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Offsite backup stores data away from the primary location to prevent data loss in case of a disaster. It can be done through data storage facilities, using storage devices or software, and is used by both businesses and individuals.
Offsite backup is what it sounds like: you have a backup set of data that is nowhere near your primary place of business. Some or all of the data that passes between computers every day is also stored on a server that is physically far from your office. That way, in the event of a disaster, you won’t lose every bit of your important data.
You control how often your data is pushed to the external backup. Most businesses do a full backup of their data every day or every week, depending on how much data they use on a daily or weekly basis. Some businesses, especially large financial institutions, may make several virtual or physical trips to backup each day.
Offsite backup can take many forms. One of the most common is a data storage facility. This can be as large as you need to store all the data you want to back up. You may not want to back up all of your data all the time.
Data storage facilities commonly contain data storage devices. These can be as simple as magnetic tapes, CDs or DVDs, or as complicated as data-filled mainframes. Data stored on portable storage devices such as tapes or disks is usually manually transmitted and manually taken to offsite backup. Data stored on mainframes can also be transmitted this way, but is more likely to be sent electronically, over the corporate network, or using a secure Internet connection.
Software is available to streamline the offsite backup process. This software is usually customizable, so you can meet the specific needs of your business. Software applications can usually be set up to automatically back up your data as well, at set regular intervals, so that the backup process takes as little time as you want.
Offsite backup isn’t just used by businesses. Individuals also use offsite backup. Data that you may want to protect from your home or family can be transmitted to a backup facility using the same types of methods described above. Again, the idea is to make sure you have more than one copy of your most sensitive data.
