Learning About Tech: Cloud Backups vs. Local Backups

If your data disappeared tomorrow, how long would it take to recover?

Let’s look at the difference between cloud and local backups and why using both might just save your business one day.

Why backups matter

Every business runs on data: client records, invoices, files, and emails that keep things moving day to day. But what happens if that data suddenly disappears?

It’s more common than you’d think. A hard drive fails. A staff member clicks a phishing link. A ransomware attack locks you out of your systems. Even something simple, like an accidental deletion, can cause serious disruption.

A backup is your safeguard against all that. It’s a copy of your data stored somewhere safe, ready to bring things back to normal. It’s one of those behind-the-scenes protections you don’t think about until the moment you really need it.

There are two main ways to back up your business data: local backups and cloud backups. Each has its strengths and weaknesses, and understanding how they work will help you decide what’s right for your business.

Local backups: Fast, reliable, and right where you are

A local backup is exactly what it sounds like. Your data stored on physical devices you keep on-site. These might include:

• External hard drives or USB devices
• Dedicated backup servers
• Network-attached storage (NAS) units that hold copies of your systems

The biggest benefit of local backups is speed. Because everything is saved within your network, recovering files is quick and doesn’t rely on an internet connection. If you ever need to restore a large amount of data, having it stored locally means you can get back up and running faster.

Local backups also give you complete control. You can see the device, manage it directly, and know exactly where your data is stored. Many business owners appreciate that sense of physical security knowing their backup sits safely in their office.

However, there are some important downsides to consider:

• Physical risks: If your building experiences fire, flood, or theft, your backups could be lost along with your computers.
• Maintenance: Someone needs to regularly check that backups are running correctly, swap out full drives, and test that the data can actually be restored.
• Limited space: Physical devices eventually fill up, and expanding capacity usually means buying more equipment.

Local backups are fast and straightforward, but they’re not invincible. If your office or server room is compromised, you could lose both your main data and your backups in one hit.

Cloud backups: Safe, automatic, and off-site

While local backups keep your data nearby, cloud backups move your safety net off-site. Instead of storing data on a device in your office, your files are encrypted and securely transferred to remote data centres managed by a cloud provider.

This approach offers several major benefits. First, it provides off-site protection. If something happens to your office like a flood, fire, or cyberattack, your data is still safe in the cloud, ready to be restored from anywhere.

Second, cloud backups are automated. Once they’re set up, they run quietly in the background, capturing updates and changes as they happen. There’s no need to remember to connect a drive or run manual copies; everything happens on schedule without disrupting your team’s work.

Third, cloud storage is scalable and flexible. As your business grows, you don’t have to buy new equipment or worry about running out of space. You can simply expand your storage capacity or adjust your plan. This makes it ideal for businesses with remote teams or multiple offices – your data is stored in one secure location, accessible wherever you are.

Of course, cloud backups aren’t perfect. They depend on a stable internet connection. If your connection is slow or temporarily down, restoring large amounts of data can take time. There’s also an ongoing cost involved, since most cloud backup services operate on a subscription model. And finally, data privacy is crucial as you need to trust that your provider uses strong encryption and security measures to protect your information.

Still, for most businesses, the reliability and automation of cloud backups far outweigh those drawbacks. They remove much of the manual effort and provide peace of mind that even if your office network fails, your data is safe and recoverable.

Why a hybrid approach works best

If there’s one lesson IT professionals repeat constantly, it’s this: never rely on a single backup.

A hybrid backup strategy combines both local and cloud backups to give you the best of both worlds. Here’s how it usually works:

• Your systems create daily or hourly backups to a local drive or server for quick recovery.
• Those same backups are automatically uploaded to the cloud, creating a second copy that’s safe from local disasters.

This layered approach means that if your local backup fails, you can still restore everything from the cloud. And if you only need to recover a small file quickly, your local copy is there for fast access.

In short:

• Local backups keep your recovery times short.
• Cloud backups protect you against the unexpected.
• Together, they make your business truly resilient.

It’s a bit like having both a spare tyre and roadside assistance, one gets you moving right away, the other saves you when things get serious.

How Insight IT helps businesses stay protected

At Insight IT, we help businesses of all sizes design and maintain reliable, automated backup systems that fit their operations and budget.

We don’t take a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, we work with you to understand your most critical systems, your tolerance for downtime, and the risks you want to avoid. From there, we build a backup and recovery plan that’s practical, affordable, and fully managed so you don’t have to think about it.

Our solutions include:

• Local and on-premise backups for fast recovery
• Cloud backups for Microsoft 365, servers, and endpoints
• Ongoing monitoring and testing to make sure backups actually work when needed

Don’t wait until something goes wrong to find out your backups aren’t working. Because when your data is secure, your business is too. And if something ever goes wrong, you’ll have the confidence that Insight IT has you covered. No panic, no downtime, no lost data. Contact us today to get started.