The question every office owner asks
"We already put everything on Google Drive" and "Our accountant takes a pen drive copy" are the two answers we hear most when we ask an office about backup. Both are better than nothing. Both also fail in ways people only discover on the day the PC does not start.
This guide compares the three common choices, a sync folder like Google Drive, a pen drive or external disk, and an online backup service, against the things that actually lose business data in India: a dead disk, a stolen laptop, ransomware, and plain human error.
What a backup has to survive
Before comparing, it helps to be clear about the job. A business backup has to give you your data back after:
- A failed disk or a dead PC. The most common case, and the easiest.
- Theft, fire or water. Whatever sat in the same room is gone too.
- Ransomware. Malware that locks every file it can reach and asks for money. It reaches every drive and folder the PC can see.
- A mistake noticed late. A wrong year-end, a deleted company, a bad import. If you notice it after two weeks, you need a copy from before it happened.
It also has to cope with how accounting and ERP software keeps data: in files and databases that are open all day while people work.
Google Drive and other sync folders
Google Drive, OneDrive and Dropbox are sync services. They keep one folder the same on your PC and in the cloud. That is excellent for sharing documents. It is not the same as a backup, because a sync copies changes in both directions:
- Delete a file on the PC, and it is deleted in the cloud too (it goes to the Drive bin for a while, then it is gone).
- When ransomware encrypts the folder, the encrypted files sync up and replace the good ones. Drive keeps earlier versions of each file for a limited time, but putting back thousands of files one version at a time is slow work, and only possible if you notice in time.
- Open files are a problem. A Tally data folder or a SQL Server database is being written to while it syncs. A copy taken mid-write may not open later. Accounting and ERP data should be copied when it is closed, or by software that knows how to take a consistent copy.
- Free space runs out. The free 15 GB is shared with Gmail and Photos. A few years of data and daily copies fill it quickly, and once it is full, syncing simply stops.
Good for: sharing and working on documents. Not enough for: accounts and ERP data on its own.
Pen drive or external hard disk
A pen drive or USB disk is cheap and under your control. Used well, an external disk is a real backup. In practice, three things go wrong:
- It depends on a person remembering. The copy is taken when someone has time. After a busy month, the newest copy is a month old.
- It stays plugged in. A disk left connected to the PC is just another drive to ransomware, and is locked along with everything else.
- It is the same building, or the same bag. A fire or a theft that takes the PC often takes the disk kept beside it.
Pen drives also fail without warning, are easy to lose, and are rarely encrypted, so a lost one can mean your whole customer list in someone else's hands.
Good for: a second copy, if it is unplugged after each copy and kept away from the office. Not enough for: the only backup.
Online backup
An online backup service copies your data to storage away from your office on a schedule, without anyone remembering to do it. The good ones also do the things a sync folder and a pen drive cannot:
- Keep many past copies, daily for some days, then weekly and monthly, so a mistake noticed late can still be undone.
- Keep copies that your PC cannot change or delete, so ransomware on the PC cannot reach them.
- Take consistent copies of open files and databases, for Tally, Busy, Marg and SQL Server based software.
- Tell you when a backup did not run, instead of failing silently.
- Encrypt your data before it leaves the PC.
Check these points before you choose one; not every "cloud backup" does all of them. Also ask where the data is stored, and what you pay to download it back when you need it.
A side-by-side summary
| Sync folder (Drive) | Pen drive / USB disk | Online backup | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runs by itself | Yes | No | Yes |
| Survives a dead disk | Yes | Yes, if recent | Yes |
| Survives theft or fire | Yes | Only if kept elsewhere | Yes |
| Survives ransomware | Partly, with effort | Only if unplugged | Yes, if copies are locked |
| Undoes a mistake from weeks ago | Limited | Only if you kept old copies | Yes |
| Safe with open Tally / SQL data | No | Only if copied when closed | Yes, if built for it |
| Tells you when it stops | No | No | Should |
A simple rule to follow
The rule IT people use is 3-2-1: three copies of your data, on two kinds of storage, with one copy away from the office. For a small business that can be as simple as:
- The live data on the PC or server.
- An automatic online backup that keeps past copies, locks them, and emails you every day.
- An external disk copied once a month and kept at home, as a last resort.
And whatever you choose, test a restore now and then. A backup you have never opened is a hope, not a backup. See how to check your backup will really restore.
How JS1 Vault fits
JS1 Vault is an online backup built for Indian offices that run Tally, Busy, Marg or SQL Server based ERP and billing software:
- It backs up your data folders and databases every evening. Installed on the PC that holds the data, it copies files that are open too.
- It encrypts everything on your PC before upload and keeps it in India.
- Copies are locked: your PC, and anything running on it, cannot change or delete them.
- Every database copy is kept for 14 days, then one a week and one a month, and for folders earlier versions of changed files are kept, so late mistakes can be undone.
- An email every evening says all is safe, or says what went wrong.
More reading: back up Tally data automatically, automate SQL Server Express backups and what to do when ransomware hits your office PC.
See how JS1 Vault works and start a free trial.
← Back to all posts