Tuesday, October 16, 2012

File and Data Backup Is Moving to the Clouds

Perhaps that very soon will pretty much also be true of all computer activity but here I am limiting myself to a look at digital data backup primarily from the home user's standpoint.

The sobering fact is that our natural world dictates it is merely a question of time before our individual pieces of computer hardware fail to function for one reason or another or perhaps suddenly become misappropriated by unwelcome visitors or passersby before even that death-knell day arrives. That is, quite simply therefore, why we are advised, even if the common-sense ruling has somehow eluded us, to make sure we have an up-to-date backup of all our computer data on hand all the time.

There was a time, really not so very long ago when perhaps a few floppy disks might have done the job. You could have set the backup operation rolling and it would perhaps have nicely finished the chore in the time it took to make your cup of coffee.

Keeping one's eye on the ever-rolling ball of technological advancement and how that advancement may affect us is becoming ever harder so perhaps we should be glad to latch onto the occasional distinguishable pivotal point in the unfolding drama and make best use of it while it lasts. Such a pivotal point has announced itself of late for computer file backup and is surely to become the firmly entrenched way of performing the task and that is online cloud storage.

If, like me, you thought that cloud computing referred to the fact it was so named because data is stored in a kind of invisible world far away and metaphorically high over our heads then you would be just plain wrong. Quite simply cloud refers to an abstracted drawn representation of the complicated network diagram such a system entails.

Like many great advances it is made possible by the advance of other technologies. The end result and benefits are soon obvious with this online format bringing the ability to supplant the whole floppy disk copying and coffee-making routine.

I say supplant because online storage of data makes hard copy redundant and the whole backup operation can be running effortlessly in the background. There is of course no computing reason why you should have to forsake the coffee-making part of your old routine but you can now enjoy your coffee that much more knowing you will always have a secure backup available at the click of a button should you ever wish to recover a file, a folder, a directory or even a complete copy of all your stored information.

I think where this form of backup system really grabbed my attention compared with the old on-site hard drive and coffee routine was when I realized the huge benefit of having a full backup on hand regardless of whatever calamity or disaster my computer equipment might face. If I needed any further persuasion then the freedom of movement it affords further sold me on the idea. When on the move it is no longer necessary to carry around additional plug-in devices or even your main device itself. You can access your stored information from wherever you have an internet connection.

It is a very satisfyingly full-proof arrangement which you can use to replace or augment any current on-site scheme you might be using.


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