Offline Data Backup Devices: Obsolete or as Relevant as Never Before?

From USB flash drives to CDs and hard drives, you have various offline data storage options you can optimize.

11:25 01 September 2020

Did you know that 54% of small to medium businesses that lose data said they did so because they couldn’t find time to back up their information? Moreover, American businesses alone lose $12 billion each year to data loss. Such a magnitude of the problem suggests that businesses should use all means to back up their data. For instance, they can use secure cloud solutions to back up their Microsoft Office details to save themselves losses. You can read here to learn more about our Microsoft 365 backup solutions.

However, despite the rise of cloud backup solutions, some businesses still have on-site data backups. For instance, they supplement their cloud storage with physical devices like hard drives and USBs. Now, the question arises: are these devices relevant, or should they go to the museum? Read on to find answers to this question.

Hard Drives

Hard drives are ideal for smaller businesses that don’t have tons of data to store. Moreover, they are cost-effective, which makes them a suitable partner for smaller businesses that don’t have a big budget for data storage. Some other advantages are:

• Durability;
  
  
• Ready availability;
  
  
• An ability to transfer data faster than cloud options.
  
  

So, you can use them if you feel your business level of data storage needs fits this bill.

USB Flash Drives

USB flash drives are another offline storage option a small business can use to complement their backup. These gadgets connect to computers via USB ports. They are small and light, thus being ideal for transferring information between various PCs. Besides, they are suitable for storing static data such as photos or music. Another advantage is that you can reuse them. Lastly, they are very affordable and readily available.

However, they are not suitable for storing data beyond 50 BG because their capacity is limited. They are also suitable for careful users since their small size makes it easy to lose or displace them.

CDs and DVDs

Compact discs, or CDs and DVDs, are another option that small businesses use to store their data. These tools are ideal for storing small amounts of information. Their capacity ranges between 750 MB and 8 GB. However, they are ideal for storing content that doesn’t need updating, such as pictures, videos, and music.

However, storing data on them can be time-consuming. Besides, they are very delicate since scratches can spoil and make them unreadable. In such cases, you’ll need a special reading program to read such data—another tedious process. Thus, it’s no wonder modern computers lack CD or DVD ROMs.

Time Machines

This option is ideal for Mac users. The storage medium is suitable for performing versioned and incremental backups. It’s great for backing up all your files to your Mac machine, and it keeps checking them hourly for updates. You can use the machine to back up your data daily, weekly, and monthly. Moreover, you can reduce its power consumption by buying another wireless capsule that lets you back up your data remotely. Remember, this machine is free of charge because it comes with Mac’s operating system X.

Magnetic Tapes

Magnetic tapes are another physical medium for supplementing your data storage plan. They are some of the oldest devices used in interchanging, backing up, and archiving data. Initially, they were the least expensive storage options. However, the increase of data within businesses means they are no longer that cheap. You will need to spend more on them if your data volumes are large. Moreover, their sequential nature makes it faster to write and read the information on them.

They may not be the “in-thing,” but they are still a viable storage option. Remember, even large companies like IBM still use magnetic tapes, although they offer sophisticated storage solutions. The question is, could they be sitting on a secret most “tech-savvy” people don’t know? Only time will tell.

From USB flash drives to CDs and hard drives, you have various offline data storage options you can optimize. The choice is yours to use this information to evaluate which one meets your current backup needs.