Tuesday, 31 May 2011

Online Backup

Online Backup

CONTENTS

· What is Online Backup?

· What is needed to be able to backup online?

· Why use online backup?

· What is the difference between online backup and online storage?

· How to setup and run an online backup strategy

· How secure is online backup?

· How much can I backup online?

· Things to consider when choosing an online backup service

· Who uses online backup?

· Choosing an online backup service

What is Online Backup?
Online backup is a method by which backup data is stored off-site via an Internet connection.

What is needed to be able to backup online?
A computer with an Internet connection, Backing up large files, would require a fast internet connection such as broadband (ADSL, Cable, DSL, etc). A subscription to an online backup service.

Why use online backup?
Safe: Having your data off-site, means it is protected from local problems such as theft, fire, and other disasters, etc.
Cost-effective: You don't need to buy or maintain any expensive hardware for backup. Also, no staff or personal time is required for creating backups.
Easy: Online Backup solutions are very easy to maintain, the backup process is fully automated, just set and forget.
Reliability: Since Online Backup services are fully automated. This solves one of the biggest problems with traditional backup, which is a person tending not to do it regularly. Also there is no need to worry about damaged or lost storage mediums, such as CD's, Tapes, etc.
A good backup strategy will include both an on-site, and an off-site backup.

What is the difference between online backup and online storage?
Online storage services do not usually offer automatic backup of your files. They are simply a place to store files online.
Online backup services come with software that helps keep your online backup up to date automatically.

How to setup and run an online backup strategy
1) Subscribe to an online backup service from an online backup provider.
2) Download and install the backup software which the online backup provider will supply.
3) Run the software, and mark the files, and folders you want to backup. Also adjust any setting according to your needs, such as how often to backup. Also set passwords for encryption.

Once installed and running, the backup software will begin compressing, encrypting, and transferring backup copies of your data to the storage location of your online backup provider.
Typically backup software is set to only process and transfer data when the computer is inactive.
The first backup of all your files may take a long time if you have a large number of files. But after the initial backup, the transfer process will be faster because only new and modified data will be transferred. The backup software will continue to monitor which files have been changed, or created.

In the case you have suffered data loss, and wish to restore data from an online backup, you simply download the files from your online backup service. You can download the backup files to any computer with an internet connection.

How secure is online backup?
Data stored in an online backup, is actually much more secure than the data stored on your computer. Since online backup data is usually stored in encrypted form, but data on most computers is not encrypted, meaning it can be accessed by anybody that hacks into the computer. Hacking a computer is easier than hacking encryption.

All the leading online backup providers take security very seriously. The software they provide will encrypt and compress backup data before it is leaves your computer. The encrypted data is only accessible with a password. Modern encryption methods are very secure, and are they are relied upon daily by banks, militaries, and other high security dependent organizations. Most online banking services use 128bit encryption for transferring data. Most online backup software will encrypt your data at 128bits or greater before it even leaves your computer.

How much can I backup online?
With the right resources, there are no real limits to how much data you can backup online. Even large corporations can enjoy the benefits of online backup. Online backup is quickly becoming an industry standard for all sized businesses.

One limiting factor is your connection speed to the online backup service, but with modern data processing technologies, it is not even necessary to transfer an entire file if it has changed, but the backup software can extract only the changed portions of the file and transfer those.

Things to consider when choosing an online backup service:
Not all online backup services are equal. You should consider what features you require.

Reliability: You need to be able to trust the company to take good care of your data.

Good software: The software you are supplied by the backup provider should be easy to use, and have the features you want, it should at least include things like, encryption, compression, and transfer scheduling. You should not need to be a computer expert to install and run the software. For example, the software should be smart enough to know where email database files are stored on the computer. Online backup software should also have the ability to backup open files, as most services do. Some backup software will create a log of what has been backed up, this is handy for monitoring backups.

Backup whole files or only parts of the file that have changed: Good online backup software will have the ability to backup only changes made to a file. For example, you have a very large file, and you make only a small modification to that file. If the original has already been backed up online, then the software should have the ability to extract only the information that has changed to the original file, and backup only that part. So instead of sending the whole file online, it will send only the modified parts.

