Data Backup Digest

The world is currently reassessing how it works. Many employees had grown used to the idea of a commute to and from the office. Now, when many are having to practice social isolation as a step to beat COVID-19, companies are discovering the advantages and disadvantages of working from home.

It’s likely that the pandemic will change how we work in the future. No matter what happens, more people are going to be working remotely and forgoing the expensive and travel of a commute now that we’ve all seen how possible it is.

However, working remotely can be a bit of an IT headache. Not only do they have to deal with the changing infrastructure, but also how data is kept secure and backed up. When everyone works onsite and on the same network, it’s easier to keep the data within the company’s control. When people work remotely that becomes more of a challenge.

As such, it’s important to understand all the terms that relate to a remote working setup.

Off-site backup: This means that your data is stored away from your primary data, physically in a different building. Ideally it should be a building in a different district to protect against natural disaster.

One of the more common implementations of off-site backup is using cloud providers. With the cloud software installed on the employee’s system, their data is automatically captured and sent to the cloud.

It’s true that on-site backup lends itself to a quicker backup time, but this is unfeasible with remote working.

Online data backup: This is really useful for smaller businesses that can’t afford to run their own backup systems or servers – or perhaps just don’t have the time to do so. There are many cloud offerings aimed at an enterprise level, offering all the support and security necessary.

That said, cost can creep up with large amounts of data, so it’s key that you weigh up the option of outsourcing your online data backup against a native solution.

Remote data backup: This is sometimes called ROBO backup and it syncs data from remote workers and offices together into a single location. It’s usually centralised through a network. The main consideration here is that you’re not accidentally capturing employee’s personal data. If possible, issue employees with company hardware that they must use for work and teach good data practice to ensure they don’t transfer company data onto any personal devices – especially phones.

Remote access: This allows employees to login to a shared server to access data and utilities that are exclusive to the company. It means that they don’t have to store data or install programs on their personal systems. They simply remote access into the network.

Of course, there are many security considerations surrounding this. It’s also important to provide a reliable network that can support hundreds or thousands of people all logging in at the same time. People will opt for whatever is most convenient and if your remote access VPN connection doesn’t provide that then your data is at risk.