The digital age has brought on a wave of new ways in which we can store our data, whether we are an individual or even a business. Out of all the new methods, cloud computing has really come out to be not only an easy but also a fairly inexpensive way for people to store their information. This is because cloud computing is very simple to use and we can use it for free for storing small amounts of data; so many individuals and small businesses have adopted this method data storage.
The advantages of cloud storage
As previously mentioned, cloud storage is easy to use, with cloud solutions like DropBox allowing for our online folders to be naturally integrated with our Windows and Mac OS folders, meaning it is literally a matter of drag-and-dropping a file into a folder and is it saved on our computer locally as well as a spare online copy.
The cost is also a positive side, as most cloud providers will offer a few GB’s of online storage for free, and then offer attractive packages for those who need to store more. But not only that, cloud storage means you don’t have to invest into a complex server system and it also means you will not need a network administrator to make it all work. In short, cloud storage is ideal for individuals and small businesses, but what about the larger companies?
RAID – the best business data storage
If you are a larger business then you will probably want to take care of your data in-house. The best way to centralise all of your computer systems is to have all the computers running a virtualized version of an operating system which is all controlled and stored from the one central server, and RAID is the ideal solution for that. A RAID system will basically use multiple hard drives in order to not only spread the data but also duplicate the data across the different drives. The idea is that if one of the drive where to fail, then the data can still be recuperated from the other drives.
Of course RAID arrays are complex so attempting RAID recovery without a qualified person could lead to the loss of all the data, so RAID systems really require for a business to have a qualified technician to operate. If not, there are many data recovery companies which can do the job, and you will definitely need someone who knows what they are doing.
Simple hard drive storage
Of course individuals might want a data storage solution that is not dependent of the internet, and the simplest solution is simply to back up the data regularly on a spare USB hard drive. This way individuals can have copies of their data on their computer, and a spare copy on another drive just in case the computer was to fail, get lost or stolen. This might seem like a fairly archaic and old method, but it still works! The only thing is that it relies on human action to ensure regular backups occur, so in other words you need to back up your data every day, more than once a day if you can.
Choose the best solution for you
Ultimately, you will have to pick the data storage solution which is right for you and fits within your budget and your available time. The best way to ensure our data is backed up still comes from our behaviour rather than the systems we use so whether you are using Cloud Storage, RAID virtualization or simple hard drive storage, you need to make sure that your staff and yourself are trained to use your system of choice.
