internet backup

Before developing a backup solution, it is important to think about a few major points. Not all backup solutions will work for you, so thinking about the 5 points listed below can help you determine which solution is just right for you. Let’s look at the 5 points:

• The amount of storage space.

This point is very important because it can determine how and where you store your data. If you have hundreds of GB (gigabytes) of data, then CDss, or even DVD’s may not work for you. While DVD’s can hold from 4.7GB and up, it may take many DVD’s to backup all your data. For most people, an external hard drive is a good choice at it can store hundereds of gigabytes, or even terabytes, of data. With USB flash drives becoming much larger, you may want to look into those to replace any DVD’s you have used in the past. A third solution would be to backup to an online storage provider on a regular basis, provided you have enough storage space online.

• Where will your data be stored?

It is important to not store all your data in one location. A good backup plan should also include storing your data offsite – away from the original location of the data. This ensures that if something happens to one location, data in the other location will still be available. DVD’s and USB flash drives are perfect for this since you can easily transport them to another location. Online backup is also a good solution as the data is automatically stored offsite when it is backed up.

• Do you need to protect your data?

If you plan to backup sensitive personal or business data it is important to ensure your data is protected with some form of security. Many filesystems and software can encrypt your files, which you can then copy. Online backup providers will automatically encrypt your data before it is sent to their servers. Not only is the data encrypted before it is sent, but the data is sent over an encrypted SSL connection and remains encrypted on provider’s servers.

• How easily can you restore the data?

A good backup solution is only as good as its ability to restore the data. Always test the restore functionality of your backup solution before committing yourself. For example, when using an online provider, make sure you have tested the restore feature before locking into a plan with that provider. You should also verify the data on any DVD you burn your data onto to make sure the data is not corrupted.

• What is the longevity of the storage devices?

By simply doing a search online you can see the issues of the longevity of certain DVD’s. This has been a debate brewing for many years, and it is important to keep in mind that all devices will eventually wear out. You will need to think about constantly updating the media you use to protect your data, and upgrade with the times. Will you backup DVD’s still work in ten years time?

Regardless of the backup solution you choose, there is one additional point to make: it must work for you. If you find it difficult to backup your data, then the solution you chose isn’t right for you. Look at what you are doing, and how it can be made better.

About the Author

Paul Salmon currently maintains Technically Easy, a blog that provides information on using various technologies. He also manages another blog that provides information on data backup.

While hard drives are built to last several years, they are also very delicate, high-precision instruments that can easily break. Whether it is a sudden power spike/interruption, shaking, or wear-and-tear, the hard drive is vulnerable to the elements.

With all the data you probably store on your hard drive, you probably don’t want to lose it if your hard drive were to fail. One solution to prevent a loss of data is to use an online storage solution to use for data backup.

While many may be hesitant to have they data copied to an online server, here are some points you may want to consider before dismissing the idea of an online backup solution:

• Online backup is automatic.

Online storage providers will usually provide an application that you install on your computer. This application will load when your computer starts and then runs in the background. It will monitor any changes/additions to specific folders and files you specify, and if there are changes, the application will automatically copy the files to an online server. This means you don’t have to remember to back up your data.

• Your data is encrypted.

This is an important point that many people want to know. Most, if not all, online backup providers encrypt your data on the local hard drive before copying it to their servers. When your data is transferred, it is copied over a secure SSL connection. Once on the server, your data remains encrypted so only you are able to read it.

• Cost effective – very inexpensive.

The price of storing your data online is only a few bucks a month. I currently backup my data online, and it costs me less than $5 a month for unlimited storage space. I currently have backed up over 150 GB without any problems. The amount of money I pay a month is peanuts considering what would happen if I didn’t backup, and then lost all that data. The other option is I could burn about 40-50 DVD’s (80-100 for two copies), but that would be a lot to manage.

• Easy to access.

You can access your data at anytime, from anywhere there is an Internet connection. Since your data is online, you only need access to the Internet to restore your data.

