Cloud backup, also known as online backup or remote backup, is a strategy for sending a copy of a physical or virtual file or database to a secondary, off-site location for preservation in case of equipment failure or catastrophe. The secondary server and storage systems are usually hosted by a third-party service provider, who charges the backup customer a fee based on storage space or capacity used, data transmission bandwidth, number of users, number of servers or number of times data is accessed.
Implementing cloud data backup can help booster an organization’s data protection strategy without increasing the workload of information technology (IT) staff. The labor-saving benefit may be significant and enough of a consideration to offset some of the additional costs associated with cloud backup, such as data transmission charges.
Most cloud subscriptions run on a monthly or yearly basis. While initially used mainly by consumers and home offices, online backup services are now commonly used by small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) as well as larger enterprises to back up some forms of data. For larger companies, cloud data backup may serve as a supplementary form of backup.
In an organization’s data center, a backup application copies data and stores it on a different media or another storage system for easy access in the event of a recovery situation. While there are multiple options and approaches to off-site backup, cloud backup serves as the off-site facility for many organizations. In an enterprise, the company might own the off-site server if it hosts its own cloud service, but the chargeback method would be similar if the company uses a service provider to manage the cloud backup environment.