Most Prominent Cloud Backup Services of 2012

Cloud backup services are designed to protect companies from data loss due to unforeseen events such as natural disasters, server or hardware failures, as well as human errors. Cloud based backups can be accessed from any location with an Internet connection and a web browser. Files may be stored online and shared securely with encryption technology. Cloud backup services are often more affordable and convenient for companies that have limited budgets, and may want to divert some of their internal IT costs associated with keeping tape based backups on-site to more prominent aspects of their operations.

Below is a rundown of some of this year’s most prominent and effective cloud backed backup options available to small and large sized business to help with their backup needs.

Box.net

Box.net is an online storage company that easily integrates with Gmail, picnick, Scribd and Zoho. Box.net is designed to work as a virtual office in addition to a document storage protocol. The files and folders may also be shared with collaborators online. This practice is easier and more secure than simply emailing documents.

Box.net offers free accounts to businesses and individuals to store and share documents or spreadsheets. A paid account provides consumers with 5 GB of storage. If the account malfunctions, 24 hour phone support is available.

DropBox

This online storage service, known as DropBox, integrates with the desktop to offer users quality service. This is one of the few programs that required a physical download onto the user’s machine. DropBox synchronizes the programs on the computer with the files in DropBox. Each revision of a file is stored for easy retrieval and sharing with colleagues.

DropBox can accommodate files up to 350 MB in size. Up to 2 GB of storage is provided for free through Amazon’s S3 service. Additional storage space of 50 GB may be purchased for $9.99 per month or for $99.99 annually. The service may be used in conjunction with Windows XP, Linux and Mac OSX.

Suggested Read: Dropbox alternatives

Live Mesh

Live Mesh is Microsoft’s contribution to the cloud based storage community. This online storage offers 5 GB of online storage that can be accessed through an online desktop. The files cannot be edited through an online desktop. Consumers enjoy the automatic synchronization of Live Mesh and the ability to collaborate with colleagues and friends. The cloud based storage solution is compatible with Windows PCs and Macs.

JungleDisk

JungleDisk is not offered to customers for free but can be obtained for $20. The service is used with Amazon’s S3 service for storage and transfer of files. An additional fee is required for this service. This service is not like the other online storage services but does have some benefits that business owners require. Users may interchange files between the online storage and the local desktop. JungleDisk is compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac OSX.

Cloud Backup Solutions at Precision IT

Solutions offered by Precision IT include scheduled daily automatic backups and monthly tests of the performance of remote backup system. The backups and tests occur in minutes. Monitoring of the system is offered 24 hours per day and seven days per week by skilled engineers.

All data stored on the system offsite is encrypted with AES 256 and is also protected during transmission. The system is compliant with the latest regulations such as HIPAA, SOX and Basel II. With the web-based system, no servers or file sharing is required. Users can restore data without an IT professional up to 30 days.

Conclusion

The market for online storage is competitive. Most of the best services fully integrate with the users’ desktop and are very easy to use, enable accessibility to files from any location, and the services are stable and dependable.

This was a guest post by Leo Alvin Alexander who is an online writer currently dabbling in online marketing and search engine optimization. He is an expert in information technology and computing, including cloud backup, backup and recovery solutions, etc.