There is nothing more frustrating than losing all your files, images or music when your computer crashes. It doesn’t matter whether you use your computer to store important work or school files or just photos of your family and friends, it can be extremely traumatic to lose it all, especially as you think they will be safe on your computer.

However, things happen. Power failure, hard drives being wiped and viruses are all things that can happen in everyday life and can cause you to lose all your precious files. In the past, many of us have tried to prevent this by using CDs, memory sticks and external hard drives to backup all our important files, but nowadays there is a more effective way of doing this and it’s called online backup.

An online backup is a great alternative to traditional forms of backup. While traditional methods work pretty well, they also require capital to set up and in some cases you need staff to operate them. The best thing about an online backup is that is avoids all these problems.

When you join up with an online backup provider they will supply you with a software agent to install on your computer which will backup all your files. You can select which files you want to be backed-up and which don’t need to be. The software will encrypt and compress all the data before transferring is across the internet to secure, remote location. You can now view and restore all the backed-up documents whenever you need to.

Online backup services have many advantages, the main one being the ability to recover documents following a disaster by using offsite storage. The system is also incredibly easy to use. You don’t need to fork out for new equipment and you won’t incur any ongoing media or staff costs. The cost of running the service is limited to a monthly fee scheme and there are no hidden costs. You don’t need to have extensive technical knowledge to setup and install the software, in fact all you need to do is download the software and take a few minutes to set up and you’re ready to go!

The recovery of the data is also really quick and easy. You don’t need to search through your collection of floppy disks to find the right one nor do you have to wait for staff to find the data for you. The process of backing up your files is an automated service which means there is no doubt that it is done and then can be accessed by anyone with permission. You can then share the files with colleagues, clients or home PCs no matter where you are in the world!

This is just a few of the benefits of using online backup over traditional methods, so why not give it a go yourself today! You could save yourself time, money and frustration in the long run so don’t leave yourself open to loss and switch to online backup.

Author's Bio: 

Jason Kay recommends reading Carbonite reviews along with reviews of the other top companies offering online backup services to find the best one for your needs.