While cloud computing and cloud backup are no longer new, the fact remains that majority of people always have a lot of misconceptions. From available features to legal implications, many people we have talked to, except those who are in the industry or proficient in IT, don’t have a full comprehension of what they are using. Some of them will mistake one feature for another, while others will make incorrect assumptions.
Those misconceptions and assumptions come mostly from hearsay. Someone heard a person talking about something and then boom, an ill-conceived opinion is passed on. Overtime, those misconceptions keep perpetuating, leading people to stay away from or have really clouded opinions (no pun intended) about cloud backup and cloud storage.
This article intends to debunk the common myths we have encountered about cloud backup and storage. Here is a list of the top 5 myths that we have debunked.
Myth #1 – Cloud Backup isn’t Safe
Really? So how safe exactly is that external hard drive or NAS attached to your computer?
This misconception stems from the insecure feeling of storing one’s personal data on a third party’s infrastructure. We often feel that having total ownership of where we store our data is a lot safer. This concern is actually legit in a way. If you are running a business, then it is perfectly alright to be concerned about the security of your data. What if someone gets a hold of your data? What if a competitor manages to look through your trade secrets? Those are the concerns all businesses will have regarding cloud backup.
Fortunately for us, we have cloud backup companies with heavy investment in infrastructure and security, maintaining very high standards in terms of security. Sure, you have reasons to worry if you are using backup services of a flash in the pan company without any background or reputable clients. But when you backup your data to a cloud backup provider that serves tens of thousands of other small businesses and Fortune 500 companies alike, then you have a lot less to worry about. Plus you can always encrypt your data before backing up too. And there are companies like SpiderOak that will not even hold encryption keys in their hands so that even law enforcement agencies cannot look through your data.
Myth #2 – Cloud Backup? Can’t Afford That!
While this might have been true back in the days when online remote backup was only available to businesses with deep pockets, but this is utter nonsense now. Storage prices have plummeted a lot and will keep going down continuously, which makes online storage much more affordable for all of us. Top it up with technological advances in cloud computing, data compression and storage, we now get cloud backup services from as low as $3 a month. That will not get you a lot of storage in the cloud, but if you shell out around $6 to $10, you can get unlimited cloud backup storage from reputable companies like Carbonite or CrashPlan.
Sure if you are running a business and have multiple computers, $6 to $10 a computer can add up, but then how much is your data is worth, really? Consider the scenario of losing your data, and think of how much money you would lose if such a data disaster struck. Then you will realize that cloud backup isn’t that expensive, after all. It is just a minuscule cost of mitigation.
Myth #3 – I Haz Local Backup. What’s Cloud Backup For?
Riiiight. If you haven’t read the apocalypse stories yet, we will brief you here. Do you know how many ways your external hard drive can die? A coffee spill and dropping it onto the floor are just two accidents which involve external stimulants. But hard drives can also die without warning too. And what if you get hit by a natural disaster or something else like fire or theft? Most likely then your local backup drives (external HDD or NAS) will be hit too. If that happens, there goes your local backup.
Having another additional backup at a remote place significantly reduces your chances of losing all of your data. Sure, you could do a daily backup to additional external drive, put it in your car, and carry it to your in-laws or another remote location. But it definitely is not automated, plus it’s additional work when you can simply just sign up a cloud backup service and automate everything. Besides, you can never compete with the safety those companies offer. If you want to know more about about proper backup strategy and protocol to make all your data disaster-proof, you should really read our guide here.
Myth #4 – Cloud Backup is Just Too Slow… ZzZZzzzZZ
Unless you are sitting on a dial-up connection, then most Internet connection speed can handle doing cloud backup (provided that you don’t have upload bandwidth limit like some stupid ISPs do). With most ADSL and broadband Internet connections, you can upload anywhere between 1GB to 3GB a day. This might not seem a lot when you are using 500GB or 1TB hard drives. But let’s face it, are you seriously thinking to backup your whole hard drive, including operating system files, application files and whatnot? Majority of us have 25GB to 30GB of personal files, including around 1,000 MP3 songs. So you can expect to finish your initial backups within a week or so. After that, all backups are incremental – meaning only new changes will get backed up. Not everything from scratch. On top of that, the whole backing up happens in the background so you hardly will notice it.
If you are running a business and have terabytes of data to backup, then there is another option. Some backup providers allow you to send in your external hard drives and seed initial backups from there. Of course there is a cost, but hey, you are running a business and backups are important. The cost is not that high anyway.
Myth #5 – Restoring From Cloud = Pain in the ass
This misconception is actually two-fold. First, some cloud backup providers have complicated or annoying restoration procedures, making it truly a PITA but this is an easy fix as you can try out several providers first before choosing one, or just pick the ones we have recommended here. Second, the Internet connection speed can be a bit limiting when you just want to download all of that 30GB of data you have backed up.
The truth is that download speeds for all Internet connection is faster than upload speed, so your restoration process should be a lot faster than initial backup process. If you have hundreds of gigabytes of files, then the waiting time might be excruciating. And that’s the reason why we have suggested having a local backup plus cloud backup so that you will always have an immediate access to your backup in case something happens. With such large data quantities, cloud backups are meant to be secondary layer of protection. And if it comes down to that, then many backup service providers can send you an external hard drive or USB drive with your backup data. At a cost, obviously but it sure is convenient.
