Well, again I have been noticeably absent from the blogosphere. I am thankful to say that I have a lot to do and the work just keeps on flowing. With that said, this blog entry is all about offsite back-up!
No IT guy worth his or her salt can deny that data needs to be backed up and a copy must go off-premises. Most will admit that getting a consistent routine together and keeping it running can be a challenge. While in New Orleans last year at Jeff Middleton’s (author and designer of SBS Migration) conference, I met the team from e-Folder and saw that they had a pretty slick offering for branded off-site back-up that I could provide for my clients. I never jump into anything quickly. I finally had an opportunity to vet this service and am happy to say it is ready to go.
Here is the way it works. It is ridiculously simple. The account creation page and location to download the software is http://backup.cmsupportservices.com . There is a free trial link where you can sign-up and test it yourself for thirty days with no cost or obligation. The trial includes 512 MB of server space and no bandwidth limitations. If you decide that this is the way to go, you can upgrade your account to a full version at any time.
The software installs on any systems you want to backup. Mark what you want to backup and how often. There are many different options on how to backup your data. You have versioning control and can backup as often as every hour or even more. The system is compatible with SQL and MS Exchange. It is also multi-platform compatible and works with Windows XP 32 and 64 bit, Vista 32 and 64 bit, Server 2003 & 2008 32 and 64 bit, Linux, & MAC. Exchange backup is mailbox level and a very robust Exchange backup methodology.
The cost is very affordable when you look at what you have to lay out for disk to disk solutions, large tape arrays, and the software to drive it all. The base cost is 14.95 per month and then 5.00 per Gigabyte for the the first 14 Gigs of data. Data beyond the 14 Gig ceiling is billed at 2.50 per month. Exchange email is 2.00 per mailbox and then 1.40 per Gigs of email data.
As many of you who read my blog know, I love the SonicWALL CDP disk to disk solution. The reason I have brought this offering to my portfolio of services is that not everyone has the capital to make that type of investment all upfront. In the long term view, the costs are similar to a solution like the SonicWALL CDP. With C&M Support Offsite Backup Data Service you are strictly pay as you go. Your data is backed up automatically and offsite. If you need to restore the data you can do it yourself or we will help you. In a catastrophe we can provide your data on a hard disk in one business day. If you have mobile users, all they need is the software and an Internet connection. The backup of their data is now one less thing on your plate.
Please feel free to go to the site and try the service. I am open to your feedback and will be happy to assist you with the set-up. If you have large back-up needs, get in touch with me and I may be able to provide more aggressive pricing. Thanks again for visiting my blog. Come back soon.
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