Difference Between Cloud & Back Up?

[Insurance Guy]

Can someone out there help me out. I know enough about computers to be dangerous and am not sure if I am looking at the right things. I am an independent guy on my own and don't have any type of server to back things up or have access to documents when away from my computer on my Ipad. I would also like to be able to edit the documents on my Ipad. I have looked at previous posts and see people talk about dropbox and carbonite and of course I am confused. Do they accomplish the same thing? What are some other products out there that you are using? I don't necessarily care about free but low cost is nice.


Thanks in advance

 

[lrixford]

The cloud is just a generic term to say "service on the Internet". Both are cloud based services based on the Internet so it is easy to get turned around. Hope I can clear it up a bit.

Services like Mozy and Carbonite backup important files (and full drive images) on your computer and provide a mechanism to recover those files should it become necessary. It does not give you access edit those files on an ongoing basis.

Services such as Microsoft's SkyDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, and Box allow you to store your files "on the cloud". Services like SkyDrive and Dropbox also have very good programs that sync those files to your desktop computers so you can edit them anywhere.

I like SkyDrive as they have all devices (iOS, Android, Windows Phone) and desktop platforms (Windows and Mac) covered well. Since SkyDrive syncs those files to my local desktop, my Carbonite subscription picks that up as well. This gives me a backup of my cloud data at a second service.

 

[xrac]

I uses Pages for editing word processing documents on the iPhone and iPad.

 

[agbc]

Irixford basically hit the nail on the head. I would just add that you don't have to use any one of these services exclusively. Once you have established how you plan to back up your company information, you can use any combination of services to manage/edit documents.. I use keynote, evernote, google drive, and dropbox all for different reasons. This might sound complicated but it really isn't. Over time you will find that each one has it's pros and cons and you will be able to decide for yourself what works best.

I think the best thing to do right now is test out a few of the options, most are free anyway, with non sensitive/non urgent information (that way you can't screw anything really important up) and see what works for your needs.

 

[DataHold]

Irixford and agbc have summed up the differences between "cloud" and online backup. Riffing off of the idea that agbc presented, you may use various tools or services based on what you want or need to accomplish, plus the fact that there are so many options now, how do you decide what will work best for you?

Backup: at the very real risk of coming across like an annoying know it all, my partners and I have used and/or partnered with almost every backup service out there at one point or another. What we've found is that the key differences between backup vendors usually lie in:
• Pricing, pricing plans and/or tiers: some may well be more favorable than others for your requirements. For example, for home use [note: we have a lot of devices!] I went with CrashPlan initially based on a trusted recommendation and their no hassle, no pressure trial - and stayed because of their really, truly unlimited data backup plan for multiple devices at less than $20 per month. For business and/or personal data that requires higher security with strong sync capability, we are now recommending SpiderOak. They keep it simple and provide 2GB free for life and then their service is priced in tiers of data, i.e. monthly plans at 100GB = $10, 200GB = $20, etc. Yearly plans at 100GB for $100, 200GB for $200, etc.
• Security: SpiderOak provides a good lede into this topic, not all backup [or cloud] providers are equally committed to security. If they encrypt your data, they should do it before it leaves your device and also they really, really should salt their hashes! Some don't, they encrypt after transferring the data and/or without salting, and long story short you don't want that because it makes it easier for hackers to compromise accounts and access your data. More and more the large, reputable companies like Carbonite, CrashPlan, Norton/Symantec and Mozy are doing it right - just keep an eye out if you're looking at newer services. At the next tier there are true business-oriented products that have industrial strength security and tools to keep data secure and in sync, wherever it may reside.
• Performance: online backup services are not necessarily known for their transfer speeds, and when you are talking about gigabytes and gigabytes of data it can be tedious waiting for it all to upload - and nerve-wracking waiting for it to download after a drive failure, or any other loss of equipment or data. Some services offer 'ship us your files on a hard drive' options at additional cost to get the initial backup done more quickly and conveniently. Likewise, some services offer 'we ship you a hard drive with your backup files' at additional cost to speed up data recovery. Finally, there is a small group of providers including VaultLogix that offer high performance and high security backups aimed at businesses and costing considerably more than the average online backup service.
• Notes: user interface matters a lot, and customer service can be of critical importance. Details aren't always details when it comes to things like not being able to access files from your phone or tablet, or not being able to backup external drives, or not being able to pick and choose what files are backed up. Lastly, I feel more at ease having an external hard drive or on-site server to backup to in addition to the online backup.