• Offsite protection.

Many experts who manage data backups realize the importance of storing your data offsite, meaning at a different location that the original data. With online backups, your data is automatically at a different location, probably far away, so you don’t have to worry about storing your data at another location.

The above reasons provide several points of why you may want to look into using an online storage solution provider. Many providers even offer a few gigabytes of storage space for free, which is a great way to try out the service before you buy.

If you are interested in using online storage, I suggest you test out several providers to find one that is right for you. Visit www.onlinebackuphelp.com for more information.

About the Author

Paul Salmon currently maintains Technically Easy, a blog that provides information on using various technologies. He also manages another blog that provides information on data backup.

This article outlines the final criteria of a methodology to determine the online backup services provider for offsite backup.

We have listed the final criteria in the order of importance.

• Around-The-Clock Phone Support

Remember that data recovery is not an activity that is done frequently.

Yet, when the need arises and especially when an entire server is down, the recovery has to be done correctly and quickly to minimize downtime.

This is best done by having the online backup services provider guiding you over the phone (or at the minimum using live chat) while the data restoration is being carried out.

Having a single number to call makes it easier for you to remember instead of calling separate numbers depending on the day or time.

• Enhanced Restore Feature

The downtime can be reduced further if you can find an offsite backup services provider that provides enhanced recovery capabilities for restoration to be completed quicker.

• Optimised Backup Feature

Scheduled backups happen regularly and if not optimised can drain your resources in terms of time and storage requirements.

You will therefore want to check whether there are additional capabilities that can reduce the amount of offsite data storage and backup time.

• Service Provider Redundancy

Do make sure that your vendor has incorporated redundancy in its data center premises. Redundancy should include servers, power, internet connection / bandwidth etc.

In addition to redundancy at the premise, you will find a few leading services providers even have mirrored data centers. And each of these mirrored data centers has its own set of redundant facilities. To be most secured, these mirrored data centers should be as far apart as possible.

• Easy To Use Online Resources

This serves as a very useful source of reference to help you get things done quicker without the need of calling the vendor’s support center. Also, with easy-to-use online resources, you may even learn to carry out data restorations by yourself, expediting matters when you need most!

By evaluating the short-listed vendors against this final set of criteria, you will be able to determine the online backup services provider that can meet your business offsite backup needs.

About the Author

Mr. William B. Doyle, retired US Navy, has more articles, ebooks, software, resources. 126 free instantly downloadable pdf ebooks in 17 niches

To start with, capabilities and online data backup services can vary widely. It may seem like all online backup services are pretty much the same, but sites distinguish themselves according to their intended audience. For example, some companies have been primarily geared toward the home user since its inception, providing a hassle free experience.

On the flip side of the spectrum there are companies  which markets pretty much exclusively to businesses, although its home office and small business  options may also be appropriate for some individuals.

The majority internet backup services have client software (download and install) that allows users to access the service as if it were on their desktop, but the ease of use of each interface varies widely. Most people don’t want to spend a lot of time configuring their backups, so unintuitive interfaces with too much fluff and hard to figure out are usually flagged by reviewers. Selected internet data backup services offer a certain amount of free storage space or a no cost trial period, which is a great way to try out their client interfaces to make sure you’re comfortable with them.

Largely internet backup services have the same basic feature set. They allow you to either manually select an individual file to backup or schedule a full backup. Most do incremental backups, storing changes to a file already backed up on the system within a short time after the change is made (ranging from seconds to hours also called reversioning). Most services feature a fully automated backup procedure that kicks in when the system detects idle time or low processing activity on your computer, although services with further advanced features let you play around with these settings.

Online file sharing is a very convenient alternative to e-mailing large attachments, but that’s a feature that only some online backup services providers offer. Online file sharing is convenient for businesses which need to share documents among remote users as well as for individuals who’d like to give a friend or relative access to photo or multimedia files.

