Answers to Data Backup Questions

Why offsite if we already have a tape backup system?

Times have changed and today's system and drive designers have significantly reduced the cost of disk drives making them more competitive with tape systems. Even more important is the fact that tape is slow and sequential making it difficult to find files quickly. Disk drives on the other hand, offer direct random access, significant time saving (time = money), and read / write efficiency that translates into increased productivity and lower operating costs. top

Onsite, Offsite - What's The Difference?

Basically, remote backups work like regular tape backups, with one important difference. Instead of sending backups to a tape drive or other media attached to the computer being backed up, a remote backup sends encrypted file data over the internet to multi homed data centers where it is stored safely away from your location.

This usually happens at night while your business is closed and nobody is using the computers. It's completely automatic. In fact, you may forget it's working for you every night. top

Why Are Remote Backups Considered More Beneficial?

The data is immediately stored away from your location using an automated backup system. Also, only an internet connection is needed. Completely eliminating the need for expensive backup equipment. Since the system is automated, the need for an in-house administrator is eliminated. top

How Secure Are Remote Backups?

Very secure. All files are encrypted using Blowfish encryption, which is selected by the user with their own personal encryption code, and is only known by the user of the system. Blowfish is used by the federal banking system, and has never been broken by a hacker. top

I forgot my encryption key. Can you tell me what it is?

No. We cannot recover your encryption key, this is chosen and set by you and is maintained by you and your system, making it invisible to us and anyone else for that matter. top

What is FastBIT technology?

FastBIT is the most effective incremental backup technology available. It uses a complex algorithm to precisely identify the changes that have been made to any type of file since the last backup. These changes are transmitted to the backup server, requiring minimal bandwidth. Once the server receives these changes, it can combine them with the previous backup to form an identical copy of your current file. top

Why is FastBIT important to me?

If you are an end-user, the efficiency of FastBIT dramatically reduces the time required to backup your data from any network location, including slow dialup connections. If you are a server administrator, FastBIT minimizes your overall bandwidth utilization and efficiently stores an ongoing file backup history for every user. top

What platforms does the backup software support?

The software can be installed on any Windows 9x or NT/2000 computer. The client computer must be configured with a TCP/IP network connection to communicate with the backup secure server via the Internet. If you have an Internet connection, you are ready to start using backup. top

Can I backup other platforms with my backup software?

The software will run natively only on Windows 9x and NT/2000. However, if you have your computers networked, then any platform can be backed up provided you have one Windows machine. top

What information can you see about my files?

We can see the names of all the files backed up as well as the size of each file. We can also see which directory they came from. However we cannot see the contents of the files whatsoever. top

How long should it take to back up my files?

This depends on your connection speed and the total size of the files you are backing up. If you are connected via a dialup connection you can expect to upload between 15 MB and 3 MB per hour. High-speed connections vary depending on network traffic and connection type. top

What sort of compression should I be getting?

With compression set to maximum, you should expect an overall compression ratio of around 75%. This is generally true for spreadsheet, word-processing, database documents and others. top

What do you do to protect your data?

Our backup servers use RAID 5 file systems and this data is backed up to our remote servers at regular intervals throughout the day. A RAID 5 file system consists of multiple hard drives with data being striped over the various drives. If one drive fails the drive can be replaced while online with no data loss. We have a minimum of two free drives on standby at any given time. top

My office happens to be networked. Does your service address this issue?

Yes. Not only will we backup data on your file server, but each computer that is in the network will have access to the Web.

What is Blowfish Encryption?

Blowfish is a 64-bit block cipher with a key length of between 32 and 448 bits. The algorithm is freely available and does not require the payment of any license fee or royalty. It runs faster than either DES or Triple DES.

The algorithm comprises two parts:

• Key expansion: This expands the key from its original size (32-448 bits) into several subkey arrays that total 4168 bits.
• Encryption: The Blowfish encryption algorithm is a 16-round Feistel network. Feistel ciphers are a class of iterated block ciphers that calculate the cipher text by the repeated application of the same transformation or round function over the plaintext. The data to be enciphered is split in two. The round function is applied to one half, using a subkey, and the output is XORed with the second half. The two halves are then swapped. Each round follows this pattern, with the exception of the final round, which has no swapping. In Blowfish, each round consists of a key-dependent permutation and a key- and data-dependent substitution. All operations are XORs and additions on 32-bit words.