Cloud & Local Backups Flashcards
What are the benefits to cloud backup?
Cloud-based backup services offer great scalability. Users can adjust their storage needs on the fly, responding to data growth without physically adding hardware or infrastructure. This dynamic scalability ensures that businesses of any size can tailor their backup solutions to fit their exact requirements, all while minimizing initial outlays for hardware. The second point is accessibility. With cloud-based backups, data is retrievable from any location with Internet access, making it ideal for businesses with remote teams or those requiring constant access to their data for operational continuity. This level of accessibility promotes flexibility in work arrangements and ensures that data recovery efforts can be initiated from anywhere, significantly reducing downtime in the event of data loss. Third is cost efficiency. Cloud backup offers a cost-effective alternative to traditional capital-intensive storage solutions because it is subscription-based. Businesses can lease the exact amount of storage they need, sidestepping the hefty upfront costs associated with purchasing and maintaining physical backup infrastructure. Lastly, cloud-based storage is especially effective for disaster recovery. With data backed up across multiple geographically separate data centers, cloud backups are a reliable option for disaster recovery strategies. This geographic dispersion ensures that even if one data center is compromised due to natural disasters or other catastrophic events, other locations can serve as reliable fallbacks, enabling swift data recovery and business continuity.
What are the disadvantages to Cloud backup?
First, the efficacy of cloud backup depends on Internet service availability and quality. Data backup and retrieval times can vary widely based on Internet speed and bandwidth, potentially hampering urgent data recovery efforts or slowing down regular backup processes. This reliance on Internet connectivity places a premium on having stable high-speed connections
for businesses relying on cloud backups. Then there is a concern about security. Despite the rigorous security protocols employed by cloud service providers, the external nature of cloud storage introduces potential vulnerabilities. Concerns over data privacy, unauthorized access, and breaches persist. This makes it crucial for businesses to understand and mitigate these risks through encryption, secure password practices, and vetting of cloud provider security credentials.
Cloud backup also goes along with ongoing costs. While initially more cost-effective, the subscription model of cloud backups means that costs will increase over time. For long-term storage needs, these costs can eventually surpass those associated with setting up and maintaining local backup solutions. Businesses must carefully consider their long-term data storage strategies and the associated costs to determine the most economical approach.
What are the advantages of local backup?
Local backups offer complete control over the data and backup processes with data stored on-premises and managed directly by the organization or individual. Next is the speed it offers. Data restoration from local backups can be faster than cloud backups as it does not rely on Internet speed, making it ideal for large volumes of data. Lastly, there is the aspect of security. Local backups provide more security or businesses concerned about data sovereignty and privacy by keeping data physically accessible and under direct control.
What are the disadvantages?
However, the cost and maintenance of local backup are things to consider. Initial setup costs for local backup solutions can be high, including expenses for hardware, software, and ongoing maintenance. It also has scalability limitations.
Expanding storage capacity can require additional hardware purchases, making scalability more challenging and expensive than cloud solutions.
Finally, local backup is vulnerable to local disasters like fires and floods.
What is a hybrid backup?
These approaches combine cloud and local aspects, leveraging the cloud for disaster recovery and long-term archiving while maintaining a local backup for quick data access and recovery. Hybrid solutions offer a balanced approach, providing the security and speed of local backups with the scalability and accessibility of cloud backups.
