The reasons to lose priceless data are known. Viruses, HDD crashes, file system damage, theft, laptop left in a taxi, coffee spill, flood, fire, hurricane, earthquake… Is it enough? In fact, data loosing is not a question of reason – it’s a question of time. More, statistically one in ten hard drives crash every year, while even an attempt of data recovering is very pricey. (Specialized companies charge about $3,000 with no guarantee).

Traditional local backup methods such as CDs/DVDs and external HDDs are expensive and susceptible to damage from scratching, water, temperature change, plus … read above. Even a new, fresh-burned optical disc may contain errors, that once can become residual – no matter have you done time-consuming data verification right after the burning, or not.

Furthermore, these methods require time, empty discs, and manual intervention. Look, you need to insert discs manually. Even if you’re doing space-saving incremental backup, you need to have fresh ones because you don’t know when your media will be totally filled. I don’t say about Blue-Ray writable discs (BD-R or BD-RE) that are even more expensive, and not every computer have Blue-Ray drive. Popular netbooks even have not DVD-drives! This means that backup is not doing regularly, and once your important data may be lost.

But maybe external HDDs are better for backup purposes? Yes, they are, especially 2,5″ ones. But you still need to connect them to PC’s USB and they occupy place.

Well, how about USB flash drives? They are small and can be connected to USB port constantly that guarantees latest versions of files in your backup. It may be a solution if you don’t need full system HDD backup. Because currently 64 GB flash drive costs $140, and 128 GB about $400. And remember – the smaller is the thing, the easier it can be lost!

And at last, the fact that often is out of consciousness: the same reasons, listed at the beginning, can lead to local backup damage. How far from your PC are your local backup files? Are they in the same room or maybe in another?..

Advantages of the online data storage

Online backup service, like Mozy, has no the above-stated imperfections. It runs automatically in the background and ensures that the most recent copies of your important files are kept at a secure remote location for safe restoring in the event of a disaster. For just about $5 a month you get hundreds of gigabytes or even unlimited storage space.

An improved security, off-site protection, access from anywhere, automation and easy recovery are the benefits of having backup online. The online servers with users data are located in special data-centers, that, as a rule, are in well protected sites, like underground sanctums. It provides insurance against fire, floods and thefts. (As example, Diino backup service’s servers are located in an old military nuclear bunker).
Qualified engineers keep a check of the servers for round-the-clock operation. The servers are connected to powerful electric networks with UPS and diesel electric generators. RAID6 configuration may be used, which provides data security even in the event of a 2 hard drives failure. The encrypted data are transferred via SFTP or SSI protocols.

Online backup is very useful for people who travel with their laptops, netbooks or gadgets. Those users don’t need to take DVDs or external HDD with backup files. Plus, many of the online storage web-services offer online picture storage and sharing with the slideshows, playlists and, sometimes, browser-based editing of the pictures! So, traveling photo-hunters can share their minings through the Web immediately.

Requirements

Of course, if you want to backup your system HDD and then to restore it, you need a broadband ISP. With a DSL connection it takes about 5 hours to backup 1GB of data. But most home connections are capable of backing up only 2-3 GB/day. Yes, the initial backup takes time, but fortunately that backup only has to be done once. Subsequent (incremental) backups typically take minutes, since only new and changed files are backed up.

Restoring also can take days, depending upon the speed of Internet connection. It can take a week or more to restore 50 gigabytes through DSL or cable. So, respectable online backup service offer an option to ship user’s data via overnight air freight for an additional fee.

Reasons of the Online Backup Industry’s booming

Online backup services have been around for years, serving commercial customers at rather high prices. Commercial services may charge about $100 a month for online data backup. But when costs of  HDD’s per Gigabyte space and broadband traffic became lower, consumer oriented, online backup services popped up. Another reasons of the online backup industry’s boom are Amazon S3 service that provides for developers “a simple web services interface that can be used to store and retrieve any amount of data”, and software products like Remote Backup Business Kit. The first successful company on the online backup marketplace that has been followed by many others, was Mozy.

List of the online backup services

• Mozy (unlimited storage space, small, imperceptible software, $4.95/month or $54.45/year)
• MongoFiles (file storage, RapidShare alternative)
• SugarSync (supports synchronizing, compatible with iPhone and other gadgets, SugarSync Free Signup steps)
• 4shared.com (100 GB for online storage, sharing with access permissions, $5/day – $78/year, 5 GB for free)
• ElephantDrive
• Dropbox (www.getdropbox.com, supports Mac, Linux, iPhone and iPod Touch)
• Box.net (over 2 million users, more than 50,000 businesses)
• Backblaze (Mac compatible)
• Carbonite.com (unlimited storage space, Mac compatible, $55/year)
• Diino (1.4 million users, file sharing, Mac compatible, $249/year for 500 GB backup)
• CrashPlan (50 GB for $5/month, also allows to back up free to any computer with Internet connection, or to external local drive)
• BackupRight.com (25 GB for $15/month, Windows and Mac OS X support, improved automation)
• Norton Online Backup (25 GB of online storage, up to 5 home PCs, Windows XP or Vista, $50/year)
• BackupSolutions.com (corporate data backup services for large businesses, 100 GB for $75/month, HIPPA)
• Envelock remote backup (10 GB remote storage for $35/year, unlimited for onsite, 256-bit AES encryption)

Conclusion

For anyone who have an important data, it’s better to have two fresh backups: one stored locally near the computer on a hard or flash drive, and another stored off-site. Modern low cost web backup services give the advantage to keep data safe for reasonable money.