Automatic: The supplied software should have the option to be fully automated, so no human interaction is needed in the backup process.

Deletion: If you accidentally delete a file on your computer, your online backup service should not delete the backup file.

Number of computers per account: You should check if there is a limit to how many computers can use your online backup account simultaneously. Do you require more than one license for multiple computers?

Data Centers: Is the online backup of your data stored in a single data center, or at more than one?

Are special features included or do they cost extra: Some backup services charge extra for special features, which other services may include in the basic package. Such features may include server backup.

Passwords: Does the online backup provider have a master password to your data? Can they access your data if they want to? Or are you the only one who can access the data?

Scalability: Your online service should give you room to grow as your data grows.

Continuity: Some backup software allows for backups to be made continuously, other backup software only creates backups at scheduled times.

Archiving/Versioning: A good backup service will keep multiple versions of your backup data.
If you accidentally deleted some important information 10 days ago, and you didn't notice it until today, you would need an older version of the backup than the one from the day before. This would require your backup provider to keep multiple versions of your data. Some companies archive backups for 30 days, some companies keep archive backups until you choose to delete them.

Transferring: How does the service deal with transfer interruptions? For example, if a large file is being transferred, and the connection gets interrupted, will the transfer have to begin again or will it continue from the point of disconnection.

Emergency restoration services: If you suffer large data loss, and downloading the backup would take a very long time, does the online backup service offer to send the backups to you on DVD/CD or external hard disk to help speed up the restore process? Do they offer 24/7 support?

Access to the data: How easy is it to access the data online? Can it be accessed on any computer anywhere in the world through a web interface?

Compliance to applicable Law: Some business types are required by law to create backups, and keep them for a certain amount of time. So make sure the online service complies with any laws governing your business type.

Who uses online backup?
The benefits of online backup can be enjoyed by any individual or company that has valuable data they want to protect from disaster. Some businesses would cease to function if they were to lose their data, such as accountants, lawyers, publishers, schools, universities, etc. Basically any business that uses computers to store information requires a backup strategy, and online backup is really the smartest and easiest option.

Choosing an online backup service:
There are hundreds of companies offering online backup services. It is wise to choose a company that has been operating for at least a few years, and has received good reviews.

Backup Software

Backup Software

CONTENTS

· What is backup software?

· Why is backup software necessary?

· Types of backup software:

· Specific types of backup software home and small office

· Features and other things to consider when choosing backup software:

· Cost of backup software

· Tips for using backup software

· How Secure is a backup created with backup software?

· Who uses backup software?

· Choosing the right backup software

What is backup software?
Backup software is any kind of program that automates or helps the process of creating secondary copies of data, so that the data won’t be lost even if the original data source is lost or corrupted.

Why is backup software necessary?
All computers and hard disks will eventually fail. Most people are aware of this fact, and almost everybody knows they should backup their important files. But the truth is most people do not create backups, and those that do only create them irregularly! Why is it so? One of the main reasons is because creating backups manually is tedious, and time consuming. Good backup software solves that problem, because it automates the backup process. Also, backup software products offer features that would be impossible to achieve manually, for example creating complete copy of the hard disk.

Types of backup software:
There are different types of backup software for different types of requirements. The basic types include:

Home and small business PC backup software: Such software has the ability to backup important files that you have on your computer, some software can do a full backup of your entire hard disk, some software offers both these features.

Software specific backup utilities: Such tools can backup the files, settings, or other data for a specific application. Such as email backup software, this kind of utilities have been specifically made for creating backups of email messages, addresses, and other data.

CD/DVD backup software: This kind of software is specifically for making duplicates of your DVD's and CD's, so you have a copy of them in case the originals are damaged or are lost.

Server backup software: Software specifically designed for creating backups of data on a server.

Enterprise backup software: Such software has the ability to create large scale backups, for example backup thousands of computers on a network.

Specific types of backup software home and small office:
There are many kinds of backup software suitable for home and office use, some software are a combination of different types.

File backup utilities: Allow you to backup individual files and folders, but do not have the ability to backup a whole hard disk.

