BACKUP LOCATION

Cloud backup vs local backup

Local backup is fast and under your direct control. Cloud or other off-site backup protects against failures that take out the whole location. A resilient plan often uses both rather than choosing one forever.

Local backup advantages

Large restores are usually much faster over USB or a local network. You avoid internet upload limits and can keep the backup fully under your control.

Local backup weaknesses

A drive sitting beside the server can be lost in the same theft, fire, flood or electrical event. Permanently connected backup disks can also be reachable by malware or accidental deletion.

Cloud backup advantages

Off-site storage creates geographic separation without maintaining another physical location. Managed services can also automate monitoring and retention.

Cloud backup trade-offs

Large initial uploads and restores can be slow, ongoing storage has a recurring cost, and you need to understand encryption, provider access and data retention. Dropbox currently distinguishes its Backup product from ordinary cloud storage and supports restoring backed-up computers and external drives. See Dropbox Backup guidance.

A hybrid plan is often stronger

Keep a quick local recovery copy and a separate off-site copy for disaster recovery. That combines fast restores with protection against loss of the entire local setup.