The growing market for online data backups has been providing an easy-going feeling amongst newcomers. Young techies just learning the ropes are here to study from those who have been working in the field for years, or even decades. There is now far more information on the Internet to help educate young people compared to when I was getting started.
This also means technology has advanced to a point where we can tie into services for online backups from any computer system. Cloud storage means that you can upload and download files to shift things around to various computers without a messy network setup. FTP is a common transfer method when handling larger files. But some providers even allow VPN access when paying for a premium account.
If you are curious about how to get started then I would recommend doing some research in Google. There are many personal reviews and similar articles glossing over points from all the different providers. Also new startups are breaking into the field every year trying to deliver exceptional quality to their customers. It is a very fast-paced game and you have to stay on your toes in order to be reliable.
Whether you are on Windows, Mac, or Linux it should not matter. However it is notable that hard drives cannot last forever, and over the years of repeated use they will eventually fail. If you data wasn’t backed up at the time of failure then it will prove very costly to get it back. All this data can be managed regardless of whatever OS you are using at the time.
I do feel there are benefits to keeping online backups for Mac compared to other systems. Windows is often an easy target for malware that can infect or even corrupt disk entries. This is far less common using Linux or Unix/OSX. But Mac users also have the preference of higher-priced technology – this means app developers are more willing to target this field of users.
Typically my work is done on a small MacBook and I keep everything backed up locally before doing a clean reformat. This is often the easiest way to move over my applications and documents without needing to pay for a service. But paying for the external HDD and keeping everything backed up is now my responsibility. Although plenty of fantastic options for local backups do exist – joining a cloud service with automatic backups could make the process a whole lot easier.
Consider the possibilities of joining a network like this and think about what it could mean for your future work schedule. Whether you need weekly or monthly backups, it certainly doesn’t hurt to check out costs and see what is out there. New cloud-based solutions are launching frequently so you don’t have much to lose.