Are you doing proper backups of your precious data?

  It is so important to do proper backups of you data but sometimes our best attempts fall short of what is necessary.

In the diagram to the left I have put together what I consider as the best configuration for protecting your data. First Remember that your data isn’t backed up unless it is saved in at least two places. If you move you data to your network storage and remove it off of you local drive then it is stored in just one place, on your network storage.  In the first drawing, I have the data being backed up to the NAS storage device that is connected to the router. Additionally, data would be stored to an online backup service to give you another redundant backup off-site. I will discuss some of your online storage options later.

In the second drawing, I have included a second backup source for your local network. There are several companies that make a NAS drive/USB Drive duo to allow a backup locally of this data. If you decide to go this direction, then the NAS device can be your primary storage area, which would make more sense if you have multiple computers in your home or small business environment. This allows for centralized storage and gives everyone access to your stored files.

Online backup services do differ. In a home environment you want to have a good source to back up to but don’t want to pay an arm and a leg. Mozy and Carbonite are priced very closely for the home consumer. Jungle Disk has more flexibility and can be more cost effective especially for someone that has multiple computers in multiple locations. There are no limitations from where you can backup from with Jungle Disk, they charge based on the amount of data that you are storing offline. Carbonite and Mozy have fixed costs for home users but Mozy charges a storage fee as well for commercial clients. Carbonite will only backup files on the computer that has the software installed on it. Mozy will let you backup from any drive source, network, shared or locally connected. If you are backing up with the software on different machines, you will need a license for each machine so it pays to put all your data on a central device and then have a single computer controlling the backup of that data.

	Pricing	Pros/Cons
Carbonite	$59.95 unlimited file storage	Least Expensive of the three we services that we are showing here. Won’t back up attached or network storage devices. Need a separate license for each machine you want to back up
Mozy	Mozy Home: $4.95 per license/workstation unlimited storage. Mozy Pro: ($3.95/Desktop, $6.95/Server plus $.50) /gb/month	Doesn’t have the individual file size limitation that Jungle Disk has. Can back up NAS and USB Attached Storage Devices. For larger storage needs this service can be more expensive for Mozy Pro (commercial) subscription. If you are storing 100GB’s from a single desktop you cost would be $53.95/month compared to Jungle Disk that would cost $17.25. Mozy would be my choice for home storage of if I have files that exceed 5gb’s in file size.
Jungle Disk	Personal Storage Simply Backup: $2/month includes 5GB free. $.15/gb/month for storage above 5GB’s. Personal Storage Desktop Edition: $3/month includes 5GB free. $.15/gb/month for storage above 5GB’s. Workgroup Storage: $4/user/month + storage fees. First 10GB free. Additional storage $.15/gb/month. Supports groups from 2-100 users. Server Edition Storage: $5/server/month + storage fees. First 10GB free. Additional storage $.15/gb/month.	If you have less than 25gb’s to store offsite the Simply Basic subscription is less expensive than Carbonite or Mozy. If you have multiple computers to backup use the Desktop Storage version. This will give you another network “CLOUD” drive that can be accessed by any of your computers that you have installed the software on. Workgroup Storage gives you the ability to limit what can be accessed by members of your group while providing centralized backup for all the members of your group. If you have people located in different places this gives everyone in the group easy central access through the internet of your data/documents. One big problem though is that files sizes that can be backed up are limited to 5gb’s per file. If you need or want the flexibility this service provides, this is the most cost effective method to store large file capacities from multiple systems and/or locations.