Anyone care to recommend backup software? I've been using Backup Plus from Avantrix for a few years and I just notice the company doesn't exist anymore! So I thought maybe I should upgrade to newer software. What's everyone using? And importantly have you successfully restored after a failure Ta Mike
Humyo.com - Your data is stored in an ex-bullion storage vault. Live drive If your with Virgin Media for your bb you qualify for VM Stuff All remote backup solutions and when you need to restore, just a case of installing their little applet again HTH
I use Backup for Workgroups for all the web servers and office machines. Fautless piece of kit and can do bare metal restores.
Hi Mike, I work for a company called Backup Direct who offer Online Backup Solutions with dedicated 24/7 support. We might be able to help you out, might not. Please feel free to check us out! Thanks, Jennifer
Thanks for the feedback so far guys. Keep it coming. I have to admit I was originally looking at a simple backup solution to my external harddrive however some of the online options look interesting. I might go for both as I realise I have two needs. 1) Business data - Online has certain benefits in case the office burnt down however I'd need to be sure about the security of the data where I am storing it. 2) Personal Pictures - This is huge and the thought of sending that over the wire fills me with dread. Cheers Mike
Hi Mike, Remote backup is secure. No doubt about it. In the case of Humyo, their servers are situated in ex-bullion vaults so your data is physically secure. Servers are directly inaccessibly as they are stored in racks with row after row of servers and are only accessible through a "dumb terminal" Data transfer is encrypted with SSL - if the company doesn't mention this then don't go with them... simple. Once backed up, these offsite severs then replicate the data amongst themselves and also with other servers in the world - obviously again over SSL connection The backup market is in a serious mess, and there is no "must have" solution, one of the downsides to remote backup is that your ISP may not appreciate the amount of traffic that you will be uploading (rather than downloading) from your connection and may impose a traffic management policy on your connection, furthermore your upload speed is not as fast as your download speed (eg a 2Mb bb connection typically has a 2Mb (2048Kb) downstream (download speed) with a 0.1 (128Kb) upstream (upload speed)
Thanks for the extra info. Upload speeds will be an issue for me, hence why I think for personal photo's I am looking at a direct to external drive solution. Let's face I don;t have backups for my paper photos (yes for the under 40's we really did have our photos printed on paper )
In that case, for ultimate storage I would suggest an external hard drive setup in RAID1 mode. RAID 1 mode mirrors your data across 2 drives providing a redundancy system, meaning, in the event a hard drive fails the unit will continue to operate off of the working drive but will alert you that a HDD has failed. When you receive this alert, you purchase a HDD of the same size and replace it with the defunc hdd and the RAID will rebuild itself - data is copied from the working hard drive to the new hard drive and data redundancy is restored. Although the devices are pricey, how much are your pictures and treasured moments actually worth if lost? Such example of the aforementioned product can be found here => http://www.ebuyer.com/product/149259
Hi Mike, Just as a heads up, be careful not to choose both business and personal data backup based on the same criteria. You may find that due to the larger file sizes of personal pictures etc that opting for a US provider may be your best bet. However, be wary of privacy laws: the U.S. isn’t as regulated as the EU in terms of data protection and confidentiality. This includes the Patriot Act where government officials can search through your files without permission, if they deem it necessary for cases of national security. (I'm not sure whether you are US or UK based however, I am perhaps wrongly assuming UK?) With regards to business data backup, a more automated and supported solution may take higher priority in your list of requirements. 24/7 support incase of data loss or issues with the solution giving you as little downtime as possible as well as versioning, reporting and restoring are all things you may wish to take into account. More of a backup solution as opposed to storage solution. There is an article on our site titled "online backup solutions for business" (under company>news, articles and reviews) which gives some unbiased guidelines with regards to what you should look for and be wary of. Good luck with the search! Hope you find something that suits. Jen
I've been using the free version of Macrium Reflect - to back up to an external HDD - for some time now. You can create a complete backup image if you want (really handy if you're entire system crashes!) or just specific files and folders. Restoration is a doddle also...I was very grateful for the complete mirror image a while ago. No mess...no fuss...and no hunting for those elusive drivers... I give it: :thumbup1: :thumbup1: :thumbup1: :thumbup1: :thumbup1: out of :thumbup1: :thumbup1: :thumbup1: :thumbup1: :thumbup1: HTH :001_smile: (P.S. Once I start trading I'll have to find another solution though; the free version is only for 'Personal and Non-Commercial Use'.)
Out of all the recommended backup solutions above, could anyone recommend an online backup service which would cover several PCs/laptops, and allow access remotely? Price is a priority. Humyo, recommended by HuggyBear looks good, but can one have a group of PCs (without a server) using one account? We've used DataDepositBox, based in Canada, but the restore feature is a bit clunky. For backup to an external drive we've used Acronis, but serious problems when it came to restoring a complete system, and tech support had language problems. We tried Mozy, but it tied up our test machine for days (literally). There are a lot of backup solutions, but it's the restore features we're keen on.
I use Carbonite which is an annual payment and backs up daily to a remote secure server and you don't have to remember to do it, it just does it automatically for you every day and backs up an unlimited amount of data. The cost is $55 (£40) and you can have a free 15 day trial before purchasing it. I did a test restore to another PC and it worked just fine, and i'm about to renew for my third year. Click here for my referral link for info.
Thanks for the info. I'd looked at Carbonite, but does it allow backup of more than one PC to a single account? And can one access files from any remote PC? In other words, if I need to access a file from an internet caff? And when you say restore - I guess that's just individual files rather than a complete restore?
It is one subscription per machine and you can buy multiple subscriptions per account, and you get (or you used to) a small discount for additonal purchases. A restore means you can restore anything from one file to the whole lot. The point of the back up service being that, if your computer crashed or got stolen, etc - meaning you couldnt access the files on it - you simply login to carbonite and download/restore all your files and settings to another computer of your choice. It's not a remote access service such as LogmeIn, which is for accessing and viewing files on your computer from another computer without downloading them. I dont know if such a service exists which is both of the above combined.
Just started the trial today. I'll let you know how I get on. I've been using the BT vault over the past few weeks as I realised I had access to it as part of my internet service. However there are a few things about it I'm not completely happy with so I'll see if Carbonite is better. Ta Mike
TBH it just runs in the background so I never think about it. I see the orange and green dots whihc lets me know when its a new file backed up or awaitng backup, but otherwise it just gets on with it. I have no time for faff!