One of the things that business enterprises must do in order to protect their data is to have a backup plan that they can implement on a daily and weekly basis. But that is not enough. In the area of disaster recovery, not only must an IT administrator perform the backups to protect the corporate data, he must also store the backups off site. Because a catastrophe can come in a variety of formats like fire, tornado, floods, or some other malfunction.
One way to get data off site is to use the cloud and there are several companies that will make that operation possible.
DropBox Logo
Dropbox has several features that allow IT admins to perform disaster recovery operations.
Online Backup – Dropbox backs up your files online.
- Web Access – A copy of your files are stored on Dropbox’s secure servers. You can access them from any computer or mobile device.
- File Sync – Dropbox allows you to sync your files online and across your computers automatically.
- File Sharing – Sharing files is simple and easy to perform.
- Security & Privacy – Tthe security and privacy of your files is important and access to them is not available except through your login and password.
Download DropBox here.
Crashplan has two versions of online backup available. One is for the home and personal use, and it is free. The other is for the business enterprise and it can be used to backup anywhere from 10 to 100,000 computers.
Features:
- Continuous Backup – CrashPlan PRO knows the moment your file changes, ensuring your backup is always up to date.
- No Computer Left Behind – Cross-platform support is available; it runs on Windows, Mac, Linux and Solaris.
- Engineered for Laptops – Laptops have less memory, CPU, and I/O performance but backups will still be possible under these conditions.
Download Crashplan here.
Mozy also has different plans depending on the usage capacity. Here is a list of the difference between their home and business programs.
You can download Mozy here.
For 54.95 a year, you can use Carbonite’s online system for backup. File encryption is standard for security purposes.
Carbonite places a small software program on your computer that works in the background looking for new and changed files to back up. They encrypt your files twice before backing them up securely offsite. It works automatically when your computer is idle. Carbonite will back up new and changed files.
You can download Carbonite here.
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The last online backup system we look at is Jungle Disk. It has two versions, a personal and business class. The personal can be accessed for as little as 2 dollars per month, the business class for as little as 4 dollars a month.
The Business class provides desktop and server backups, file sharing and real-time sync designed for multiple users and teams. The personal is simple to operate, with automatic online backups, storage, and real-time sync between one or more computers.
You can access JungleDisk here.
These backup systems can ease the mind of a user with personal information or an IT administrator with thousands of computers and servers that need to be backed up. Disasters can occur at any time and only by having an off-site plan can a true disaster recovery program be implemented. The features of automatic backup and syncronization make the cloud backup systems a viable answer. The silent software programs that are installed and which work in the background offer a seamless solution to the operation.
While online backup is not intended to replace the on site backup systems, it can be used temporarily for that purpose. But a good backup plan will have both an on site backup system with tapes and either a differential or incremental options; but an off-site system should also be implemented.
