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Data Storage Security

Reliable, Affordable Online Backup Providers? 38

Posted by Cliff from the data-in-a-vault dept.
rcn asks: "I am looking at online backup solutions for a variety of small and medium sized businesses. I read the most recent Slashdot discussion on online backup but there wasn't much talk about specific providers. The DIY methods of online backup (i.e. backup to a server in another office) aren't really practical in these cases. Security is more important than cost. They want their data secure under a mountain or 3000 miles away. I am overwhelmed by the variety of choices but am looking at Iron Mountain, LiveVault, and SwapDrive. Does anyone have experience with these providers, or others like them? What do pricing structures look like in the 30 to 100 gig range? How easy do they make it to manage backups? Can you backup from more than one machine to the same account?"
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Reliable, Affordable Online Backup Providers? More

Reliable, Affordable Online Backup Providers?

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  • I can offer help (Score:3, Funny)

    by Mod Me God ( 686647 ) on Sunday January 11, 2004 @04:49PM (#7946547)
    Post me an encrypted CD (or CDs) of what you want backed up. I will keep it (them) under my bed (i.e. very safe) for the low cost of $500/CD/year. I assure you I'm over 3000 miles away. Regards,

  • Pentagon TIA (Score:4, Insightful)

    by AtariAmarok ( 451306 ) on Sunday January 11, 2004 @04:53PM (#7946577)
    The Pentagon TIA system. You don't even have to ask, and it backs up all your data.

  • Livevault == Ironmountain ? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by appleb ( 540535 ) on Sunday January 11, 2004 @05:07PM (#7946655)
    I thought that Livevault and Iron Mountain where the same thing. Look closely at each provider. Ask questions about where they are located, where your data will be located, etc. You may find that one is just a marketing front for another.
  • You have many options in this situation other then an online backup:

    *Buy another HardDrive and occasionally sync the two with Norton Ghost or something similar.
    *Buy a Zip Drive and and a few 750mb Zip Disks, and split the file(s) to fit the Disks.
    *Do the Same as above, but with a tape drive.
    *Maybe set up something with a Friend, you each give each other FTP access to a folder on your server, and you can upload to each other's computers.

    If you really want to use an online backup provider, try XDrive [xdrive.com].
    • The poster says that "Security is more important than cost"; these solutions have little to no security.
    • the poster also said something about 30-100GB. using 750MB zip disks would not be an option.

      Your examples are the duct tape examples of someone that wants to (should) get fired from their job. The poster is obviously not going to cheap out and use a friend's hard drive.
    • Well done, you just fulfilled the lowest priority requirement.

      Buy another HardDrive and occasionally sync the two with Norton Ghost or something similar.

      And then... where are you going to keep this hard drive... in the same machine you're backing up? Sounds like a great idea.
      Until the building burns down, and you're backup went with the original data.

      Buy a Zip Drive and and a few 750mb Zip Disks, and split the file(s) to fit the Disks.

      Ok - you can go round the remote sites, and swap disks for a few ho

  • Low tech, I know, but... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Txiasaeia ( 581598 ) on Sunday January 11, 2004 @07:30PM (#7947598)
    ...how bout storing the data on a few HDs and take them to your bank for a safety deposit box? Make it convenient and choose the bank where they/you are doing business. Cost is minimal and security is high and (in most cases) insured in case of theft - but this is a freaking bank we're talking about.

    I know, it's not online, but if you're more concerned about security than anything else, you might want to consider it.

  • ...get a few colo spaces spread out over the physical country. Colo with big providers, they usually have the best, most redundant, [bullet,missile,nuclear] proof datacenters. Bandwidth will be an issue, but getting 1Mbit/sec would probably do fine, depending on how much you have to backup, and how often you want it backed up. Encrypt the data between the backup servers and the source servers for added data security.

    Having your backups on your own machines ensures data integrity and physical security. If y

  • Not familiar with their pricing, but... (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    IPR International has a variety of service packages for over the net backup and quick retrieval

    http://www.iprintl.com/

    Disclaimer: they have a cage at a secure colo where I work. I do know they're a pioneer in over-the-net backups and that they've been doing this for several years. Posting anon for NDA purposes.
  • You install evault on your main file servers, they upload any changes at nite (the original upload takes a while as it uploads everything). Then when you need your databack, you just download it or they can mail it to you on any number of physical mediums. :) http://www.evault.com/
  • I have a few workstations on my home LAN, my laptop, my wife's PC etc... and they rsync /home over to the server upstairs every hour on a cron job.

    Also, I have a server colocated a couple of hours down the road, and the data from the server at home is rsynced to the colo'd server every night.

    The server at home also does an rsync of any important data from the colo'd box back to home every night.

    For large amounts of mostly static data, I use a DDS-3 drive on the server at home.

    When talking to the colo se

  • What can possibly be so special about this case that makes do-it-yourself backups impractical?
  • e-Backups is an online service that you can have sync your data when you set it to. Price are going to start running very high if you want 30-100gigs of backup space. http://www.e-backups.net/

  • Tranxactglobal Just Announced A New Plan... (Score:4, Informative)

    by tomblackwell ( 6196 ) on Monday January 12, 2004 @02:15AM (#7950079) Homepage
    no setup fee
    50 cents per gig of storage per month flat fee
    no transfer fees

    I found about it at webhostingtalk's forums [webhostingtalk.com]

    Tranxactglobal have a pretty good name in the server business.

  • If you use Linux try Storix [storix.com]. They offer network backup solution that sends the data over tcp/ip. That way you still backup over the internet, but have complete control over everything. We use it to backup remote locations. It also backups up the entire OS and configuration so you can rebuild the system in case your servers are trashed by fire, flood, even orcs.
  • Been very happy with these guys using them at a corporate level.. http://www.enveloc.com [enveloc.com]. Got quite a few customers that are using them and all very happy..
  • I really, really like Conected Corp's [connected.com] TLM or Total Loss Management product. We used it in conjunction with Connected DataProtector as an internal desktop backup solution for around 35K desktops. They have small and mid sized solutions quoted on their site but nothing in the range the requester mentioned. Give em a ring and they will probably give you a quote.
  • We use Connected [connected.com] at the small software startup I work for, and it pisses the hell out of me. The main reason is because the client software is kind of kludgy. It's much harder than it should be to specify that you want to backup a certain set of folders--you basically have to mess with inclusion/exclusion rules. And when a backup begins at the worst possible time, as it is wont to do, it often takes a LONG time between you clicking Cancel and it actually deciding to cancel.

    OTOH, the situation is exacer

  • Depending on how much data you're looking to backup and what data you're looking to grab, Ultrabac has agents for Exchange, Sql and such. The cool thing is that you should be able to backup to a local tape, and also ftp off the stuff you'd consider most important. ~$200 / month for a box with a raid5 set of 250gb drives sitting in colo that's all pull (internet to box).

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