Security > Disaster Preparation & Recovery

Online Backup Services

By Lasa Information Systems Team

With the advent of high-speed Internet access, backing up your data to a remote location over the Internet is becoming more feasible. This article provides an overview of what's involved, pros, cons and what to consider when choosing a provider. Hopefully most organisations are by now convinced of the need to back up important data held on computer systems. If not, take a look at the knowledgebase article "Could your IT cope if your office burned down?".

How does it work?

Online backup services use software that automates the uploading of selected files to a remote computer, and the ability to restore files, using your Internet connection. There are various services around offering storage capacities of just a few megabytes to several terabytes (a terabyte is 1000 gigabytes!). For an ongoing monthly fee dependant on the amount of data you wish to back up, other services (e.g. backup of system files), and / or number of computers you wish to have access to the service, you get a fixed amount of storage, and software to manage the backup process.

As a rough guide, prices range from around £5 per month for up to 500 MB of data to around £30 per month for up to 10 GB of data. The more storage you need the higher your monthly charge will be. Many providers offer a free trial period so you can try before you buy.The online backup service provider supplies you with software that you install on the PC or server that you wish to back up. The software allows you to select the files to back up, and set up a backup schedule. You can also usually do manual backups. Either way the software manages your connection to the Internet.

Your data is then normally encrypted to secure it from prying eyes, compressed to speed up transfer and reduce the amount of storage space required, and uploaded to the server at the service provider's data centre. The first time you do an online backup it will take a long time. Depending on the amount of data, initial backup could take several hours (or even days!) because the complete data needs to be encrypted, compressed and copied onto the remote server. Subsequent backups are incremental (i.e. only data that has been added or changed is backed up) so should be much quicker.

Of course there's no point in having a backup if you can't restore your data when you need to. As well as managing data backup, the supplied software must also allow you to restore data quickly and easily. As with other backup solutions you should always check periodically to make sure your data actually can be safely restored.

But is it safe?

As well as your data being encrypted as it is sent over the Internet during backup or restore, your online backup service provider's data centres should generally have security including:

• Firewalls (for more information on firewalls see the Knowledgebase article Firewalls)
• Backup generators to keep servers going in the event of a power outage
• Various other technologies to ensure your data on the provider's servers is backed up, and that you always have access to it (assuming you have an Internet connection)
• A secure building

You should also get an account number and password so that only those you authorise can access your data.

Why would we want it?

There are various ways of backing up your data, for more information see the Knowledgebase article Backing Up Your Data. Some of the more traditional methods such as tape and disk can be a bit cumbersome (and not necessarily 100% reliable - but then again what is?). They also require investment in hardware and software such as Tape Drives, Optical drives (e.g. CD / DVD rewrite drives) and the backup media to go in them (tapes, CDs, DVDs etc.), as well as staff who know how to use them. The availability of relatively cheap, high capacity, portable USB hard drives makes this less of an issue but investment in the hardware (and possibly software) is still required.
Another consideration is that organisations often do not store a copy of their backup media off site (despite constant advice to do so) - not much good if your office is affected by fire, flood or other disaster.

Some services allow you to back up multiple PCs and laptops. This can be useful where an organisation has staff that work from home or other locations away from the office. These remote users can be given access permissions so they are able to back up their data remotely without each having to have a backup device attached to their machine.

Online backup services can be used as an alternative or in addition to traditional methods (belt and braces!) - for example if you have some data that you simply cannot afford to lose you might want to use several backup methods including online backup.

Pros and cons

Online backup won't be feasible for every organisation - you need to weigh up the costs and benefits of this and other more traditional solutions. As with most things there are pros and cons …

Pros include:

• Your data is stored securely off site
• Set up and installation can be relatively quick and simple
• Can work out cheaper than traditional tape based backup solutions (after taking into consideration capital costs of equipment, media and staff costs)
• Back up and data recovery can be simpler and quicker than more traditional methods
• Some services allow you to backup and restore multiple versions of files - this can be useful if you need to go back to an earlier version of a document for any reason
• Web access for remote users

Cons include:

• Ongoing monthly charges which can be prohibitively expensive if you need to back up large amounts of data
• Relies on a working Internet connection. No Internet, no backup!
• Speed and amount of data backup is limited by the speed of your Internet connection. Online backup over dial up connection will be slow and is generally only suitable for small amounts of data - up to around 500Mb.
  Over a broadband (ADSL - Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) connection up to 10 GB of data transfer is feasible but may still be slow.
  For larger amounts than this you're likely to need a leased line or fast SDSL connection (Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line - upload and download speeds are the same as opposed to the more common ADSL where upload speeds are much slower than download speeds).
• Reliance on external provider to keep your data secure - If you choose online backup as your sole back up method you'll be entrusting all your valuable data to someone else who potentially could go bust or otherwise place your data at risk.
  This can be mitigated to some extent. Many companies will for additional cost provide you with CDs / DVDs containing your backed up data for archiving and that extra peace of mind. However it pays to chose your service provider wisely…

Choosing a provider

Factors to consider when choosing a provider might include:

• Cost
• Reputation - get recommendations from someone who has used them wherever possible
• Availability and extent of support (e.g. if you host overseas will tech support be available when you need it?).
  
• Will the solution work with your particular set up?
• Can you choose which files to back up?
• Does the service allow automated and unattended backup?
• Is back up of open files and running databases possible? (important if you need it, not possible with all services)
• Security - encryption of data during transfer and whilst stored on remote server / password protected access, facilities at data centres
• Is central management of backup / restore from one or more locations possible?
• Will you get notification of any problems with the backup / restore?

Online backup services are a type of application service provider (ASP). The information in the Knowledgebase article Application Service Providers is also relevant. There are many online backup services available. Examples (as opposed to recommendations) include:

• IBackup - (from $99/annum for 5Gb)
• Back2go - (formerly BackUpMyStuff, from around £210/annum 5Gb - free trial available)
• Connected DataProtector - ($80/annum 500Mb)
• FlashBackup - ($80/annum 5Gb)
• Backupdirect - (from £10 / month for 500 Mb)
• Ampheon -  (from £5.95 per month for 500 Mb)

It's worth bearing in mind data protection issues if you are using an online backup service outside the European Union. See the knowledgebase article
Data Protection and Web Based Applications for more on this issue.

More information

For more information see:

• Techsoup article The No-Excuses Guide to Automated Online Backup
• PC Pro review of online backup services 
• IT for Charities ASP Vendors (see backup online section)