Network / Online Backup Solutions

Network backup is the Backup Nut's favorite backup solution for documents and data. Verily, there is no other backup solution that combines the convenience, security, and low cost of network backup.

Network backup, as its name implies, involves copying vital data to another computer using a network connection. In big offices, that computer might be any other computer on the network, or it could be the network server (which would then in turn also be backed up).

For home users and small businesses, however, I verily exhort you, dear brothers and sisters, to open your hearts and your minds to Internet (Online) backup, which safely and securely stashes your data on a remote server that can be accessed from anywhere, glory be! There are many good online backup providers, but our current favorite is Mozy Remote Backup, which is easy-to-use, automated, and secure.

Advantages of Online Backup Solutions

Online backup has many advantages for ordinary computer users and small businesses, including:

Low cost. There is no equipment to buy and no costly up-front investment. Actual backup costs can be less than $60.00 a year.
Convenience. There is no media to buy, no tapes to to change, and no human intervention needed once the backup software is installed and configured.
Automation. The Backup Nut knows that the path to data loss is paved with good intentions. Most people "intend to" back up their data, but most don't do it unless the process is automated.
Security. All good online backup providers encrypt your data while it is in transit and storage to foil evil forces that might want to scope it out. Also, there are no tapes, disks, or external drives to lose, steal, or that might be destroyed in a fire or flood.
Accessibility. Some online file-storage platforms provide the ability to access, work on, modify, and share files from anywhere that you have an Internet connection.

Disadvantages of Online Backup

Requires a High-Speed Internet Connection. Don't even bother trying to use online backup if you're on dialup or a slow (< 128K) DSL connection. You also might exceed bandwidth limits if you use EVDO or Satellite Internet (although some providers make exceptions for online backup, if you ask them to).
Not Very Practical for Full-System Backups. Although there's no theoretical reason why a hard drive image couldn't be backed up online, the size of the image file and the time it would take to upload it would likely make this impractical.
Recovery Could be Slow in the Event of a Complete Failure. The Backup Nut's own online backup is almost 30 GB in size. This would take a very long time to download, even over a high-speed Internet connection. But I also have full local backups, glory be; so the online backup would only be used in the event of a major catastrophe like a fire or flood.
Possibility of Failure of the Provider's Business. Although highly unlikely in the case of well-established providers, it's possible that a backup provider could go belly-up, in which case your data might be irretrievable.

Security of Online Backup

Another concern that comes up often enough to warrant special attention is users' reluctance to send private data over the Internet and entrust it to third-party providers.

All reputable online backup companies encrypt their connections, making the connection between yourself and the provider secure. In addition, most providers also allow users to manage their own encryption keys if they like. Without the key, the data cannot be decrypted -- period. If you choose to manage your own key, not even the administrators at the online backup company will be able read your data, no matter what level of access they have.

In practice, managing your own key means storing a hexadecimal string (a series of letters from A through F and numbers from 0 through 9) in a secure place other than on the computer being backed up (or other computers at the same location, just in case of fire, flood, theft, etc.), and other than on the backup provider's server. Instead, you should store the key in several places, using Flash drives, CD's, or other durable media. You can also email it to yourself on a webmail account and archive it there, or store it in a protected directory on a Web server, if you happen to have access to one.

Why should the key be stored in so many places? Because if you choose to manage your own encryption key, and then you lose it, your backup will be useless. The data it contains will be eternally lost. So all ye who hear my words, heed also my admonition: If you choose to manage your own key, don't lose it. (Can I get an Amen?)

The Backup Nut's Home User / SOHO Backup Suggestion

I exhort you, brethren, to consider a backup plan similar to the one I myself use, which consists of:

Regularly scheduled cloning of my computer's hard drives, for quick recovery of the system and minimal downtime in the event of a hard disk failure.
Regularly scheduled local backups of my documents to a RAIDed NAS, for quick recovery in the event of accidental deletions, bad changes that I want to reverse, and so forth.
Online backup of my documents, to preserve them in the event of a major catastrophe, such as a fire or flood, that could destroy my local backups.

I believe this plan combines the best advantages of the various backups I preach about from my online pulpit, providing a high level of security at reasonable cost.