Features and Facts You Didn’t Know about Online File Backups

Online backup and online storage technologies have come a long way in the past few years. While just five years ago we could count the major online backup providers on one hand, today the marketplace is hopping with options. Not only that, we’ve seen the advent of services that provide not only basic file backups, but a host of other related services and options.
Here are some things you should know about what online backup services can do today:

• Today, online backup services are being replaced by more robust online storage options. For example, just a few years ago services such as Carbonite ruled the online storage roost, and were the primary online storage option. Today, it’s services like Dropbox that are really drawing consumers in. The downside for consumers is that, while these online storage services offer more flexibility, they require you to create and manage your own backup scheme.
• Online backup services feature world class security. One of the concerns about online backups and online files storage has been security. This is especially true when you’re talking about small businesses using the service who need to follow certain compliance rules. The best example of this is the law firm, who has a mandate to keep client information confidential. Because these kinds of businesses have turned to online storage and backup in recent years, this has driven the providers to offer greater and greater security measures. In fact, for many users, files are more secure in an online backup setting than on the local PC.

• Online backup and storage services are a $1 billion industry, and still growing. 2011 saw a great boom in online file services, and early estimates suggest that the field generated $1.3 billion in revenue last year. Some experts suggest that this is just the beginning, and that by 2020 online storage and backup could be a $10 billion industry.
• You can access your online files from just about any device. One of the major reasons that consumers have embraced this technology in the past couple of years has to do with accessibility. For many online services, you can actually access all of your data from any Internet-enabled device. Most online storage and backup services now offer smartphone apps for iPhone and Android, while others provide a web-based interface that can be accessed from PCs, Macs, smartphones, tablets, and more.
• Online backup is only one type of “cloud computing” solution that will hit the consumer marketplace in the next few years. Cloud computing has been making headway in IT departments for several years now, but consumers are just starting to really see the advantages of this kind of decentralized approach to computing. Not only will it backup and store files in the cloud, we’ll run more and more of our consumer apps in the cloud.

Online backup and online storage are changing the way that we think about data. The days when your important files were tied to a single PC and vulnerable to loss because of it are over. More and more, we’re discovering just what online backup and storage can do.

About the Author:

Eric Greenwood is a technophile whose interests range from software as a service to online storage. Get more tips and advice on the blog Online Storage!