Off-Site Backups Are the Best Security Insurance for Your Website
Off-site backups are backups that are stored externally, away from the core IT infrastructure of an organization or hosting servers. They are similar to normal backups, except that in this case, you keep a copy of your files and folders in a physical location that is separate from your website’s main storage place.
The benefit of having off-site backups, compared to backups stored on the same server as the website, is to serve as security insurance when something goes wrong, as it enables reverting to a clean version. This is not only helpful when a site is hacked but also when the editors or admins make an error and you want to restore a previous version. When a site is hacked, chances are that the backups stored on the same server will also be infected.
Main reasons to have off-site backup
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Prevent downtime
A business can suffer major downtime in cases of natural disasters, such as fires, floods and earthquakes. But with recent backup copies, downtime can be minimized. This can end up saving the business millions of dollars as it will still be able to carry on with its usual operations.
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Data recovery in case of security breaches
With off-site backup, you can easily recover your data in case of a security breach. This will prevent you from permanently losing your data or from having to pay a ransom after a ransomware attack.
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Prevent you from forgetting to back up your data
You can set up your data to be automatically backed up. This ensures that you always have a backup and that there is no chance of you forgetting to back up and finding yourself in trouble in case of onsite data loss.
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Prevent logical data disasters
In the case of a networked system, both the original file and its onsite backup can get damaged in logical file damage. However, with an offsite backup, such a situation can be prevented.
For instance, a virus attack on a system or the computer could damage all the files stored in it. This form of data loss is the most common way in which most individuals and businesses lose information.
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Peace of mind
Having a good and reliable backup plan will give you peace of mind. Whether you have lots of data to store or just a small amount of data, you can choose a cloud-based service.
What’s more, most service providers will use software that automatically uploads any changes that have been made on a file from a user’s computer. This happens at least once a day. The data will be encrypted in most cases. This ensures the safe transfer of files.
Types of off-site backup
- Over the Internet – You can use backup services online that automatically back up copies of your files to a remote server which you have control over or a cloud service like DropBox, GDrive or OneDrive.
- Physical devices – In this case, you back up your files using physical devices like flash disks and hard drives but store them in a different physical location.
All in all, automatic backups are the best option since they happen automatically and you don’t have to think about it.
Conclusion
If you are just storing your data in an external hard drive and then leaving that hard drive next to your computer or in the same building as your computer, what happens in case there is a fire or a flood? Or what if someone steals that hard drive? Any security beach to your home or office could lead to that data being compromised or getting lost. That is why it is important to have off-site backups.
Having an off-site backup will protect you from loss of data and also enhances security when it comes to protecting your website and the data it holds.
