That networking equipment also connects these data centers to the outside world, where customers can interact with the service providers inside the data centers. These computers (typically called servers, or in Backblaze’s case, Storage Pods) typically live in large buildings known as data centers, where they are fed a constant supply of power, are kept in environmentally controlled rooms, and are connected to each other with incredibly fast networking equipment. Put simply, the cloud is a set of computers that someone else is managing on the customer’s behalf. The cloud is still a term that causes a lot of confusion, both about what it is and how services utilize it. Since we’re in the business of protecting people from data loss, we wanted to offer a little more information about the differences and similarities of Sync and Backup, so that you can make the best, most informed decision about how to adequately protect your data using either or both service types! What is the Cloud? Sync and Backup And odds are, if you are using the free-tier of a syncing service, you have a lot of data that’s not syncing. One common quip that often comes up in conversation is “I don’t need a backup, I’m using Dropbox.” Our usual reply is, “Oh, what tier are you paying for?” The response is almost always “No, I just use the free tier.” Which means, while they may not need to back up the data they keep inside their syncing service, the rest of the data on their computer is completely at-risk. We’ve been keeping track of trends and use-cases over the last few years and these misunderstandings about how to leverage the “cloud” for personal use appear to be on the rise. But there’s still confusion about what these services do, and that leaves some users in a vulnerable state.

Sync or backup, which to use? As it happens, using both sync (Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, etc…) and backup (Backblaze Computer Backup) services for your Macs and PCs is now a computing best practice.

Having the right tool for the right job is something any contractor will tell you is imperative, and the same guiding principles apply to computer usage. But from our perspective, the “versus” should really be a “plus,” as the two are complimentary.

Google drive pc not syncing