| Face it. Your hard drive just crashed and you can't | | | | taken by the backup provider, you will lose |
| get it back. Why? You did not back up your files. I | | | | permanent access to your data. There is always the |
| know you are tired of hearing that old mantra. But | | | | possibility the backup provider could go out of |
| don't worry. Backing up your data has never been so | | | | business or simply sell. If the market was |
| easy. With a little research, you can find a provider to | | | | monopolized in your region, the backup provider could |
| remotely back your data up. What does that mean? | | | | also raise costs and hold your data 'ransom' if you |
| It means you choose a provider, download their | | | | don't pay their increased rate. |
| software and sit back and watch as your files are | | | | Look at a successful remote backup provider such as |
| gathered, encrypted and sent off to a remote data | | | | Mozy. They offer comprehensive backup plans to |
| backup system. It is as simple as that. But there are | | | | support both business and personal needs. Up to 2 |
| some important considerations to remember. | | | | GB of free data storage is offered for personal use. |
| Remote backup systems have no tapes or local | | | | There are no setup fees, hidden costs and no |
| storage requirements. Little user intervention is | | | | monthly payments. For businesses, Mozy offers |
| required. There are usually several offsite storage | | | | MozyPro as an affordable way to remotely back up |
| locations where the data is stored in case of a single | | | | data files. MozyPro offers several encryption choices |
| site failure. All data is encrypted and compressed | | | | to include Blowfish, AES or SSL. You will need one |
| before sending to a secure offsite location via HTML. | | | | desktop and server license for each computer you |
| But such services can be very expensive if you do | | | | are backing up. Prices begin at a combined license fee |
| not shop around. There are also some drawbacks in | | | | $10.00 per month. Mozy also supports Window and |
| using a third party to remotely back up your | | | | Mac systems and backs up all open and locked files. |
| company's data. | | | | All in all, this is a customer favorite for it's affordable |
| Unless you have a large enough bandwidth in place, | | | | and easy options for both business and personal |
| initial upload in data backup will be slow. If you lose an | | | | remote data backup systems. |
| encryption password, unless specific measures are | | | | |