Dave Porter asked:


Almost everyone owns a computer these days, but did you know very few business or personal computer users backup their data? With one crash, natural disaster, or software failure you could wipe out all of your personal photos, videos, music and financial data. If you’re a small business owner this could be even more catastrophic.

Over the new few paragraphs I want to illustrate just how easy it is for your to create a backup of your important data online, and even how you can create that online backup for free.

Let’s Get Started

The first step is getting a free backup account from Mozy. Their service offers 2GB free storage as a trial offer to new customers to test out their services. This is an excellent way to:

A.) Start getting some of your files backed up off site in a secure storage environment.

b.) Try your hand at using an online backup service.

Once you visit the Mozy backup home page you’ll see that you can sign up for the free 2GB of storage and it won’t cost you a penny. There is some basic info they’ll want you to provide, but they won’t charge you a cent. After you’re done signing up they’ll prompt you to download their free backup software. This is the program that groups your files together and transfers them to the Mozy servers for backup.

Selecting your Files and Folders to Backup

Of any step in this process choosing your files is probably the most cumbersome. You have to choose which files and folders you want included in your backup set. You want to ensure you take your time at this point because there’s nothing worse then realizing something wasn’t backed up if you do have a crash.

Usually if you choose to backup a single folder then all the other sub folders and files will be included. Be sure to double check that and not just assume that all the files within a single folder have been selected.

I’d suggest you create a backup of your MS outlook or other email client software for the address book and any archived mail you have.

It’s possible that you may end up with more then 2 GB of data for your initial backup. If this is the case you have a couple of options. For a bout five bucks a month you can upgrade your account with Mozy and get access to more space, or you can reduce the files you’re backing up for now to test out the system.

Uploading your Backed up Files

Once you’ve chosen the files to backup the last step is to begin your initial upload of the files to the secure online backup server. This process will take a while but you don’t need to sit there and watch it happen. It’s rather like watching paint dry so allowing it to upload on it’s own is best.

After you’ve selected the files you want backed up the final step is to upload all the data online. This isn’t as time consuming for you as it might seem. The Mozy backup software, and backup servers all work together and you don’t need to sit there and upload one file at a time. Instead the software will handle the whole process on its own. All you need to do is push a button.

Once the backup has started you’ll probably want to leave your computer for a while. It can take several hours to transfer 2 GB of information. The good news is this only has to happen once and then the process is done.



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Thom Davidson asked:


Seven (7) advantages of online backup services include:

1. Automatic. Once one establishes their schedule, it is fully automated. There are no tapes to manage, staff to schedule, or vendors to coordinate for pickup and delivery of tapes. Therefore, you save time, money and virtually eliminate errors.

2. Secure. Data is stored on disk and not tape. Tape has a history of failure and it typically occurs at the most inopportune moment. In addition, most tapes are not encrypted. One can only imagine the potential ramifications to your business if customer records were accessed by someone using one of your unencrypted tapes. The story is not much better if you are unable to recover critical data at vital point in time. Online backup services can offer end-to-end encryption AES algorithms that are used both in transit as well as storage. This further ensures the security of your sensitive data. With the online backup service your sensitive data is also automatically stored offsite in a secured data center.

3. Accessible and Managed from Anywhere. “A centralized system that allows you to manage your entire systems backup and recovery requirements regardless of where they or you are located is a huge advantage to companies. This is particularly true for companies with multiple locations.” Says Jim Kandrac of VAULT400. Popular platforms and applications being managed in this way by leading providers include DB2 – System I, AS/400, iSeries, AIX, HP UX, SUN, Exchange, SQL, Windows, VMware, Linux, etc. Netware and Mac.

4. Efficient Use of Internet: Some of the better online backup services back up only the data blocks in new or changed files, resulting in significantly faster backup times and minimal. Data is also compressed before transmission. In addition they might offer bandwidth throttling. This allows one to define how much of their Internet bandwidth they want to allow to be used for this process during various time windows of the day. For example, you might limit the process to a maximum of 10% of your bandwidth during normal office hours and open it up to 80% for the balance of the day.

5. No Capital Investment: If you are like most organizations, getting approval for a large capital expenditure is a daunting task. With the Software as a Service (SaaS) approach one is basically paying a monthly fee for the service. In addition the startup can be almost immediate. Typically, a small software agent is loaded on the systems you wish to backup to a data vault and then the scheduling/backup process can begin the same day.

6. Compliance Regulations: The recent increase in government and industry specific regulations (SAS 70, Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, HIPAA, SOX and SEC|NASD) surrounding the privacy, accessibility, and retention of information are creating new challenges for backup and recovery processes. Vendors like VAULT400 are intimately familiar with these challenges. They give organizations confidence that their critical information is securely stored for as long as necessary, yet quickly accessible when needed. This immediately addresses inquiries by auditors and security/privacy concerns.

Summary: As you can see, there are some very compelling reasons for an online backup service. Remember, the goal of any online backup and recovery plan is to maintain the integrity of your systems and your business with little or no interruption in the process. When a disaster does occur, we want business to remain uninterrupted at best, or at worst get back on line in a short amount of time. With an online backup service you can quickly transfer your data to any targeted system from anywhere in the world and stay in business.



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