Protecting data during different connectivity states

Aspects of the subject matter described herein relate to data protection. In aspects, during a backup cycle, backup copies may be created for files that are new or that have changed since the last backup. If external backup storage is not available, the backup copies may be stored in a cache located on the primary storage. If backup storage is available, the backup copies may be stored in the backup storage device and backup copies that were previously stored in the primary storage may be copied to the backup storage. The availability of the backup storage may be detected and used to seamlessly switch between backing up files locally and remotely as availability of the backup storage changes.