Imagine a large thunderstorm passes through your area. Not thinking about what can happen, you continue to work hard on your computer. Suddenly, flash of lightning is seen and then your computer shuts off. Thinking that you haven’t saved your work, your become frustrated and attempt to turn your computer back on. After hitting the power switch, the computer comes to life, but then produces an error indicating hard drive failure. The lightning had caused your hard drive to crash, losing all the data that you had saved.

In a situation like this, many people may not have a chance of recovering their data simply because they don’t back up their data. With the amount of data we store on our hard drives, it can be too great of a risk to not backup our data.

With the increase in Internet speeds a new backup method has begun to emerge – online backups.

While external hard drives, CD/DVDs, or flash drives are probably the most popular methods of backing up data, online backups are quickly become a chosen method as well.

I currently use an online backup solution to protect my data, and I have several reasons why:

Online backup is convenient. Most, if not all, online backup providers supply a small application that you install on your local computer. This application will monitor files and directories you specify, and if there are any changes, the files are automatically backed up online. This way you don’t have to remember to backup your files.
Backups are secure. Security is a huge issue when doing anything personal online, such as banking or e-mail, and sending personal files to a server is no exception. Many online backup providers will secure your files on your local system first, and then send them to their server using a secure SSL connection. Once on the server, your files remain encrypted.
Your files are offsite. While external hard drives are probably the most common media used for backing up, chances are the hard drives are placed next to same computer they are used to back up. If something were to happen to the building housing both the computer and hard drive, all the data will be lost. With online backups, your data is stored in a different location from your computer. If something were to happen to the building with your computer, your data will still remain safe and intact.
Inexpensive storage space. While many have a monthly fee, some online backup providers are starting to offer unlimited storage for a small fee of less than . If you only have a few gigabytes, some providers may also offer a free package with may provide enough storage space that meets your needs.
You can access your files from anywhere. If you lose your computer and data, and need to access an important file, simply go to a friend or family member’s house and you can access your files. As long as you can access the Internet, you can access your files.

There are many online backup providers available to you. Many offer several packages that provide different options. You should think about what you need with regards to online backups, and then look for a package that meets those needs.

I use online backups for the reasons stated above. While I haven’t lost any data, I can feel confident knowing that if something were to happen, I will be able to retrieve my data.