Full backup utilities: Also known as "hard disk imaging software" or "hard disk cloning software". Such software can create an exact copy of your entire hard disk including all system and program files, this copy are called an "image". A hard disk "image" is usually one large file, or a set of such files. If your hard disk gets corrupted, the image can be used to fully restore the hard disk. The data within an image is compressed, so you can usually only browse its contents with the same software it was created with.

Remote backup software: Software which allows you to backup your data to a remote location via a network or Internet connection. Such as an FTP server, or another computer on the Internet, or another computer in the same local network. This software can also be called offsite backup software.

Online backup software: Software provided by an online backup service, which creates encrypted and compressed backups and transfers them to the online storage facility provided by the online service.

Features and other things to consider when choosing backup software:
Ease of use: Creating backups and restoring them should be a simple process, not requiring professional computer expertise.

Accessibility of backups: Some backup software allows you to browse through the backed up files and folders easily, even if it has been compressed into a large file.

Ability to backup open files: If you are creating a backup and some files to be backed up are open, then the software should have the ability to copy the data regardless. Most modern Windows backups software has this feature, some older or simpler backup utilities may lack this.

Logging/reporting: Does the software keep a log of what has been backed up? Some software will give a report after each backup.

Documentation: The software should come with adequate user guides.

Continuous data protection: This feature monitors data for changes, and keeps continuous backups of all data. And copies of old versions are archived. Continuous backup is handy if you are constantly editing files. For example, if you created a text document and you accidentally made some bad changes to it, and had already saved and closed it with the bad changes. If you had continuous backup, to replace it, you would simply get an archived version of the file. The disadvantage of this features is it may use up a lot of storage space, and will also use some of the computers processing resources.

Semi-continuous Backup: This software feature monitors for changes in data, but only backs them up according to a schedule, or when it is given permission to do so.

Mirroring: Creates a mirror of your files and folders at another location such as an external hard disk. The files and folders are not compressed, or merged into an archive file. So you have the files and folders in two locations. Some mirroring software will sync files between the two folders automatically. A possible disadvantage is, if you delete, or make a bad modification to a file, then the mirror version will have the same problem.

Inclusion of disaster recovery functions: Some backup software comes with disaster recovery features. Disaster recovery features include the ability to undelete files, or restore the system back to a functioning state.

Where can it backup: Can the software create backups on different types of storage media, such as DVD, USB drive, external hard disks, local networks, FTP server, online service, blue-ray disks, etc.

Reliability: You need to be able to trust the software to perform without glitches and errors. If you are serious about backup this rules out most free software, since they are not always up to date with modern technologies, and have more chance for errors, since the makers have less resources for testing for bugs.

Backup whole files or only parts of the file that have changed: Good backup software will have the ability to backup only changes made to a file. For example, if you have a very large file, and you make only a small modification to that file. If the original has already been backed up, then the software should have the ability to extract only the information that has changed to the original file, and backup only that part.

Automatic: Backup software should have the option to be fully automated, so no human interaction is needed in the backup process.

Archiving/Versioning: A good backup service will keep multiple versions of your backup data. If you accidentally deleted some important information 10 days ago, and you didn't notice it until today, you would need an older version of the backup than the one from the day before. This would require your backup provider to keep multiple versions of your data. Some companies archive backups for 30 days, some companies keep archive backups until you choose to delete them.

Cost of backup software
Backup software can be considered an investment, it will save you time, and therefore it will save you money. Also, the cost of backup software is very small compared to the cost of losing valuable data. If a hard disk crashes, and you don't have backup, the cost of recovering data from a crashed hard disk by professional data recovery companies is very high and not guaranteed to be possible. Really, if you have valuable data, you cannot afford to not have backup.

Tips for using backup software:
-Always test backups, it is no good having a backup if it doesn't work.
-You may want to test your hard disk for errors before creating a backup.
-Keep the original files on your computer in good order, so you’re important files are easy to find, and navigate. This makes the process of backing up easy, and restoring lost data off a backup easier.
-Before buying backup software test the software if they have a free trial period.
-Many problems are caused when installing or uninstalling software, so it is a good time to do a backup before doing so.
-Check periodically for upgrades to your backup software.
-A good backup strategy will include both an on-site, and an off-site backup.
-Create and printout a backup recovery manual, that you or somebody else can go through in the case of a data emergency.

