Quick backup solutions to store, protect your data

Ever since the advent of computers, the primary concern always has been, “Is the system backed up?” In the old days, backups were a pain, often requiring extra drives, tapes, or even another computer. With the popularity of cloud computing, there are better options for quick and dirty backups, especially for small businesses and home users.

The cloud provides an off-site backup. Gone are the days of taking your backup tapes or external drives home, or locking them in a fireproof safe, paying someone to come get them, or some combination of those options. Whether Windows or Mac, there are several cheap, easy-to-use options.

For many folks, the most convenient choice is Microsoft’s OneDrive. OneDrive is bundled with most versions of the Office 365 suite. In addition to Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint, all users of Office 365 typically have at least 1 terabyte of “free” storage with OneDrive. This is a great solution for small businesses or home users.

Storing files in OneDrive saves them locally and backs them up immediately to the cloud. You can access these files anywhere from most any internet-connected device, including phones and tablets. The Home edition of Office 365 can be installed on up to five computers plus five phones/tablets and goes for $10 a month or $100 a year. The Personal edition goes for $7 a month or $70 a year but is limited to one computer and one phone/tablet.

If, however, you are using a version of Office 365 provided by your employer, you probably don’t want to use that OneDrive for personal use. This would be akin to using your employer’s email for personal use.

If you just want storage, then OneDrive is probably not the best solution. The free version of OneDrive provides only 5 gigabytes, which is basically useless in this day and age. The cheapest version of OneDrive is two bucks a month, but only provides 50gb of storage, which is just enough to be frustrating.

Google Drive, on the other hand, is primarily a storage solution. Options range from a 15gb free version (again, practically useless) up to 30 terabytes for $3,000 a month. The sweet spot comes in at 2TB for $10 a month or $100 a year. Google Drive is slightly harder to install than OneDrive but still fairly straightforward.

The idea is the same as with OneDrive. Save your files in your Google Drive and they are stored both locally as well as in the cloud. With Google Drive, your files can be accessed from anywhere with no limitation on the number of devices that connect.

Another big player in the cloud storage space is Dropbox. Dropbox was a pioneer in this market and continues to provide more features and functions than its competitors, at similar pricing. The Professional plan is sold under the “Personal” banner but provides many features appropriate for business, such as advanced file-sharing capabilities, 120 days of file recovery (backup for your backup) and the ability to delete files from de-authorized devices. The Professional plan goes for $17 a month and provides 2TB of storage. Dropbox also has a number of plans targeted toward larger organizations under its Business moniker.

A common solution in many organizations is to use one of the above options on a file server. This provides all the capabilities expected out of a file server with a remote backup. As with anything else, businesses and government agencies need to examine their backup and recovery requirements to determine whether such a solution will be sufficient.

John Agsalud is an IT expert with more than 25 years of information technology experience. Reach him at jagsalud@live.com.