On-line backup systems have developed to the point where they are an affordable, easy-to-use, secure solution for backing up your computer systems. They offer the benefit of backing up your data continuously and storing it in a remote location so that your data is protected even in the event of a major catastrophe at your place of business. If your office burns down, your computers are stolen or an earthquake swallows up your home office, your data will be safely sitting on a server in another city far away from harm. Here's how our two selected solutions work.
The Process
Subscribe to a service
First, you need to subscribe to the selected service. Both Data Deposit Box and Carbonite give you the essential functionality, so check out our brief summary on the Backup Solutions page to select the service that's best for you.
Install software
Once you've subscribed, you need to install a small piece of software on your computer. After the software is installed, you're pretty much done. By default, each of the clients backs up some common user directories on your computer such as "My Documents".
Let the software do its work
Now that you've subscribed and installed the software, the software runs in the background all the time that your computer is up and running. It keeps an eye on the directories that you've said you want backed up and when it sees a new file or that an existing file has been updated, it copies the file up to the storage server across the Internet.
Restore files if necessary
If you something happens to a file on your system, simply go to a special Web site. Enter your user ID and password then select the file you want to restore.
A little fine tuning
If you store files in folders other than the default "My Documents", you probably want to fine-tune the settings so that you get everything important backed up.
To fine-tune the backup settings, you have to go into the software application on your system and select the directories on your computer that you want the backup software to back up. The software displays a folder tree that is the same as your hard drive. From there, you put check boxes beside the folders that you want backed up.
If you're trying to keep your cost down, you may want to be selective about which directories get backed up. If you have videos, music files or a lot of high resolution pictures, these files can take up a lot of space, so you may want to exclude them from the backups. Some backup software allows you to specify which types of files you want the backup software to ignore. So even if it's configured to back up a particular directory, it will exclude the specific file types you've told the software to ignore. This will help you save money in the long run by keeping the number of stored megabytes down.
FAQ
What about security?
For security purposes, the files are encrypted before they are transmitted and they are stored in an encrypted format on the servers so your data is kept secure.
Can I go back to a previous version of a file?
Most backup solutions allow you to do this. They actually store multiple versions of each file that they back up so it's possible to restore a previous version of a file. This is great if a file has gotten corrupted or if you accidentally deleted a huge amount of text and then saved the file before realizing the mistake you'd made. In some cases, the number of versions of a file that can be saved is configurable.
Won't my backup cost grow over time?
Most backup solutions only charge for the space that the largest version of a file is taking. So, even if the archive contains 3 copies of a file that is 1GB in size, you are only billed for 1GB of storage even though you are technically using up 3 GB of disk space.
Of course, the more files you create, the more storage space your backup will require and once you start backing stuff up, it's easy to get carried away and start backing up everything.
Should I back up my whole system?
While this seems like a good idea, I'm not really sure how it would handle the whole system and you'd be running into a fair expense to store the whole operating system and all of your programs. A full system backup and restore is likely outside the scope of the expected use for these backup solutions but if you try it out and it works, be sure to let us know how it goes.
We defined the following criteria for our backup solutions and tried to find the product that met the most criteria.
- Back up open and locked files
- Perform continuous backups
- Data must keep data secure during transmission and storage
- Windows XP/Vista/7/8, Windows 2000, Macintosh client
- Maintain multiple versions of backed up files
- Restoring files must be easy.
- Requires minimal or no user interaction to start or manage backup process
- Back up multiple computers to the same account
- Back up external disks like external USB drives
- Back up mapped network drives
- Data is stored in Canada
- Easy to set up
- Offer a free trial
- Cost is reasonable
About Backing Up
Having backups is like having insurance. No one wants to do it or pay for it but you're very glad you have it when you need it. Bectin recommends using an on-line backup solution and has researched the available options and selected a solution to offer to our clients.
