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Online Remote Backup – What you must checkout?

Once you finally understand that you have to backup your files, there are some very important keys to good backup to checkout. Others are less important, but cannot be ignored altogether.

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Let’s start with the most important issues to check regarding your backup service.

• Simplicity Of Use -If the backup process will not be VERY simple and easy, you and I will not do it. We will not back up our files unless it is super easy to do.
• Cost -If the cost for the backup is too high, there will be no backup, as the mental hurdle becomes insurmountable.
• Storage Capacity - The backup should be able to protect all the files you need. Once you chose what folders needs to be backed up and which one doesn’t , the rest is routine.
• Security - These are your most important files, finance, pictures, music files and so on. I am sure you want your files to be kept in a very secure place.
• Credibility - The service and company should be strong enough so they will not disappear one day with your important files. Length of service, testimonials from online communities and from friends and fellow users are the best way to determine this.
• Peace Of Mind - The main reason to backup is to have complete peace of mind. If one of these backup keys does not apply, you will not have the peaceful sleep you wish to have.

According to my tests and reviews, Carbonite and Mozy provides all the benefits so you will gain an excellent backup solution once you start using either one of them.

Additional issues:

1. Sharing capabilities - Some people would like to be able to share their files with another person. This is a “nice to have” feature because it might ruin the backup process, if not included as a part of the main software.
2. Synchronization capabilities - Some online services and some offline software provide the ability to synchronize between two or more computers. BeInSynch provides this type of functionality.
3. Supported operating systems - You must check that your operating systems supports the software you chose.
4. Customer support - In general, when you need customer support it means you are in stress and confused. You need the fastest support you can get.

To Summarize:

There are some very important issues to check out before you decide about your backup service. You can just follow my choice and use Carbonite - the very best online backup service today.

What are your backup options?

When I decided to check out my backup options, I learnt that there are several options, and each option has some specific techniques that everyone should know about for creating a successful backup.

First Option - Local Backup

Local backup is every type of backup that will keep your backup data on physical media available close to you. This can be:

1. Additional internal hard drive.
2. External hard drive
3. CD/DVD-ROM
4. Magnetic Type media
5. Local Network backup

Advantages:

These types of backup are:

1. Very handy, and until lately it was the simplest to do.
2. It psychologically feels safe to have your original as well as backup in your physical possession.

Today, I will suggest anyone who backs up his data using this option to think about it as a partial solution at best. I use this option, I am backing up my main PC data to my laptop every day and I also back up once a week to an external hard drive, but all this is only my SECONDARY backup solution.

Disadvantages:

On the other hand, the system suffers from certain flaws.

• All these types of backup will not protect your data completely. Some very dangerous threats still exist:
  • Theft
  • Fire
  • Natural disasters like earthquakes, floods and more
  • Manmade disasters like terrorists attacks, war
• It is mostly NOT a fully automatic backup. It depends on many human behavioral activities in order to be thorough and updated.

Second (Better) Option - Online Backup also known as Remote Backup

This is in my opinion the best solution; it covers all the disasters can happen

Advantages:

1. Automatic - Most systems will require just a short setup, and from that moment on they will be fully automatic.
2. Resides in a safe place - the same as keeping your money in the bank, away from home. It is better to keep your data in a safe place and not at home or at your office, where it is likely to suffer from the same physical calamity that may befall your main storage system.
3. Unlimited storage - Some of the systems will enable you to backup unlimited data, and this gives you peace of mind.

Disadvantages:

This short answer is: NONE.

The longer answer might include the psychological issue that many people still feel that if their data is somewhere out there it is less safe than near them. The truth, believe me, is exactly the opposite. This streak of distrust in others would have to be overcome.

- As usual, I will be happy to get your comments

What do you need to backup?

One of the issues regarding backup is - What is it that you need to backup? What are the most important files for you to backup?

Well, the answer for this, in my opinion, is EVERYTHING. What I meant is every file you have, whether you think if it is important or not, is important some way or the other to your functioning.  I even say that all the files in “My Documents” should be backed up. You can create a folder outside of “My Documents” and call it “Temp” or whatever, and put there all your UNIMPORTANT files. Look up  “Who need backup?”  for the type of files you surely need to backup:

• Emails and Contacts. If you keep them on the local LAN and don’t use Gmail/Yahoo/Live Mail etc’.
• Microsoft Word/Excel/PowerPoint files - All Microsoft Office suite files should be backed up.
• Pictures - I backup every single picture I take.
• Video files - Same as pictures.

This list is obvious, but I must say again, there are services today that give you very large quota or even unlimited quota to backup. So don’t hesitate to use them - backup everything you can.

A Summary:

• Create a folder outside of “My Document” of your ‘Not Important’ files.
• Try to keep all the rest of your files in your “My Documents” folder.
• Backup your complete “My Documents” folder.

Coming Soon - An even more advanced guide about what you should backup.

- As usual, i will be happy to get your comments