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Difference Between Cloud Backup & Cloud Storage | Safe Data Storage Blog

There is a lot of ambiguity that users have about cloud backup and cloud storage. For many they understand that these two concepts are different. But unfortunately not many people believe that these two concepts are different both in terms of functionality and uses. Professionals’ part of a corporate enterprise dwelling in this ambiguity is not good and that is the major reason we feel the need to clear the air between these two approaches.

There is a lot of confusion regarding these two concepts in the consumer market. This lack of clarity often leads to the wrong use of cloud backup services which fail to give desired results. So make sure you are on the right track and have clarity about its definitions. Both cloud storage and cloud backup in UK are completely different. Let us highlight the broad differences for you all.

Files and Data

Cloud storage focuses on storing files and data online so that users have easy accessibility to them. This easy accessibility is possible because of the online storage space. Cloud backup deals with having a strong backup of important data and files so that information recovery becomes easy during system crash.

Reporting System

For cloud storage there is no need for status reporting to check the remote location where files are kept stored. Reporting is extremely important in cloud backup because it verifies users about the safety of their file backup.

Role of Files and Data

With the help of cloud storage you can sync files in all your devices. This allow users to actively access their data from any given device whether a smartphone or a Tablet. In case of cloud backup, files are transferred from one cloud to another to prevent any risk of system crash.

Technology Required

Cloud storage services usually need a web interface that helps to upload files easily. Implying that files and data can be encrypted only on the server. With cloud backup, client software takes the responsibility of encrypting files.

Storage System

Data is primarily stored and actively edited from time to time as per requirements that users have. Cloud backup keeps data stored only in the Cloud for the purpose of data recovery. It is important to note that primary data is still in its original location.

Clarity about these two concepts will help you know better about the solution that your business needs. These two different solutions are designed to solve business and work space related problems.

A Detailed Study of Various Aspects of Cloud Backup | Safe Data Storage Blog

Cloud Backup

It stands for a cloud-based, remote server. In cloud storage data are stored in multiple distributed and connected resources and are easily accessible from these resources which together form a cloud.

Cloud Backup Solutions

Using cloud backup UK, the businesses or individuals are able to store their computer files and data on the Internet with the help of a storage service provider. This is much better way of storing data on a hard drive or tape backup which stores locally on a physical disk.

The customers are enabled to access service of the provider with a secure client log in application in order to back up files from the data centre or customer’s PC to online storage server by means of an encrypted connection.

Enterprise-Grade Cloud Backup Solutions

For businesses and organisations, enterprise-grade cloud backup is there to include essential features like disaster recovery and archiving. Archiving feature satisfies businesses’ legal needs for data retention and is a part of disaster recovery plan of the company. The cloud-backup offers off-site storage so that the local data of an enterprise remains safe after it faces any disaster like flood, fire, theft or attack.

Ways to restore cloud backup

All data and files are saved automatically on a regular basis to the cloud back-up service. Anytime, whenever any changes take place, the information can be backed up automatically. In order to restore or update a cloud back-up, customers require making use of service provider’s particular client application or web browser interface.

Remote backup

A remote backup stands for a backup service managed online for backing up data to a cloud-based, remote server.

White Labelled Cloud Service

The IT providers can take advantage of white labelled cloud services to offer the benefit of cloud to their clients and for this they do not need to invest in their own infrastructure. As a reseller, you can offer cloud services to your clients to generate monthly recurring revenue. The service ensures loads of benefits, like cloud infrastructure, software licensing and business continuity.

Cloud Infrastructure

Cloud solutions save your clients from making one-time capital investments. These are secure, scalable solution that can be availed with manageable, smaller monthly recurring charges. As a reseller you can deploy private, public, and hybrid clouds to the clients.

Continuity of Business

The cloud offers a secure storage space to store the data. Each of your clients will be in peace of mind as their data are stored securely. Working as a reseller, you can provide everything, be it the basic backup solutions for smaller clients or enterprise-grade online solutions for larger clients.

Software Licensing

It is possible for you to offer comprehensive end-to-end cloud-based solutions to your clients by licensing through SPLA program of Microsoft.

The cloud services through reseller program from Safe Data Storage will help you build brand awareness by letting you maintain a direct relationship with each of your clients.

