Software Alternatives Series: Part III
Online Backups

By Teela James, student in the MLA program at the University of Georgia

Figure 1 shows the Mozy configuration client.

Our examination of free and low-cost software alternatives continues this month with an examination of online backup and file sharing possibilities.

Several services, including MozyHome Free, Dropbox and Humyo offer limited free services, which we will focus on in this article.

Evaluating an online backup provider includes data security, how the service handles multiple computers, user interface, backup speeds and options for the initial backup, supported operating systems, how many versions of files are kept, file sharing options, synchronization options, support for mobile devices and documentation and client support. The free services are useful for backing up a limited number of files and sharing files between sets of users.

 

Figure 2 shows a backup in progress. Files can be restored in several ways. The simplest for a limited number of files is to right click on the file and select restore. Other options include restoring to a virtual drive, web-based restore, or a DVD restore, which is recommended for large restores.

Strengths of Online Backups

One of the primary strengths of online backups is they are stored in an alternate location and thus are effectively protected against events like fire or theft that would destroy backups kept on devices in the same location. Additional strengths of online backups are support for file sharing and remote access to files. Additionally, online backup software is often easy to use and transparent, making it simple to make regular backups.

Figure 3: Dropbox looks and functions like a regular folder. This is useful for synchronizing files between home, office and mobile devices. Files are available via the web and can be shared with other users if you choose.

Weakness of Online Backups

A weakness of online backups is the potential for reduced security (data can be intercepted in transit or accessed by employees of the company), although these concerns can be mitigated with appropriate implementation and policy.

Lengthy initial backup times are also an issue. Some companies will send you a disk to do the initial backup and only incremental backups are performed online.

Online backups are vulnerable to provider failures. If the company goes bankrupt your data and backup mechanism will go with it. For this reason, many people recommend online backups should be one part of a backup strategy, that users should keep an additional set of backups. Particularly in the case of free services, which provide limited space, users may want to supplement their online backup with another technique, such as periodically burning a full backup to DVD.

Figure 4: Dropbox does not facilitate local encryption prior to backing up a file, but does allow ?EUR??,,????'?????<

Mozy

Mozy (www.mozy.com) is a popular option for online backup that offers 2 GBs of space. Mozy runs on Windows and Mac OS. Users install an application that allows them to configure automatic backups.

Configuration options include setting up which directories and files to backup, when to run backups (either on a periodic schedule or after a certain amount of idle time), and setting throttle options so backups do not consume too much network bandwidth. Depending on your connection speed and the amount of data you are backing up, an initial backup can take hours or days to perform. On an average DSL connection, uploading 2 GBs could take 12 to 14 hours. From a security perspective, Mozy offers users the option of using the user’s own key, or one generated by Mozy to encrypt files on your computer prior to transferring them to Mozy’s servers. Files can be restored in several ways. The simplest for a limited number of files is to right click on the file and select restore. Other options include restoring to a virtual drive, web-based restore, or a DVD restore, which is recommended for large restores. Overall, Mozy has struck a good balance between a useful feature set and ease of use and as such is a reasonable online backup alternative. However, 2 GB is really quite minimal and users will need to keep their backups lean or end up purchasing additional space.

Dropbox

Dropbox (www.dropbox.com) is a nifty utility for limited backup, file sharing, and synchronizing files between different devices. The free service offers 2 GBs of free space. Dropbox runs on Windows (XP, Vista, 7), Mac OS (10.4+) and Linux (Ubuntu and Fedora Core or compile from source for other distributions). Essentially, users can drop files into a ?EUR??,,????'?????<

Figure 5: At the Humyo interface files can be uploaded via the upload button or by dragging and dropping, if Javascript is enabled. Humyo is less effective as a backup solution because backup and synchronization services, offered for paid accounts, are not part of the free service.

Humyo

Humyo (www.humyo.com) is another alternative for those who want a bit more space. Free users use a web-based service and have up to 10 GBs of space. While the free service is OS independent, if you end up upgrading, they have a client side application, SmartDrive, for Windows (XP, Vista, 7) and Mac (10.4+ and Intel) that will synchronize folders on your computer with Humyo?EUR??,,????'?????<

If you require additional backup space, Mozy offers unlimited backup for $4.95/mo. Dropbox offers 50 GBs for $9.99/mo and 100 GBs for $19.99/mo. Humyo offers 100 GBs for $6.99/mo or $69.99 a year. However, if you are investigating paid services, there are a number of other companies offering paid online backups services that you may wish to evaluate.