When you think of all the irreplaceable files that you have on your computer’s hard drive, you should be thinking only one thing; online backup. Online backup is the best way to go about backing up all the files that you have on your computer that could never be replaced, such as photos, videos, and documents, leaving you with total peace of mind.
Here are some of the items that online backup can help you rest easy with:
- Photos: It used to be that you would take bunches of pictures and then have the film developed and then place all the pictures in a photo album for all to see. In today’s world of digital cameras, photos are stored at will on your hard drive and you can even set up file folders for different events and holidays. You can then select a good number of photos and either make a slide show with them or e-mail a handful to friends and family making photo sharing easier than ever. However, what this also means is that it is easier than ever to lose those photos. With a film camera, you had the negatives as a backup, but if something happens to your computer and your photos are not backed up anywhere else, your photos are lost for good.
- Videos: Just as you can now store family photos on the computer, you can do the same with videos as well. Many video cameras these days don’t even require you to buy a tape as there is a certain amount of storage on the device itself and that can then be uploaded to your computer. Again though, if something happens to your computer and the videos are not backed up then they can be lost forever.
- Documents: Many people these days choose to get a jump on their work week by putting in some hours at home during the weekend. This time will usually consist of creating a number of work related documents that will be vital to their business success in the coming days ahead. So what happens if their computer crashes, for example, and these documents are not properly backed up? In some extreme cases, this scenario could end up costing that person a job.
When you use online backup, you don’t have to ever worry about anything that could possibly happen to your computer. No matter what might happen, or when it might occur, your files will be safely kept until the time comes when you need to retrieve them. Best of all, you can retrieve them on a 24 hour a day, seven days a week basis using nothing more than another computer and an internet connection.
Many people feel as though they may not need online backup to help protect their photos, videos, and various documents due to the fact that they conduct a manual backup where they save all of their files once a week or so to another type of media, such as an external hard drive or backup CDRs. While this type of backup is better than none at all it is far less effective when compared to online backup.
With online backup, you never have to worry about remembering to do an actual backup like you do with manual backups. Instead, you only need to conduct one initial backup when you first install the online backup software onto your computer and then the program runs in the background of your computer constantly saving files that chance by even the slightest little bit. So, as long as you have your computer up and running, your files are always being backed up.
Security is also far better with online backup versus manual backup. With online backup your files are either encrypted or double encrypted in similar fashion to the way big banks encrypt the information of their customers. When your files are encrypted, it means that they are all scrambled up so that a thief who happens to crack into your files can do nothing with them as they will not be able to un-encrypt, or descramble, the encryption. With manual backup, say to an external hard drive, there is no encryption. So, a thief who steals your backed up files can view them at their leisure and do with them what they want.
Finally comes peace of mind. With online backup you are protected from anything and everything that life could possibly through your way. While the most obvious thought that likely comes to your mind would be your computer crashing, there is much more that can go wrong such as:
- Theft: Every single year there are countless personal computers that get stolen. Few are recovered and many that are recovered are damaged. If this happens to you, your files will be stolen and gone along with the computer.
- Natural Disaster: Tornados, hurricanes, flood, fire, you name it. It is impossible to predict the weather or natural disasters for that matter. If your home is damaged by any one of these disasters, your computer can likely be damaged or destroyed as a result. Additionally, your manual backup files will likely be damaged or destroyed as well.
- Accidental Deletion: There are so many times that you could potentially pull up a document and do a little bit of revisions to it and then instead of saving it, accidentally delete it. If this happens and you use online backup, you can simply revert to the last backed up version of the document, but if it is not backed up then you are just plain out of luck.
Put simply, manual backup just isn’t as safe and secure as online backup.
Why take chances with your irreplaceable files? With the ease of use and the readily availability of online backup, there is no reason for anyone to leave their files unprotected. Once you have it you will see that online backup truly does offer you peace of mind for your photos, videos, and documents so you don’t ever have to worry again.