How Data Storage has caused an Impact on Businesses | Safe Data Storage Blog

Businesses these days are adapting to data storing and backup on cloud. Since the last few years, the preference for cloud data storage has encompassed external data storage. With a lot of them adapting to cloud, a major change has occurred. Businesses have become smarter and want to have security for the digital possessions such as videos, family photos, documents, bank details and more. The external servers for storage are not able to take care of these. This is because they are vulnerable themselves to the threats such as cyber theft and virus.

In case of a sudden catastrophe, there can be a huge loss of data. In such situation, a business is not able to function and deal with its customers at all. Loss of data or information is the worst nightmare of any business owner. However, the present day facility of data storing services is elemental for the preservation of information and data for organizations.

How effective is data storage for your business?  

Data or cloud storage (also known as online storage) prevents any virus, cyber theft and other online threats from causing harm to your information. The data is stored on the cloud server through an internet connection. It is stored in centres for data which are connected in a virtual manner. The stored data is safe from any catastrophe damage and also accidental mishaps. These include hurricane, hard drive failure and also sudden PC crashes. If the hard drive is crashed, or the PC is damaged or stolen, or any other situation occurs, the cloud storage remains unaffected. But to get access to the data, it is important to have an internet connection.

You can use a laptop, a tablet or a smartphone as well; the only criteria is the device should be connected to Internet. With the facility of cloud storage, data backup is easy. You won’t have to do anything for this. This is as simple as the knowledge of search engines and posting query. Information and data can be restored easily with this facility.

The service is a lot popular these days:

The most powerful and effective backup option has got introduced to different products and services by various organizations. Some of the renowned brands are Hotmail, Amazon, Microsoft and more. The list also includes names like Netgear and Google as well. Thus this proves that the backup service is highly successful.

These brands know the concept very well and its importance in daily life. Businesses want to be accessible for the customers rather than being unreachable. This change is being embraced by a lot of businesses. Things are easier, convenient and comfortable with this service.

You backup every evening – Nice, but what if the system crashes at 4pm?

So you backup every night to some kind of external device, you take that offsite and use a different device the next evening. Well done! But let’s say it’s 4pm Tuesday afternoon. The network / servers have been running well all day and everyone is happy. Then your phone starts going mad with users unable to open emails. It’s quick to work out that the Exchange server has died. You go to the server room and realise that two of your hard drives have died. Not a problem, you have a backup from last night. So apart from the question how long will it take you to restore and get the server live, what about all those emails that have been lost during the day, or the appointments users arranged. When you restore from last nights backup, you would have lost all of this data. What if this server had been your main Database server and you had 50 users inputting information all day?

A daily backup is no longer enough when we depend on our computer systems so much. Downtime is one thing, but the time lost from not backing up frequently throughout the day can be and possibly will be more costly.

With both our backup products you can backup as many times as you like during the day. In the above scenario, a Bare Metal Backup would allow you to virtually boot your server on any hardware within minutes and keep it running until you have time to fix the original server. With our file Backup solution it will take longer, but at least the data lost is kept to a minimum.

If you only backup once a day, see if you can increase the frequency before it’s too late!

Why you should trust your Cloud Backups to an expert

Cloud Backups, not the most inspiring task for anyone to do, but nevertheless such an important one for any business.

According to recent statistics after a major data loss 43% of companies immediately go out of business and a further 6% go out of business after 2 years of a major data loss.

Even though these figures are bad enough, still so many companies both large and small are still not using proper backup solutions.

The answer is simple, using a professional Cloud Backup Service managed by data protection experts your precious data will be quickly restored should the worse happen. As well as offering a safe, secure, fully managed service, it will eliminate the need for time consuming traditional backup methods.

These companies provide a Backup and Disaster Recovery Solution, that eliminates the need for sorting out a possibly massive data loss that could be disastrous for your company.

Why should you use a Cloud Backup service?

  1. Firstly and most importantly these services are secure. Your data is never at risk, the data centres offer a completely secure service.  Security features include a built in 256 bit encryption.
  2. The data is stored offsite in highly secure data centres,  should you have a disaster and lose all your data, it can be restored to you in minutes and your business can continue as usual keeping your time loss to a minimum and saving your business time and money.
  3. There is no hardware to purchase, no software to licence and no ongoing maintenance costs for you, it is all managed, with daily updates/reports sent to you wherever is the most convenient for you, computer, tablet or mobile.
  4. These services are usage based with monthly/quarterly charges making managing these services simple and easy to use and tailored to your business needs.
  5. The services are flexible and support a range of operating systems, applications and platforms.
  6. The service is fully managed, so should the worse happens the company will manage the disaster recovery with as little disruption to your business as possible.

