Keep Your Data Safe with Online Backup Services

With the advent of high-speed Internet access, backing up your data to a remote location over the Internet is becoming more feasible. This article provides an overview of what's involved, pros, cons, and what to consider when choosing a provider.

Hopefully, most organizations are by now convinced of the need to back up important data held on computer systems. If not, take a look at [Lasa's] knowledgebase article Could your IT cope if your office burned down?

How Does It Work?

Online backup services use software that automates the uploading of selected files to a remote computer, and the ability to restore files, using your Internet connection.

There are various services around offering storage capacities of just a few megabytes to several terabytes (a terabyte is 1000 gigabytes!).

For an ongoing monthly fee -- dependant on the amount of data you wish to back up, other services (like backing up system files), and the number of computers you wish to have access to the service -- you get a fixed amount of storage, and software to manage the backup process.

As a rough guide, prices range from around £5 [$9] per month for up to 500 MB of data to around £30 [$52] per month for up to 10 GB of data. The more storage you need, the higher your monthly charge will be. Many providers offer a free trial period so you can try before you buy.

The online backup service provider supplies you with software that you install on the PC or server that you wish to back up. The software allows you to select the files to back up, and to set up a backup schedule. You can also usually do manual backups. Either way, the software manages your connection to the Internet. Your data is then normally encrypted to secure it from prying eyes, compressed to speed up transfer and reduce the amount of storage space required, and uploaded to the server at the service provider's data center.

The first time you do an online backup it will take a long time. Depending on the amount of data, initial backup could take several hours (or even days!) because the complete data needs to be encrypted, compressed, and copied onto the remote server. Subsequent backups are incremental (only data that has been added or changed is backed up) and should be much quicker.

Of course, there's no point in having a backup if you can't restore your data when you need to. As well as managing data backup, the supplied software must also allow you to restore data quickly and easily. As with other backup solutions, you should always check periodically to make sure your data actually can be safely restored.

But Is It Safe?

As well as your data being encrypted as it is sent over the Internet during backup or restore, your online backup service provider's data centers should generally have security including:

• Firewalls (for more information on firewalls see [Lasa's] article Firewalls)
• Backup generators to keep servers going in the event of a power outage
• Various other technologies to ensure your data on the provider's servers is backed up, and that you always have access to it (assuming you have an Internet connection)
• A secure building

You should also get an account number and password so that only those you authorize can access your data.

Why Would We Want It?

There are various ways of backing up your data, for more information see [Lasa's] article Backing Up Your Data.

Some of the more traditional methods such as tape and disk can be a bit cumbersome (and not necessarily 100 percent reliable -- but then again, what is?). They also require investment in hardware and software, such as Tape Drives, Optical drives (for example, CD and DVD rewrite drives), and the backup media to go in them (tapes, CDs, DVDs etc.), as well as staff who know how to use them. Another consideration is that organizations often do not store a copy of their backup media off-site (despite constant advice to do so) -- not much good if your office is affected by fire, flood, or other disaster.

Some services allow you to back up multiple PCs and laptops. This can be useful when an organization has staff that work from home or other locations away from the office. These remote users can be given access permissions so they are able to back up their data remotely without each having to have a backup device attached to their machine.

Online backup services can be used as an alternative or in addition to traditional methods (belt and braces!) -- for example, if you have some data that you simply cannot afford to lose, you might want to use several backup methods including online backup.

Pros and Cons

Online backup won't be feasible for every organization -- you need to weigh up the costs and benefits of this and other, more traditional, solutions. As with most things there are pros and cons...

Pros include:

• Your data is stored securely off-site.
• Set-up and installation can be relatively quick and simple.
• Can work out cheaper than traditional tape-based backup solutions (after taking into consideration capital costs of equipment, media, and staff costs).
• Backup and data recovery can be simpler and quicker than more traditional methods.
• Some services allow you to back up and restore multiple versions of files -- this can be useful if you need to go back to an earlier version of a document for any reason.
• Web access for remote users.

Cons include:

• Ongoing monthly charges, which can be prohibitively expensive if you need to back up large amounts of data.
• Relies on a working Internet connection. No Internet, no backup!
• Speed and amount of data backup is limited by the speed of your Internet connection. Online backup over dial-up connection will be slow and is generally only suitable for small amounts of data -- up to around 500 MB. Over a broadband (ADSL -- Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) connection, up to 10 GB of data transfer is feasible, but may still be slow. For larger amounts than this, you're likely to need a leased line or fast SDSL connection (Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line -- upload and download speeds are the same, as opposed to the more common ADSL, where upload speeds are much slower than download speeds).
• Reliance on external provider to keep your data secure. If you choose online backup as your sole backup method, you'll be entrusting all your valuable data to someone else, who potentially could go bust or otherwise place your data at risk. This can be mitigated to some extent. Many companies will for additional cost provide you with CDs or DVDs containing your backed-up data for archiving and that extra peace of mind. However, it pays to chose your service provider wisely...

Choosing a Provider

Factors to consider when choosing a provider might include:

• Cost
• Reputation -- get recommendations from someone who has used them wherever possible
• Availability and extent of support
• Will the solution work with your particular setup?
• Can you choose which files to back up?
• Does the service allow automated and unattended backup?
• Is the backup of open files and running databases possible? (important if you need it, not possible with all services)
• Security -- encryption of data during transfer and while stored on remote server -- and password-protected access facilities at data centers
• Is central management of backup and restore from one or more locations possible?
• Will you get notification of any problems with the backup or restore?

Online backup services are a type of application service provider (ASP). The information in the [Lasa] article Application Service Providers is also relevant.

There are many online backup services available. Examples (as opposed to recommendations) include:

• IBackup
• BackUpMyStuff
• Connected DataProtector
• FlashBackup
• Backupdirect
• Ampheon