PCA's Hudson Valley computer technology support blog discusses how technology impacts businesses, business owners and their support staff. New articles are posted every Tuesday.

Comparing Online Backup Solutions

05 May, 2009 11:34

Backing up data online is the recommended business continuity system for today's high-productivity world.  As you can see by reading this article, there are some pretty standard limitations with most offsite backup solutions. 

Time to back up

The article is written in support of a system called Back2zip, and warns readers that most backup systems "will only allow one initial complete backup of a hard drive, but as the time taken for the first backup of even an average PC can exceed 24 hours this may not bother you."

Take a look at that emphasized statement . . . the first backup of even an average PC can exceed 24 hours."  This is probably true with most backup systems, although using Remote Vault Pro Enterprises for the first time will generally take less than an hour to back up your entire network.

Backup failure

No system is perfect, and offsite backups are no exception.  They are head-and-shoulders above antiquated tape backups when it comes to errors, however.  With a tape, you won't know if there was a problem until the system has run its course, and then the only option is to start over!

Offsite systems such as Dell's Online Backup & Restore allow their users to "run on-demand reports on the backup status of all managed PCs to give you a comprehensive and up to date picture on the security of your data."  This means that you get to roll up your sleeves and analyze those reports to make sure everything was backed up properly.   Other systems, such as RVP, have dedicated technicians whose primary responsibility is monitoring Remote Vault Pro and ensuring that everything's running smoothly.  If something goes wrong, you'll probably never know because they'll fix the problem long before you need your data back. 

Make sure you ask who's responsibility it is to identify problems with your backup files before you sign on the bottom line.

No software to manage

Some online systems, like Back2zip, use software downloaded on your computers to compile and back your data up.  (In the case of Back2zip, it's a free "beta" program, which to a computer tech means it's full of bugs and nobody's being paid to remove them, but that's another concenr entirely.)  Look for a hardware-based backup solution that gets hooked up to your server.  The hardware should encrypt your data (so it can't be deciphered by anyone else) and manage the backing up of your entire network. 

Seamless recovery

The article from Back2zip warns that "a confusing file structure or files with obscure names can get in the way of a clean restore."  The writer goes on to say, "It is unlikely that application files [programs] will be retrievable from a backup, they usually need to be installed using their own programs." 

Frankly, you shouldn't ever have to worry about questions like file structure and reinstalling your programs.  In the event that your server crashes, a state-of-the-art backup solution will provide a virtual server that has all your files on it, just where you expect them to be.  No worrying about what files to restore or where the software CDs were stored by your last office manager  . . . you're back up and doing business instead.

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