Most internet storage services use at least 128-bit SSL encryption while documents are being transferred and another form of encryption to protect files hosted on servers. Increasingly popular is the option to pick out a private encryption key. This causes encryption to take place on your machine rather than on the service’s servers, thus providing a higher level of security during transfers (very nice for the security conscious. However, if you lose or forget that encryption key, the backup service can’t help you and you’l lose access to your stored files (yikes).

To further shield your files, most services keep backup copies of your files off-site in physically secure locations. Most services offer some form of file versioning, so if you delete a file by mistake or it becomes corrupted, you can retrieve a previous version to work off of. If this is an crucial feature for you, pay attention to the versioning limitations (usually by time period or number of versions saved).

Most experts agree that all computer owners should use some kind of backup solution to protect against data loss or corruption. Internet backup services can be a good alternative or complement to backups on CDs, DVDs or additional hard drives, all of which are subject to physical damage and may involve a time-consuming backup process. These online services allow users to store their most important or bloated files (such as music and videos) on a secure remote server. Some even allow file sharing with friends, family members or coworkers. Reviews warn that data backup online is not a replacement for traditional backup strategies, but it can be good secondary protection against unforeseen issues such as fire, theft or sudden hardware failures.

What to Look For

Data backup online services assist in protecting against hard drive failures and file corruption on your computer, and they can be less labor-intensive then the hardware solutions like burning CD’s. These online services allow users to store their most important or bloated files (such as music and videos) on a secure remote server. Reviews warn that internet data backup is not a replacement for backups like using an external hard drive, but online services can be good secondary protection, although we find data backup online services to be a reliable and inexpensive solution.

Here’s what experts say to consider when looking for an internet data backup online service:

• Lets start with interent line. If you have a slow internet line you probably don’t want to consider and online data backup service. Although backing up small files would still be decent video and audio backup over a slow internet line would be painful.
• You may not want to store highly sensitive information on a website. Many reviewers note that data kept on a remote server, as is the case with an data backup online service, is more vulnerable to unauthorized access than data that’s kept only on your own computer. For example, employees of the data backup online service could be able to access your files.
• Check the system requirements. Most online internet backup services come with an application (called a client) that manages backups and file transfers, but not all clients are compatible with non-Windows operating systems.
• Look for online data backup with automated scheduling. The best online data-storage services can relieve you of time spent on backup. Whether you schedule backups to take place hourly or daily, you should have a choice of full control or a hands-off automated task.
• Consider your Internet connection. Initial backups of large files can take hours or even days, even on a broadband connection, so it’s best to perform large file backups at night. Keep in mind that subsequent backups are done incrementally, which usually isn’t an issue when it comes to computer resources.
• Use other forms of backup. Online data storage saves time and space, but you should never put all your data eggs in one basket. Most services do not warrant that they can restore your data. Hardware, software and business problems are all risks. Consider alternatives such as CDs, DVDs, external hard drives and USB flash drives for primary storage. Options for internet backup services

Although features and benefits vary from one company to another, most internet backup providers have the following features not available with traditional backups:

1. Cost No capital outlay (payment on a monthly or yearly basis)
2. No huge set up fees nor license fees
3. No tape storage costs
4. Low operating costs

Ease of use

1. Setup and installation is generally simpler and completed within minutes of downloading the software.
2. Backups can run in the background and in parallel with users normal activities.
3. Current and historical data can be restored easily and immediately.
4. Easy and centralized management of all backups

Reliability

1. Scalable
2. Mirrored Data
3. Protected against data loss due to sabotage, fire, theft, flood, virus or other disasters
4. There is no worry over lost, damaged, or worn out tapes
5. Better accuracy for budgeting and forecasting
6. Increased compliance assurance

Convenience

1. File sharing capabilities, if needed
2. Remote web access to data anytime
3. 24 x 7 x 365 data availability
4. Extensive reporting for audits and verification