Online data backups – Secure and accessible anytime.
The process of making these additional copies is known as ‘backup’ and the additional copies are known as ‘backup copies’ or quite simply, ‘backups’.These copies are then used to restore the data in case of a data loss. Backups can be taken and stored on any of the storage devices on which the original data can be stored. Backups are instrumental in reducing losses to organizations in case of data losses.
An online backup can be defined as a process of making and storing copies of the data present on the server and storing them at some different location. This location is known as an offsite location and is often at a distance from the primary data storage devices.
Backups can either be taken offline or online. Offline backup is the conventional way of securing the system’s data integrity. Offline backups involve taking a backup of the data contained on the server by halting the server processes for some time, often a few hours. This time, called ‘system down time’ is the time when all data entry processes into the server have to be stopped for the purpose of taking the backup. Offline backups hence reduce the number of productive man-hours and hence actually result in losses to organizations. This deficiency of offline backups gave birth to the concept of online backups.
Online backups, as the name suggests, are backups completed online. Online backups involve copying the data while it is being saved on the server and simultaneously saving it to some offsite location. Online backups are also known as real time backups as they involve backing up the data in ‘real time’ that is almost simultaneously to the entry of the data.
The working of an online backup system typically comprises a system software which runs simultaneously to the application in which data is being entered. The system runs in the background and makes copies of the data entered at regular intervals. The copies are then sent via a file transfer protocol (FTP) program to an offsite location. The offsite location in the process of an online backup maybe a remote server or a remote computer which is networked to all other computers and servers from where the data is to be backed up. Online backups are also called continuous backups as they run continuously in the background, without hindering the smooth working of the operations in the organization.
Online backups have greatly reduced the ‘down time’ of organizations. It has thus saved a lot of productive man-hours, which are now being profitably utilized by these organizations.
