We have had a fair share of customers walking to our stop, desperate to retrieve their important files that they lost due to a virus, hard drive failure or simply human error. Wouldn’t it be nice if you got a heads up that you are about to lose your files so you can quickly save your important files on time? Unfortunately, this is never the case. With the click of a button, you can lose years of important files… instantly! We manage to successfully retrieve lost files of our customers in most cases, but not after a lengthy and expensive process and with no guarantees.
Be safe by having a backup of your files saved elsewhere. The most common way is to save to external drives or disks. You can set up automatic backups at a specific time every day, usually at night when the devices are not in use. This method works well but there are risks of data loss due to human error (drive not connected or mishandling of drive), floods, fire, theft or other disasters.
The growing trend now is cloud backup where the files are encrypted, compressed and saved off-site, which means that there is no actual hardware of your own that you are saving your files on. It’s one of those set it and forget it solution. This works really well especially for frequent travelers as this eliminates the need to carry heavy, expensive backup drives and worrying about the risks of theft, breakage or losing them. Just like emails and websites, the ease of being able to access files at any time, from any place where there’s internet coverage is a huge plus.
Another advantage to advanced cloud backups is the reduction of deduplication. Deduplication is when you have files saved unnecessarily in multiple devices, leading to waste, inefficiency and unnecessary over-load on your computer. Cloud backup acts as a central location where you can provide access to those you would like to share your files with. In this way, each individual is not saving the same file on their device, but accessing the file saved in the cloud. This also solves the most common issue of being unable to email large pictures or files due to a size limit. You can simply email a link to your file saved in the cloud rather than attach huge files to your email.
Some people have been concerned about the safety of their files in the cloud and of them being vulnerable to hacks and losing data. Since all files are encrypted and protected with a passphrase, this reduces these risks to almost null. Basic cloud backups run for $59 per year and external drives start at $65. Have an expert install and configure it for you because the backup is only as good as how it’s configured. Newport cove residents get 20% off our normal cloud backup and computer service rates.
The above information will help you determine what type of backup suits your individual needs. If you are unsure about your decision, please feel free to call us or stop by at our computer shop located in the Oriole Plaza (Corner of Hagen Ranch & Atlantic Ave.)