What Is Cloud Backup and How Does It Work?

The global adoption of cloud backup is on the rise, with 76% of organizations embracing multi-cloud environments. This trend highlights the growing reliance on cloud-based security services for robust data protection and storage solutions.

Cloud-based backups offer significant advantages in mitigating data loss risks while enhancing convenience and efficiency in managing complex IT infrastructures.

Read on to explore the intricacies of cloud backup and its seamless operation in this post. Let's dive in!

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Cloud Backup Overview

Cloud backup, also known as online or remote backup, involves storing duplicates of vital files and data in an offsite location. Instead of relying on local storage devices, such as your device or external drives, data is securely stored online. This enables swift data restoration in cases of data breaches, system failures, or natural disasters.

Reports suggest that over 60% of corporate data was stored on the cloud in 2022. This number has doubled since 2015, when only 30% of data was stored on the cloud. Also, among the different categories of data being stored on the cloud, employee and customer data are the most popular categories of data being stored on the cloud. 

Source: Exploding Topics

The primary aim of storing data in the cloud is to protect it from security breaches and minimize the associated risks.

When you store your data in the cloud, you can back it up and reduce your downtime. Cloud-based backups can be restored in a matter of minutes and can save your organization from data loss and the costs associated with downtime.  

How Is Cloud Backup Different from Cloud Storage?

While often used interchangeably, cloud backup and cloud storage serve distinct purposes.

Cloud backup involves storing remote copies of data on servers for restoration in case of data breaches or disasters, facilitating business continuity and disaster recovery.

On the other hand, cloud storage entails remote data storage with seamless accessibility and sharing capabilities from any location. It focuses on storing data remotely, allowing manual selection of files and folders for easy access across devices. This clarifies the difference between the two but also emphasizes their individual benefits and functionalities, ensuring a better understanding of their roles in data management.

How Does Cloud Backup Work?

All the files, applications, etc. are copied onto the cloud-based server in a structured manner. To make sure maximum data is protected, cloud backups happen frequently and autonomously.

Let's see how cloud backups work in a step-by-step process:

Step 1: Installing the Software and Selection of Data

The first would be obviously installing the cloud backup software in your IT environment. When the cloud backup software is successfully installed, all the files, applications, databases, etc, are selected for backup on the cloud. Administrators and users have the flexibility to choose specific files for backup.

Step 2: Compressing and Encrypting Files

Large files and huge datasets can increase transfer times. They can also impact the working efficiency of the cloud-based servers. To avoid such complications, files, and folders are first compressed to reduce their size. This does not affect the contents of the files. 

Later, encryption happens, wherein your data is converted into a secure code that can only be read with the right decryption key. This makes it difficult to intercept the data even if someone has accessed it. Data is encrypted while in transit (in-transit encryption) and also when it is stored on the cloud (at-rest encryption).

Step 3: Transmitting Data to Cloud

Once the data is compressed and encrypted, it is sent over the internet to remote cloud-based servers. When the data is transmitted over the internet, all the secure protocols, like FTPS and HTTPS, are utilized. This transfer usually happens automatically and can occur in the background while you continue to use your device.

Security and confidentiality of the data are maintained while transmission from devices to cloud-based servers.

Step 4: Storing on Cloud and Backing Up Regularly

The storage cloud provider keeps your files safely on their servers in data centers. These clusters usually reside in a distant geographical location, such that even if a server goes down or there is some hardware malfunction, the information is still readily available for use.

You can then set up automatic backup schedules. This means your files are backed up regularly (e.g., daily, weekly) without you needing to initiate each backup manually. In the case of full initial backups, further backups are only incremental.

Step 5: Restoring Data from Cloud

When you restore the data from the cloud, it is once again downloaded to your device from the cloud server.

Cloud backup services may keep multiple versions of your files over time (versioning). As a result, you can restore older versions of your files in the event of accidental changes or deletions.

How Does Cloud Backup Benefits Organizations?

The cloud backup industry report that was released in 2022 shows just how large the global market is forecast to be between 2017 and 2025.

Analysis of the cloud backup market shows that this is going to be among the fastest-growing markets that will exhibit an average yearly growth of 23.4% from 2018 through 2025. Reflecting on this, by 2025, the market size is now projected to be USD 6.82 billion.

Source: Statista

The global cloud backup industry is booming due to the benefits it offers to business organizations.

Let's understand the benefits of cloud backup for an organization in reducing the cost of a data breach, especially given the statistic that the global average cost of a data breach in 2023 was USD 4.45 million:

• Faster Recovery Time: Through cloud backup, organizations can restore their data more rapidly after any attack. It does this by reducing the downtime and the losses that usually come with it. Consequently, the financial effect of the breach will be less significant, including disruption costs and revenue loss.
• Reduced Data Loss: Cloud backup solutions alleviate the risk of permanent data loss by allowing organizations to recover copies of their data post-breach. It, therefore, totally overcomes costs connected with data reconstruction or data recovery processes. Moreover, encryption and access controls are additional security measures that are used to minimize the effect of a data breach.

Final Words

Cloud backup is a reliable and scalable answer to data loss. The use of cloud services for backup purposes enables companies to advance their resilience to data breaches and minimize the financial consequences of the breach.

Nevertheless, organizations must regularly test their backup and recovery processes to ensure their effectiveness and monitor backup logs for anomalies or issues.

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