Online Data Backup Vs. Tapes
Why Should I Switch from Tapes to Online Data Backup
| Tape Backup | Online data backup |
|---|---|
| Tapes can fail. They can fail to backup and they can fail to restore. | With online data backup your data is stored redundantly on high tech storage devices in geographically separate data centres. |
| Orchestrating a tape-based backup is time-consuming and prone to human error. | With online data backup, you "set it and forget it"… it's fully automated so the risk of human error is eliminated. |
| Transportation of tapes to and from the off-site storage area is necessary and time-consuming. | Online data backup keeps your data off-site for you. Plus, you can schedule backups to occur at a time convenient to you. No more room for human error, no more tapes to keep track of and transport to off-site locations. |
| The recovery process is unreliable and even more time-intensive than transporting the tapes off-site. Plus, restoring down to the single file level can be very difficult. | With online data backup you can restore a single file or an entire directory with two mouse clicks. |
| How many historical versions of your files do you have to restore from? Most tape drive users only have 5, one for each weekday. | Online data backup gives you instant access to up to 90 days historical versions (or more if requested) of your files so you can restore a file as it existed weeks ago. |
| How do you know if all your files were actually backed up properly? | Online data backup will automatically notify you via email if a backup session does not run properly. |
| Tape will take so long that you can only do 1 per day. | Online backup can take snapshot of your most important data at regular intervals throughout the day. To ensure the data are safe. |
BUT Tape Backups Cheaper?
It may appear that way at first glance. But do you really know how much tape backups are costing your firm including manual effort?
Consider these expenses:
- Employee time spent doing the backup and transporting the tapes off-site. With online data backup, you eliminate this expense entirely.
- Cost of replacing broken/old tape drives- online data backup absorbs the costs of the storage equipment. . .you never have to worry about costly hardware (or software) again.
- The exorbitant cost of not being able to restore critical business data when you need it. When you experience your first data loss and are able to completely restore with online data backup, the money you save will pay for online data backup for the next decade.
Bottom Line: Your business data is too important to trust to human error, tape drives, and tape media. And your employees' time is too valuable to waste on this task. Tapes were valuable for a time, but today there is a better, safer solution.
Of course, you can always have a local backup being made onto another hard drive or DVD as part of the Online backup routine. here is how you can do so.
