored information at risk, whereas online backup services are not dependent on a single hard drive to store your information, which makes them infinitely more reliable.

2. Security

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If your external hard drive is misplaced or stolen you immediately lose all the backup information that you have stored there. Online backup services, on the other hand, allow you to store your information remotely and securely on computer servers that are maintained by professionals. In fact, many major corporations use the same online file backup services that are available to consumers to store important business information because these services are so secure and professionally managed.

3. Storage capacity

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Third, external hard drives have storage limitations. For example, if you purchase a 100 GB external hard drive it will be able to store 100 gigabytes of information before you need to either purchase an additional drive or delete some information from your existing one. The top-rated online backup services offer unlimited storage capacity for all your important files. You will never need to buy additional storage capacity or hardware and you will never need to choose which files you will keep and which you will delete based on how much storage space is available.

4. Cost

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Finally, external hard drives are more expensive per gigabyte of storage than most online backup services. We recently analyzed the costs of both options and found that online backup services are about 50% cheaper per gigabyte than using external hard drives.

It is necessary to have alternative backups for your informations. As we discussed above, online backup mechanism is the best option to take a backup for your informations as it is reliable.

The above is a very rough outline on online backup , if you have any questions, we would be happy to talk to you! 🙂

About the Author :

Jaslin Jose works as a Software Engineer in Bobcares. She joined Bobcares in 2011. She loves reading books and listening to music in his free time.

Blog edited by :

Appu Joseph Xavier works as a Software Engineer in Bobcares. He joined Bobcares in April 2012. He loves to watch movies in his free time.