Any user of Microsoft Windows 7 needs a proper backup system to avoid data loss in any case. Since Microsoft offers OneDrive client for Windows, you may want to use it as a cloud backup tool and storage. But it is necessary to understand the difference between cloud backup and cloud sync.
In this article, we will explain this concept and show how to backup and restore Windows 7.
Why Not Just Use OneDrive Agent
We no longer support Microsoft OneDrive and OneDrive for Business in our backup solution. Click this link to find the list of supported solutions.
Microsoft’s cloud storage service, called OneDrive, is a powerful tool for data sharing and accessing information from anywhere. Since this service also has a desktop agent with data synchronization support, it is easy to come to the incorrect conclusion that automatic sync is the same thing as a backup. But this won’t help if, for example, your computer gets infected by ransomware – the sync agent will simply replace files on the cloud with those already infected.
Cloud sync just keeps the same set of files and folders on client devices and cloud storage. When altered files are uploaded, all clients download them automatically. Almost all public services like Google Drive, Dropbox, and Microsoft OneDrive are based on this kind of sync.
OneDrive is focused on collaboration and easy data access. Therefore, it has a lower data volume cap, limited request rate and doesn’t support advanced features like block-level management.
So, the primary difference between cloud backup/storage and cloud sync is in its purpose. Cloud backup saves a copy of data on remote storage to protect it from undesired events, at the same time cloud storage is designed for getting access to data from anywhere.
- Local, cloud and hybrid backup
- Image-based, system state and file-level backup
- Multiple recovery options
