By Ben Puzzuoli, Director Sales & Marketing at DataDepositBox
June 3, 2016

Data Deposit Box Cloud Backup Expert Tips: How Important is File Versioning?

Of all the many extra features that any high quality cloud backup service company generally provides, one of the most important ones (and often least discussed) is file versioning.

Simply put, file versioning takes the concept of cloud backup to a new level, allowing the user to in effect “go back in time”, and retrieve previously saved versions of their files in the event that the currently saved version is corrupted or saved incorrectly in any way. After all, what good does it do for you to have your data constantly backed up in the cloud if the files that are being backed up are damaged or inaccurate in any way?

Many applications require quite a lot of saving, and that means, of course, many more file versions that the cloud backup service must keep on their servers. Being that data storage space doesn’t “grow on trees”, most cloud backup companies have to set limits for how many versions of a file that they will be storing for their customers. This not only applies to how many versions of a fie can be saved on the online backup company’s servers, but also how long they will hold said number of file versions before deleting them to make room for more.

A common time period for most cloud backup providers to retain file versions is around 30 days, (but, some offer up to 90 days plus) after which, of course, these extra, unnecessary files will get deleted from their system. It is important to keep in mind that this limit only refers to the lifespan of versioned files, not original ones, which, of course, will NEVER be deleted from the cloud backup service provider’s hard drives. Also, if you want to retain a version of a file for longer than this time limit, all you have to do is download this version of the file and then rename it something else, easily rendering the file permanently backed up.

There are many options available to the user of online data backup when it comes to file versioning and retention. For instance, most cloud backup companies allow their clients the choice of having previous file versions saved automatically or manually. And, while the limit to the number of versions of a file that will be saved is something that is set by the online backup service provider in question, many of these companies allow their customers to decide the number of versions that will be automatically saved within that limit, giving them the opportunity to simplify the number of files that are stored on the vendor’s hard drives for whenever it comes time for them to browse the data in search of lost files or previous versions.

Indeed, amongst those that want to maintain the integrity (and sheer existence, for that matter) of their precious data, the importance of file versioning is quite well known. As mentioned before, most cloud backup companies provide some kind of file versioning, with the average minimum number of versions being 10.

We here at Data Deposit Box automatically keep 28 versions of your files on hand and available at all times, and, as also mentioned before, if you feel that you need to have more than 28 previous versions backed up, all you have to do is save the file as a different name on your computer after every 28 saves, allowing you total freedom of how many versions you wish to put away for later of your important files.

About the Author: Ben Puzzuoli is Director of Sales & Marketing at DataDepositBox, a Toronto based cloud data backup service provider, which is listed at both the Toronto and Frankfurt Stock Exchanges. DataDepositBox technologies and solutions are currently used daily by over 200,000 customers, 1,000 resellers, 25 MSPs and private label partners for cloud backup and recovery, archiving, disaster readiness, secure file sharing and remote access. Visit DDB website here: www.DataDepositBox.com

 

 

 

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