One of the largest threats to e-business survival is data loss. As a result, various data backup solutions are becoming more and more critical to our everyday lives. Unfortunately, many traditional backup methods, such as USB drive, CD-ROM and Zip disks, are susceptible to the same threats and attacks as your computer.
About five years ago online data backup services began to emerge as an alternative method of backing up your data. The best advantage of online data storage is that it, by definition, is remote, so if a fire burns down your home you'll still have a backup to roll your data back.
The biggest problem with online data backups is that they can take too much time to accomplish. The obvious solutions to get around this are using high speed connection, compressing your data and doing only incremental rather than full backups.
The industry leader in providing online data storage is Xdrive. You can use it not only to backup and securely store your business and valuable personal data, but also to organize, display and share your favorite photos and videos, to build your online music library and turn your wireless device into a virtual MP3 player.
Your data will be physically stored in your own password-protected vault at their tightly-protected, professionally-run data center with redundant capabilities, air conditioning and biometric locks. Your files will be thoroughly protected not only while storing, but also while being sent to and from the storage. For maximum security, Xdrive offers Secure Socket Layer (SSL), using 128-bit encryption to send and receive files.
Redundant routers, switches, hardware and backup systems are employed to ensure high reliability of online data backups. As added protection, Xdrive is taking daily snapshots of your data and regularly backups the data to tape and ships it to another data center.
You can access Xdrive...
- Via the Web
A simple Web interface allows you to access Xdrive from any machine with an Internet connection. You can easily upload entire folders from your computer to your online data storage. - Via a local computer
If you need a quick and easy way to transfer a lot of files and folders between your local computer and Xdrive, download Xdrive Desktop software. It will map a drive in Windows, and you'll be able to access your Xdrive directly within Windows Explorer, just like your network drive at the office.
Xdrive Desktop also lets you schedule automatic online backups of any local files and folders to your remote data storage. - Via your wireless device
You can use your wireless device to navigate through your Xdrive file system and select files to e-mail or fax, or turn it into a virtual MP3 player and stream music directly from your online storage.
Xdrive doesn't currently support FTP access because it's a potentially insecure transfer protocol and many firewalls do not permit it.
Xdrive offers 5 GB of online data storage for free. 50 GB will cost you $9.95/month or $99.50/year.
Other online backup services
Mozy
This is a less comprehensive but more inexpensive online data backup service.
The software currently supports only Windows and cannot be used as a shared online photo, video and MP3 storage
(they limit the number of restores per month to prevent abuse and keep costs down).
Main features...
- Performs automatic data backups in the background.
- Encrypts all files before transfer.
- Performs block-level incremental backups (i.e. backs up only file blocks that have changed).
- Backs up open/locked files.
Pricing...
- 2GB - Free
- Unlimited - $4.95/month
Diino
Diino provides you an online service where you can safely store, access and share files of any type and size.
It's useful for users with large digital photos and music files that are difficult to access and share because of their size.
It's also suitable for users desiring a safe place to backup personal and confidential documents.
Pricing...
- 2GB - Free
- 5GB - $5.49/month or $54.90/year
- 100GB - $69.99/month or $699.90/year
Online data backups can be a valuable addition to your total data protection solution. But they shouldn't be seen as a replacement for manual backups performed regularly by you or your system administrator.
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