Protecting your data using a Cloud Storage and Backup Service which is a secure, safe, totally managed service will give you the peace of mind that should the worse happen, your services will be up and running again with the minimal disruption to your business.

Why use cloud backup?

Using cloud backup

Being able to store data in a cloud is a wonderful thing. Clouds have revolutionised the way we manage files and information, and the benefits of storing work online as opposed to physical copies are too many to mention.

However, many cloud users make the mistake of thinking that their data is safe once it is stored in a cloud.

Unfortunately, this is not true.

There are many potential risks of storing your data in clouds without backing it up. Firstly, even data stored in a cloud is not safe from malicious attacks. The only way to be sure that your data will not be lost is by using a cloud backup service. This way you have a securely stored backup of your data in case the worst happens and your original copy is lost. In the case of attempted hacks, with cloud backups you have the option of using encryption to make sure your data doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

A less malicious reason for cloud data loss is simple user error. How many times have you accidentally deleted a file or folder? Unfortunately, however accidental the deletion, without backup they are often lost forever. Cloud services such as Microsoft Exchange only provide a 30-day window to recover deleted items before they are gone for good. So by the time you notice that important work presentation or your CV has accidentally been sent to the bin, it could well be too late.

Of course, businesses cannot risk losing important files and information. For some businesses, charities or schools, the data they are storing in a cloud is so important or sensitive that to lose it would be disastrous. Being completely reliant on cloud storage without a backup is naive and reckless – it puts your company in a dangerous position.

Here at Safe Data Storage we offer fully managed cloud backup, with entirely UK-based technical support. Get in touch today to find out how we will keep your data secure.

Why do small businesses need cloud storage?

Cloud backup is essential because it plays a primary role of stacking up data and keeping them in a secured place. The chances of system crash are always high and in such a situation, all the data once saved is lost. There are instances when the data is extremely important and losing them in a system crash can be extremely detrimental. In such cases, the chances of data retrieval are also very bleak and the data recovery process can be very time consuming with no guarantee that the data will be recovered.

Irrespective of the shape and size of your business, cloud storage is an essential requirement not because all business houses are adopting it, but to make your flow of work smooth. In case of system crash or any other such incident, it is best to give the entire data retrieval process a miss and focus on the backup. Data backup is a process that happens simultaneously as and when new data is added, and it gets saved up in the cloud. The ever increasing demand for the cloud is primarily because it provides an easy process of having backup which is hassle free and also cost effective. So even if you are running a small business, make sure that you have effective cloud storage plans in place.

Affordability

Small sized businesses don’t have unlimited IT budgets and that is when you need to fall back on cloud storage. This is considered to be a cost effective way to make work at office smooth. For a very small amount, professionals can be rest assured that their data is kept well secured in the server.

Easy Accessibility

With the help of cloud storage, there is easy accessibility of the data even if you are not in your office space. However, care needs to be taken that you have Internet connection to get the work done. This not just keeps your office data carefully secured but at the same time easy to reach out.

Simple to Work

Cloud backup offers a continuous ongoing data management that keeps the restoration process easy. Data backup processes keep things simple and help professionals to work or even continue with their work in simplifiedways.

Automatic Data Backup System

The fact that the data gets stored in the cloud storage automatically is the best way to work without having to think of data backup processes. The automated system is the best way to minimise error.

Off Site Data Backup

Cloud backup is effective with no scope for any error but it is not advised to fall back on cloud storage completely. Storing files and data off site is great but it is also important to have some local backups on hand.

Cloud backup has changed the way businesses conduct themselves as it is easy and convenient. With the help of automatic data backup system, it is easy for people to make their work space hassle free. Cloud backup is a necessity not just for large businesses but also for the smaller ones.

Why Small Businesses in the UK Needthe Cloud Backup?

Are you the owner of a small business in the UK? If yes, then you must be thinking of ways to expand your business? As per the Small Business Trends Magazine, by 2020, almost 78% of businesses will move to the cloud. So, are you ready for the plunge?

