Most small businesses put their lives on the line every night and don't even realize it. With businesses depending more and more on the data stored in their computer, proper backups are becoming much more critical. Remote backups accomplish several essential steps that are often overlooked or done improperly by other backup software - especially non-automated tape backup systems.

Remote backup works basically like regular tape backups, with one important difference. Instead of sending backups to a tape or zip drive attached to the computer, remote backup works by sending data over broadband connections or regular telephone lines to another computer safely off-site. It does this (usually) at night while the business is closed and nobody is using the computer. It's completely automatic.

Most small businesses do not perform a backup even if they have a tape drive. Of those that do, over half do not backup their system correctly. Usually when someone needs a critical file they find out that their tapes are corrupted and useless, or that the backups were never done in the first place. Only a small fraction of these people ever take their backups offsite. In order to take backups offsite they would need to wait for the backup to finish, which could take hours, and then they would have to carry it with them back and forth to the office. A Remote Backup Service will execute automatically on a set schedule, transporting the data offsite, and securing it from prying eyes. Most importantly, any version of any file can be accessed immediately for a restore without having to retrieve a tape from offsite.

Using both a tape backup system and a remote backup system offers the best of both worlds. Critical files, like billing, customer contact files and databases can be kept on the remote backup system. The tape system can be used to create a full backup of the entire file system—including program files—once or twice a month. The remote backup system can provide a quick and easy way to retrieve critical files and databases without the hassle of searching through tapes. Also, if you don't regularly restore your tape backups, how do you know they are not corrupt. You would be surprised how many times one restores a tape only to find the information missing, or worst case, corrupt.

Very. You, and you alone, have access to your data files because VeraVault Data Backup encrypts your data prior to transmission to our offsite backup server. Military-grade encryption technology and a user-defined password (encryption key) ensure that nobody, including employees of VeraVault Connection, can access your data. Compare this to the total lack of security on most tape and zip drive systems. Encryption means your files are locked up before they are sent out on the Internet.

None! The actual backup process itself is fully automated. Once you have configured the time, frequency and list of files to be backed up into the client software, the actual backup will take place automatically on schedule. All you have to do is keep your PC turned on when you leave the office in the evening.

Absolutely! First, you can eliminate the costs of any backup related hardware and media immediately. That alone can save you anywhere from $400 to over $2000 in costs. Second, you may have an employee who does your backups now. If you pay that employee $9/hour and it takes on average one hour each day to perform the backup, that would be $180 a month, plus your payroll taxes. We can accommodate many businesses with a plan that starts at $50 per month. Are you absolutely sure your employee is doing the backups properly? Many people do not truly know how to do a proper backup, and most do not find out they were doing it wrong until it is just too late.

A recent study discloses that it takes 19 days and cost in excess $17,000 to re-enter just 20 megabytes worth of sales and marketing data. Retrieving accounting records is even worse; they require over 21 days of work and cost over $19,000 to re-type. It is essential to be pro-active and prevent a data loss from occurring to your business. Your insurance may be able to replace your computers after a failure, disaster, or theft. Unfortunately, they cannot replace the most important part, which is your data. With businesses depending more and more on the data stored in their computers, proper backups are becoming much more critical.

Backups are done on a schedule customized for each client, usually at night. Most businesses don't do this. For one reason or another, they don't keep a regular backup regimen. Usually it's because the person responsible for doing backups (if there is one) is too busy doing something else, someone is using the computer when it's time for a backup, or they simply forget. Since Offsite Backups are done with automated software, backups are always performed on schedule.

Lost passwords cannot be recovered. For this reason, we highly encourage safely storing your password. Without it, your data will be lost. During the installation process, you will have the option to print out your encryption info and save a backup key file.

Usually. Some businesses with low storage requirements can backup during the day because their backups can finish very quickly. However, most businesses already leave their computers running 24/7, and there is no harm in doing so. In fact, some reports even suggest that leaving your computer on all the time is much less harmful than turning it on and off regularly.

Absolutely. Your backups can occur each weeknight, can also occur on Saturdays and Sundays, and in some situations can occur during the day. The backups are scheduled so that your business will be protected and not be interrupted.

• Windows 95 / 98 / ME / NT / 2000(SP2) 1 / XP(SP2) 1 / 2003 / Vista
• Linux kernel 2.2 or above 2
• NetWare 5.1 or above
• UNIX
• Solaris 2.x or above
• AIX
• HP-UX
• FreeBSD
• Mac OS X 10.2 or above
• All other operating systems that supports Java2 Runtime Environment 1.3.1 or above
  

Any type of connection, high speed LAN, T1, Cable, or DSL. However, the faster your internet connection, the better. The rate of transfer of your data from your computer to our offsite server is dependant on how fast your computer can access the Internet. For most small businesses, a DSL or Cable speed connection is sufficient. For individuals backing up smaller files from your home computer even a dialup connection is sufficient.

Very. The client software that comes with VeraVault Remote Backup allows you to open a secure connection to our offsite backup servers any time, any day. You can then browse your backed up files and make any necessary file restorations.