Cloud Apps: there's so much to love, and sometimes it's too much to make sense of! Starting with an over simplified comparison between backup services and cloud apps, my take is:
• You want to backup all your useful data, and most of that will probably be files that don't change or circulate a lot - things like documents, music, photos, scans and videos. As you take or make more of these files you may share them using email, social media or various cloud apps. And then you will probably want to backup the 'keepers'. So backup isn't totally static and unchanging, but it is more like the back office, or even warehouse as time goes on. It needs to hold and protect a lot of data that is occasionally accessed from for computers for the long term at a reasonable cost.
• The cloud can store lots of things in lots of ingenious ways, and even if we don't call an app like Evernote a backup solution we recognize that it can and does act as a form of backup. Anytime we send a file or store a file in an additional location that's like a backup, but all the other stuff the cloud apps let us do on top of that is usually why we use them: share, like, sign, edit, schedule, notify, get more info, plan, meet, discuss, spend, save, etc. In business, being able to work 'on the road' has been replaced with being able to work anywhere, anytime and on virtually any device. The rate of activity and change is often very rapid, and interaction / collaboration is built into almost everything we do. Cloud apps store frequently shared, updated or changed data for the short to mid-term at little or no direct cost on a host of different devices. Some of this data, particularly legal, tax-related, final and/or signed versions of various file types should be moved to secure backup for safekeeping. In all of this there are many shades of gray and little out and out black and white.

Wrap-up: try one or more backup solutions out, many have free trials, see which one you like best. Do the same with iCloud, Pages, Dropbox, Evernote - or the remote access approach using apps such as RemotePC and LogMeIn and Bomgar to get on your work computer from your iPad. Lastly, to echo what agbc said, I use a combination of:
• CrashPlan for online backup of almost all devices, and backup between devices and various drives
• SpiderOak for backup *and* sync of about 10 GBs of key, work-related files between several devices
• Remote access to and between most of our computers and servers
• A patchwork mix [driven by client preferences and their comfort zones] of Box, Google Drive, SkyDrive and iCloud to share mostly work-related files for day to day business*
• Dropbox for storing personal files [mostly photos] for the purpose of sharing with friends and family
• And Evernote for just about everything else from notes to self to expenses, receipts and to-do lists

*It's manageable, believe it or not, but I'd love to consolidate the patchwork mix of collaborative business tools if clients will allow. The key to the current quilt of apps is the SpiderOak sync that I carefully maintain as my go-to source for business files.

 

[russelltw]

I would also add this for those use are using a laptop or desktop to store data. Backing up files to these services is one thing. I would also suggest considering doing a disk imaging/cloning of your harddrive. Losing a harddrive and having to set up your system back like you want it will take some serious time. If you image/clone your harddrive, you have a copy of your entire harddrive (files and settings). If you lose your computer (thief, failure, etc), with an image, you can be back up and running within hours.
Backing up online is only specific to those files. It does not restore your computer back to where it was. I recommend a combination of both. I speak from experience, losing a harddrive can take days to get the settings back to where you like it.

 

[xrac]

I would also add this for those use are using a laptop or desktop to store data. Backing up files to these services is one thing. I would also suggest considering doing a disk imaging/cloning of your harddrive. Losing a harddrive and having to set up your system back like you want it will take some serious time. If you image/clone your harddrive, you have a copy of your entire harddrive (files and settings). If you lose your computer (thief, failure, etc), with an image, you can be back up and running within hours.
Backing up online is only specific to those files. It does not restore your computer back to where it was. I recommend a combination of both. I speak from experience, losing a harddrive can take days to get the settings back to where you like it.

Good advice!

 

[DataHold]

Excellent advice - it is well worth the time and effort required! It's kind of basic compared to 3rd party products for cloning your HD, but the built-in Microsoft image backup utility does work - the key is to backup your system just as soon as you have updated everything, tweaked the UI and other settings, and of course verified that everything is working to your satisfaction. So do it while it is fresh, if possible, but not vanilla 'out-of-the-box'.

Last month I had a client experience a failure having ignored advice to fully backup their front desk computer, and russelltw is absolutely right that it is very time-consuming to recover and configure following a true system failure like that.

Another significant side benefit to the full cloning / imaging of the hard drive that this client missed out on - they were no longer able to find any records of their Microsoft Office 2007 license key! Ouch. Had they made a full backup of their hard drive this would have been a non-issue.

Sort of OT - but ties in re: software licenses... you don't need to image your HD for this, but do make sure that you keep copies of all your software licenses! My two cents:

• keep all hard copies in the office in one file folder, easy to find
• make a simple 'cheat sheet' that has all the licenses in one electronic file, save it to the cloud service of your choice [SkyDrive, Evernote, Dropbox, etc.]
• alternatively to the second bullet, this might save a little time and/or you can simply start by doing this with each new in-store purchase - snap photos of the software licenses and save those to the cloud