How Secure is a backup created with backup software?
Backup files may not be as secure as the files on your computer. For example many users restrict access to their computer with password protection. So files on the computer cannot be easily accessed without the password. However a backup of important files on external hard disks, or DVD's/CD's might not be password protected.

Fortunately, some backup software allows you encrypt or passwords protect your backups. The encrypted data is only accessible with a password. Modern encryption methods are very secure, and they are relied upon daily by banks, militaries, and other high security dependent organizations.
The most easy and secure option for storing backups is online backup

Who uses backup software?
The benefits of backup software can be enjoyed by any individual or company that has valuable data they want to protect. Some businesses are required by laws to create backups, and keep them for a certain amount of time. For some businesses creating backups is a vital part of their existence, because if they lost their data they wouldn't be able to function, such as accountants, lawyers, publishers, schools, universities, etc. Basically any business that uses computers to store information requires a backup strategy.

Choosing the right backup software:
There are hundreds of different backup software products.

Backup

· What is a Backup?

· The Need for Backup

· When to Backup?

· How Often to Backup?

· How to Backup?

· What to Backup?

· Difference between: Full, Differential, and Incremental Backup

· Built-in Backup Features in Microsoft Windows

· Where to Store a Backup?

· Always Test the Backup

1. What is a Backup?

A backup is a copy of any kind of data, created as a replacement for situations when the original is lost or corrupted due to things like: hard disk failure, accidental deletion, theft, flood, virus infection, etc.

2. The Need for Backup

If your data is of any value to you, you should back it up. If it were of value to you. A common reason people don't backup, is they think disaster won't happen to them, the truth is every single computer and hard drive will eventually die or become corrupted. It is only a matter of time.

3. When to Backup?

The time to backup is now, not tomorrow, many of us compute daily with priceless data stored on our computer, without any backup plan if our computer crashes. You cannot backup your data once it has been lost! You should protect your data from disasters and mishaps now, before it is too late. An especially good time to backup your data is when you are about to delete, install, or uninstall something that may affect your computer system.

4. How Often to Backup?

You should backup up important files as often as possible. In the past, creating a backup was a time consuming and tedious task. Thankfully, today there are many good backup software solutions, and strategies. Backup software offers the capability to completely automate the backup process, so your data can be backed up automatically every hour, or every day, etc. This is ideal, so you don't need to rely on your human memory to backup regularly.

If you are creating new data daily, then creating a daily backup really is a good idea. It is easier to recover from losing one day's work, than a week's work, or a month's work, or a year's work.

Backing up the whole hard disk with imaging software, is something that takes longer, and if you are already creating backups of your important files regularly, creating a complete image copy of the hard disk can be done less regularly.

5. How to Backup?

Manual backup	You choose the files, and folders you want to backup, and manually copy them to somewhere else, such as on to a CD/DVD, or onto an external drive. One form of manual backup is to email important files to you, so they are stored on the email server of your web-based email service. You can create a backup of some important data by printing it out, for example: Your email addresses can be printed. Manual backup methods are very slow, tedious, and annoying. These are some of the reasons why most people don't end up creating backups regularly, and suffer the consequences.
Semi-automated backup	Semi-automated backups are made using software that automatically creates the necessary backups when you run it, but you need to remember to run it, this leaves room for human error.
Fully-Automated	Fully-automated backups are created regularly and automatically by the backup software, which sends the backup to your desired backup location, whether it is online, or another computer, or an external hard drive. Generally fully automatic backups are set to run at night, or when the computer is idle.

The ideal backup strategy is easy, and automatic. If it isn't then you will not be likely to keep doing it. So manually backing up may be ok for emergencies, but if you are serious about backup then you need some form of automated strategy, that you can set and forget.

6. What to Backup?

When it comes to backing up a computer, there are basically two options:

1) Backup only the important files: The most important data to backup is everything that would be difficult or impossible to replace such as photos, emails, written documents, etc. While creating a backup strategy, it is good to make a checklist of everything you would want to backup. This list may include things like: financial records, software and music you have bought online, personal documents, email address books, browser bookmarks.

