Glossary Terms
What is cloud backup?
Cloud backup solutions store copies of your data in the vendor’s datacenters. This data can also be encrypted for additional security. This provides an offsite copy of your important data so you can access it in the event of an emergency. Because the data is stored on another company’s servers, if anything happens to your onsite hardware or backups, you are able to recover from the cloud backup without having to recreate vital work or irreplaceable memories from scratch.
What is the difference between cloud backup and cloud storage?
A common, but serious misconception held by businesses is that cloud backup and cloud storage are the same thing. In fact, these are two distinct solutions designed to solve two distinct problems. Cloud storage solutions are often designed for accessibility and team collaboration, while cloud backup solutions are intended to protect against data loss.
Why is cloud backup a good idea and how does it compare to other backup methods?
Cloud backups support a 3-2-1 backup strategy by providing an easy-to-use offsite backup solution. Cloud backups that are automatic and encrypted allow you to keep recurring, secure backups of your most critical files much more easily than manually copying files to removable media or an external hard drive. It also allows you to benefit from the storage provider’s data-center maintenance expertise and scale.
What types of data and files should I backup?
Cloud backups should include your most important business data. Financial and employee records, tax documentation, generated media such as powerpoints and diagrams, and intellectual property owned by your company should be top of mind. Additionally, data you are also responsible for collecting and maintaining for your customers should also be backed up, provided you point out as such in your data retention policy.
Because the throughput of a cloud backup is unlikely to match a physical drive connected directly to your computer, you should avoid backing up things which you can easily re-locate such as your device’s operating system and software installations. Focus on backing up things which are unique or which took a large amount of time for your organization to create.
Best Practices for cloud backup
When establishing a backup strategy, implementing the 3-2-1 rule is incredibly helpful. Part and parcel of cloud backup is choosing what files to backup, and having a specific strategy and a set of standards for what files will be backed up and to what forms of backup will make setting up a cloud backup much easier.
Investigate what kind of cloud backup solutions are being offered by a vendor and purchase according to your needs. Look for a vendor that offers encryption of files to be sure that anything you are sending to a vendor’s cloud can only be viewed by you or people you specifically authorize. Other features of note for a business backup are legal hold offerings, and support for SSO and provisioning through your company’s existing vendors for such offerings.
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Related Glossaries
CrashPlan is the enterprise platform for resilient, secure, and cost-effective backup and recovery. Purpose-built to safeguard critical data across endpoints, servers, and SaaS applications, CrashPlan empowers organizations to maintain business continuity, meet compliance standards, and protect the ideas that drive growth—without disrupting end users. CrashPlan helps enterprises and institutions reduce storage costs with innovative storage strategies, like zero-cost backup to OneDrive, while maintaining control and visibility across their backup environment.
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