Most businesses in this decade have transferred to storing valuable information on computers, where it is organized and more easily accessible. This information could be imperative to the functioning of the business, so shouldn’t it be stored and protected in a safe place other than the computer itself? The simple answer is yes, however, many business owners are under the false pretense that “nothing will happen to my computer.” The harsh truth is that something could happen, and taking that risk with your valuable data may not be the best idea. At the end of the day, the choice to backup is a personal one. There are two common types of backup that most business owners employ: external hard drive and cloud backup. Both types of backups are rather simple based on the products used.

External backups are the older of the two common methods of backing. This involves having an alternate hard drive with a decent amount of storage. A USB memory stick may not be applicable because those are usually not large enough in storage. Once a hard drive is acquired, it’s as simple as plugging in and letting the computer do the rest of the work. Both Windows and Mac OS have built in software that will recognize the external hard drive as a potential backup disk.

Cloud backups are the latest advancement in computer backing. This allows an individual to back up by sending the data to an off-site server, also known as the cloud. These servers are housed in a secure data center. Most of these data centers have state of the art security systems and protocols which include fingerprint scanners, id scanners, camera surveillance and private security personnel monitoring the site at all times. They also have heavy software firewalls that protect the data itself. A cloud backup provider allows the client to set up a schedule in which the computer(s) can automatically be updated whether it is daily or weekly.

Cloud storage and backing have gained incredible momentum with private users and small business because of convenience, security and assurance gained through a cloud backup provider. Instead of a business spending thousands of dollars buying the necessary hardware and software to do it themselves, there are several companies that offer these services at competitive prices.

A popular cloud backup service that Sam IT Solutions uses, recommends, and offers is Carbonite. They are a popular and reliable backup service used by nearly 50,000 small businesses. You can learn more and view the plans in the following link:

http://partners.carbonite.com/samitsolutions

A backup and disaster recovery plans are not only a good insurance policy but  also protect you against any hacking or social engineering attacks, especially the one in the category of ransomware, such as Cryptolocker. Say NO to paying ransom to these cyber thugs and criminals, and recover your data from a good backup that you might have.