You must have heard about the cloud backup for businesses before. However, if you aren’t fully convinced yet, here are a few pointers that can actually change your mind. It’s easy-to-use, it guarantees backup of all your files, and it is absolutely secured. Find out below!

Cloud Backup is Protected

One of the biggest perks of using the cloud backup is that you can enjoy extra security features for your company. Your data will be backed up and completely secure from hackers or malicious software. Even if your computer breaks down, your files will be absolutely safe on the cloud. This means you and your IT team can be free from stress, and even if there is some trouble in the network, you are sure to find all the business documents safe on the cloud storage.

Data is Available Everywhere

No matter where you are, or the time of day, any data that you have backed up to the cloud will be recoverable. All you need is a machine to be able to download your backed up files and change them. Then all you need to do is back up the data again and that new document will be safe and secure.

At the end of the day, every business owner needs a hassle-free work schedule? Cloud backup can actually provide you with this kind of comfort. Whether you need to safeguard your business information and documents or you wish to enjoy a much smoother work experience, with the cloud, everything’s possible.

When is the right time to revert to a backup?

Server Offline – Attempted Fix

The repair finished that evening28 hours after first losing their email,sadly, it didn’t resolve the problem.

A few weeks ago, I received an email at 6am from a customer given us advance warning that they may need help with a restore. At 2pm the previous day, their exchange server went offline. It was first thought it was due to database corruption, so they started to repair the 350GB database, but first, for safety, they copied the database to a shared location which took a couple of hours to copy. Once copied, they ran the repair, but because the server didn’t have enough local free space to run a repair, they again, had to use a network share. The repair finished that evening some 28 hours after first losing their email, but sadly for them, it didn’t resolve the problem. The issue then seemed to be with the Windows Server rather than the exchange database. The decision was then made at 7pm, some 29 hours after the initial failure, that they should cut their losses and revert to a backup.

Bare Metal Restore

Using our Bare Metal (Image) solutionthe server was backup up andrunning within a few hours.

Now luckily they ran our Bare Metal (Image) backup solution, so this was to prove a simple restore and they were back up and running within a few hours (350GB takes a while to restore even using the fastest media)

Recover in under one hour and lose no more than 15 minutes of data…

I can’t help thinking was it right trying to fix the database, or would it have been better just to use a recent backup. I too have been in this situation myself, where the next thing I try will bring the server back on line, but eventually, I had to revert back to a backup, but back then the backup was a file backup and a little more complicated to restore than a Bare Metal (Image) Backup. I think had the customer realised how easy it was to restore from a Bare Metal backup, they would have started this at 3pm the same day the server first started having problems.

Recover in under one hour and lose no more than 15 minutes of data…

With today’s backup systems,no server need be offline forlonger than 20 minutes.

So why am I writing this blog? With today’s backup systems, there is no need for a server to be offline for longer than 20 minutes. I really want to get this message out there. What is the cost to your business if your email is down for 12 hours, or you lose 4 hours of data input? With a Bare Metal (Image) backup, you run backups to a local onsite copy and offsite as frequently as every 15 minutes, so if the server does fail, you would only lose the maximum of 15 minutes of work. To get the server back up and running could take as little as 5 minutes either to a VM guest on standby, or by using Virtual Boot with the latest backup image. It really is that simple!

Please don’t allow your system to be offline for longer than is really necessary, and don’t think this is an expensive solution, as it’s not. Talk to us to see how we can help you before you find yourself wasting time fixing a server when you could just simply revert to a backup image.

Vote For Your Favourite Primary School Decoration

Christmas is nearly here

Christmas light switch onwhich this year is the 24th November.

Our main office is located in Farnborough, Kent (Data Centres are in London and Maidenhead) and like most villages and towns, Farnborough Village has a Christmas light switch on which this year is the 24th November. As ever, we have joined in, but this year with a difference.

Each year we put up so many lights, decorations and of course a tree, which brings happy smiles to the school children walking past on their way to and from school, so we thought this year the children could help us.

top 3 voted for in each year groupwill receive a voucher.

So we approached the local Primary School and suggested a competition where the children decorate various templates which we would display in our window for all to see and also on our website for everyone to vote for. The top 3 voted for in each year group will receive a voucher as well as all children receiving a little gift just for taking part.

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