Risk without Backups
Everyone knows they should do it frequently but most of us only back up our computers every now and then. However, the consequences to your business could be severe if you lost all the important data on your computer. For those that are diligent in performing their back-ups, they are probably done once a week. While that is commendable, it means that you could still lose a whole week's work. It also means you may have lost significant information that you may not be able to easily recreate such as e-mails, quotes from suppliers, proposals, or contracts.
Don't be caught without a good backup strategy!
Remote and Continuous Storage
Imagine if your computers were stolen or your business offices were damaged by fire. Having a backup that is stored off-site is as important as having a backup at all. The services offered by Bectin make backing up your systems easy and worry free. They monitor your files for changes and update the backups when you make changes to your files which minimizes the amount of data you could loose in the event of a system failure. Your data is securely transmitted and stored off site and can be easily retrieved when you need it from any computer.
Recommended Backup Solutions
Recommended Backup Solutions
We researched a number of backup solutions and selected the one that best met our requirements. We decided that subscription services now offered an affordable alternative to physical back up solutions like tape drives, DVD burners, or external USB drives and they offer the advantage of being off site so they are protected from fire, theft and other physical harm. There are lots of on-line solutions out there but we found that these three products came the closest to the ideal solution for us. For a description of how these services work see How On-line Backup Systems Work
Kinetic D (formerly Data Deposit Box)KinteicD is a terrific solution and the product that we use at Bectin. It meets nearly all of our criteria and most uniquely, their data storage is in Canada. The only drawbacks to their service are: (1) they don't back up network drives (none of the solutions we tested do) and (2) they don't offer unlimited backups. However, their price is reasonable at US$2/GB/month. Most small businesses can easily back up all their data in 2 GB which would result in a US$48 per year cost and you can back up all your computers to one account. So, unless you have very large data backup requirements, click to get started backing up with KintecD. |
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Carbonite and ProCarbonite offers unlimited back-up space and a really nice interface for a flat fee of $54.95 per year. Like Mozy, it stores all of your data in the US and if you want to use it for business, you need to purchase the Pro version which charges you a $0.50 per GB premium on top of a standard monthly fee. We use KineticD for our business but you may want to consider Carbonite for personal file back-up. And if you have huge amounts of data to store (photographers and videographers take note), then Carbonite is the winner. Carbonite does not offer a Windows 2000 client so if you're still running a dinosaur server, you best choose KineticD or Mozy. |
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Mozy Pro and HomeMozy also offers an excellent solution that meets most of our evaluation criteria. The biggest strike against it is that it stores all of your data in the US. For small amounts of data, Mozy Pro is more expensive than Data Deposit Box but if you have larger amounts of data (more than 2 GB), it's cheaper. If, however, you're looking for an economical solution for backing up your personal files (the license agreements disallows using Mozy Home for business purposes), Mozy Home offers 2 GB of storage for free or 50GB storage for US$5.95 per month (which is about US$71 per year. So, if you need to back up your personal digital photos and video clips, click to Get Mozy Today!. |
As a custom developer of Web sites, Bectin can develop a Web site to meet your specific requirements. However, we also offer standard packages which suit many of our clients and provide affordable options for getting on-line.
Economy (Option 1) The on-line Business Card $100If you just want to make sure people can find you on-line and access your e-mail and phone number, this is the package for you. No frills. Low cost. Get it done. The Economy (Option 1) package includes:
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Economy (Option 2) $400Similar to Option 1 but you can convey the essential message about the products or services you offer and the benefits those products or services provide. The Economy (Option 2) package includes:
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Advanced Package $1200This package is designed for businesses that want to be able to easily update their sites and add new content quickly without having to rely on technical people to do the work. By employing a content management system, the small business owner (or whoever they delegate) can add new pages, remove old ones, and update existing content with an an easy-to-use editor that resembles a simple word processor. The Advanced package includes:
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Custom Development $1500+When your requirements fall outside the scope of our pre-defined packages, a custom solution can address your needs.
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