Is online storage secure? Should I go with online storage / backup for my business?

The continued push to move traditional server storage online is still in a frenzy.  Frenzy meaning it’s a popular movement, butthe steps to get there are trepiditious.  Are my files safe?  What if my Internet goes down?  Is it secure?

On the wake of another online giant going down, we had many Dropbox users scramble to find a way to access their files last night.  Dropbox, one of the popular small business network online storage companies, went down for several hours on Friday evening, January 10, 2014.  It may not sound like a big deal, but tell that to a few of our customers who needed to meet client deadlines and internal projects.  Their files were inaccessible since they access them online.

Please keep in mind that New York Computer Help does not promote nor receive commissions from any online cloud companies.  Why?  I feel that would slant our opinions and blog with regards to our advice and support tips.  That being said, I am able to provide true, unbiased comments and advice.

Dropbox claims it wasn’t hacked, but was going through maintenance that caused its service to go down.  We have heard similar stories from Amazon’s cloud and other cloud services going down in the past.  I can’t say it’s not unexpected.  Hey, QuickBooks online goes down just about every other week for maintenance.  The point here is that online cloud storage and backups are great, but they are not 100% up.  Yes, we see external hard drive clicking and failures more than seeing cloud storage issues.  Quite frankly, file loss from the cloud is done more so from user error rather than online cloud issues.  But, the take-home point here is that you cannot fully trust the cloud.

How can you best secure your data?  Have two backups.  Either have two external hard drives, server files and backup tapes, an external drive and online backup, you get the idea.  Just one backup is living on the edge while two backups or having your files in two places is playing it safe.  Are you living on the edge?  You may feel free to contact our backup team at New York Computer Help to set up the right IT backup strategy for you.