Offsite Backup

Offsite backup, also known as remote backup, is the process of backing up important computer data and files to a server or other storage device located in a separate physical location. Typically, offsite backup or remote backup software is installed on the resource which houses the original data store. Files are selected, a schedule is set, and the offsite backup begins, typically with an initial “full” backup to the offsite server.

Once the full backup has run, offsite backup software usually enables the user to switch to incremental backups afterwards. Incremental offsite backup sessions contain only the changed files, or changes within those files, instead of entire new versions of the changed files.

Other benefits of incremental offsite backup include a fairly dramatic reduction in bandwidth usage as compared to full backups. Less bandwidth is used because less data is being sent from the client to the offsite backup server in each session. Since most offsite backups occur during off hours, or at night when computers are not being used, bandwidth and system resources are not at a premium.

Hard disk space on the offsite backup server is also conserved, as only the changes are transferred to the offsite server with each session.

Remote Backup Systems ( http://remote-backup.com ) is a great resource for information about offsite backup and remote backup software. RBS created the world’s first commercial offsite backup software in 1987, and has been developing and marketing remote online backup software since then.

More information can be found at http://remote-backup.com