According to recent statistics, almost 2.5 quintillion bytes of data is being generated across the globe every day. As the wider adoption of technologies like IoT is just about to happen, the data backup landscape is about to witness a big wave of change. 

Physical devices like hard drives are no more an appropriate choice for handling the multitude of data generated by small business and enterprises. With the growing popularity of cloud storage, business has a choice to move their data to the cloud or local storages. Before the data backup option is finalized, one must outweigh the pros and cons of both.

The Cloud storage user count has increased from 1.136 million in 2014 to 1.926 million in 2018. Just like any other technology, Cloud storage has its own advantages and limitations.

Cloud storage became immensely popular because of the cost factor. Enterprises and small business were spending billions of dollars on building or scaling on-premise storage solutions. A cloud service provider maintains all the hardware and software for offering end users low-cost storage and backup solutions.

Opting for cloud storage is not at all a capital intensive task and requires the users to make payments as they go with Computer Support in Dublin.     

Cloud storages can be accessed over the internet. They do not require users to access a particular machine for managing the data. Every user account receives fixed cloud storage as per the terms of service and he can access the data in this storage from any internet connected device.  The data can be accessed 24*7 across any geographical location.

Enterprises moved to cloud storages primarily because of the speed of scalability they render. Without actually having to add hardware storage on-premise enterprises can switch to higher storage capacity by just altering their service plans. This process is almost instant for cloud storage.

Disasters are not unheard of and can cause severe losses of business continuity. Planning a disaster recovery plan is the most critical job that gives the data storage team sleepless nights. Cloud storages generally have a data backup every 15 minutes, so once an enterprise uses cloud storage, they do not need to get involved in routine data management activities.

Accessing the data or storing data on the cloud has a dependency on internet availability and speed. If your internet speed is not a limitation, you can use cloud storage to its maximum potential.

Enterprises generate a lot of business-sensitive data every day. While using the cloud storage over the internet it becomes even more important for the enterprises to select a service provider who ensures complete security of the data.    

Enterprises still rely on local storages because of certain advantages it offers over cloud storage

On-premise, the data is stored in hard disks and these devices are taken offline after every use. Such set up ensures the data is protected again the online hacks. But it becomes the in-house team’s responsibility to make sure no viruses and malware make way to the data servers.

The on-premise backup solutions are not dependent on internet speed. The speed of data back up or retrieval is never compromised in-case of on-premise solutions.

An on-premise data backup solution ensures you have complete control of your data. You can keep it protected against any kind of internet hacks.

The disadvantages of on-premise Storage are

On-premise storage is indeed a capital intensive task. Enterprises spend a lot of money on setting up the infrastructure, maintaining it and scaling it to keep it working for them.

Local storage scalability is a big challenge as it requires capital and space.

If you have local storage set up, you need to have a backup plan in case of a disaster. It becomes a challenging and capital intensive task to back up the data every time. If you have already set up on-premise storage, you can always go for a hybrid storage solution to find the right balance. As cloud storage is highly scalable, it supports your business growth.