2) Complete Hard disk Backup: On every computer, there is data that can be replaced, but doing so would take considerable time and effort. Such as your operating system, including all your installed software, and settings. You could always reinstall everything from disks, but that would take a lot of time. With certain backup software (hard disk imaging software) you can backup your entire hard disk, so that if it becomes corrupted, you can simply install the backup image of the hard disk, and everything (including all your installed programs, and settings) will be restored to the way things were when the backup was made, before the disaster struck.

7. Difference between: Full, Differential, and Incremental Backup

Type	Definition	Benefits	Drawbacks
Full Backup:	A complete backup of everything you want to backup.	Restoration is fast, since you only need one set of backup data.	The backing up process is slow. High storage requirements.
Differential Backup:	The backup software looks at which files have changed since you last did a full backup. Then creates copies of all the files that are different from the ones in the full backup. If you do a differential backup more than once, it will copy all the files, or parts of files that have changed since the last full backup, even if you already have identical copies of those files in a previous differential backup. For restoring all the data, you will only need the last full backup, and the last differential backup.	Faster to create than a full backup. Restoration is faster than using incremental backup. Not as much storage needed as in a full backup.	Restoration is slower than using a full backup. Creating a differential backup is slower than creating an incremental backup.
Incremental Backup:	The backup software creates copies of all the files, or parts of files that have changed since previous backups of any type (full, differential or incremental). For example if you did a full backup on Sunday. An incremental backup made on Monday, would only contain files changed since Sunday, and an incremental backup on Tuesday, would only contain files changed since Monday, and so on.	This method is the fastest when creating a backup. The least storage space is needed.	Restoring from incremental backups is the slowest because it may require several sets of data to fully restore all the data. For example if you had a full backup and six incremental backups. To restore the data would require you to process the full backup and all six incremental backups.

8. Built-in Backup Features in Microsoft Windows

Windows XP comes with backup features built-in, but it compares very poorly to third-party backup software. Most users find it is not worth the effort.

Windows Vista, in the Business, Enterprise and Ultimate editions, comes with far better backup features than XP, but it is not as feature rich as the leading third-party software. For example in Vista, you can create a complete "image" copy of the hard disk, but you cannot retrieve individual files from within the backup image. You have to restore the whole lot. Vista does have a backup utility which allows you to backup individual files, but it is very limited.

9. Where to Store a Backup?

When considering where to store your backup, some important things to consider are how much will you backup, how often, and the costs involved.

It is a good idea to keep at least one backup onsite, for fast restoration in the case of accidental deletion, and at least one backup off-site for safety in case there is a serious disaster such as fire, theft, flood, etc. An offsite backup may involve placing a DVD or external hard drive at a different location. But the easiest and best option for offsite backup is to subscribe to an online backup service.

Storage Type	Storage Capacity	Cost of Device	Ongoing Costs	Speed	Pros	Cons
External Hard Drive	High	Low per gigabyte	None	Fast	Easy to backup, easy to automate.	Liable to same damage as master drive if directly connected, and at the same location. Since a virus or lightning strike can corrupt both at the same time.
CD/DVD	Low-Medium	Low	Moderate	Slow	Portable	Burning CD's and DVD's is time consuming.
Solid State Storage, such as memory stick.	Low 1GB-2GB	High per gigabyte	None	Medium	Portable, good for storing small files, such as documents.	Low capacity, easily lost or stolen.
Online Backup	Medium-High	Free to Setup	Set monthly fee, Or even free for up to 2GB.	Medium	Easily accessible, Can be fully automated, Off-site, no devices required.	Large transfers may take a long time.
Other computer connected through network	Medium-High	Medium	None	Fast	Fast. Software and technical skill required.	If the computer storing the backup is onsite, it is at risk of same dangers as the computer being backed up.
Magnetic Tape	High	Relatively high	Relatively low	Medium	For large data storage, it's slightly cheaper than storage on a hard disk.	Magnetic tapes are more vulnerable to errors. Short storage life.

10. Always Test the Backup

Having a backup is only helpful if the backup actually works! The only way to be sure is to test it.