Backup Anytime

UK online backup providers target Irish market.
Savvy UK online backup providers are set to take advantage of the near parity between Sterling and the Euro. We have first hand experience of this with a client and a potential client.

A client of ours received a legitimate marketing email as a consequence of a list he had signed up to. The email was from a partner of the media company our client had signed with for industry partner updates. The email in question was from a well established UK online backup provider and offered our client online backup at compeditive UK rates which as a consequence of the current status of sterling equated to exceptionally compeditive Euro pricing. The email actually referred directly to the savings which can be made by Euro zone clients which would indicate at the very least that the UK online backup provider expected some Euro zone cleints to receive the email or possibly that it was targeted at the Euro zone market. Our client contacted us to compare what is on offer.

We explained the benefits of backing up within Ireland and that value as a consequence of currency values is not permanent and could change either way in the future. We pointed out the specific merits of our system while explaining that we did not know which system the UK compeditor used. Our client thankfully decided that while there were savings (and in fairness they were not moderate) that he had a quality, functional system which was already setup and decided to stay with us.

A representative of another Irish company with whom we are currently running a trial has indicated that he may take a trial with a UK competitor. This is the first time we have knowingly been pitched against a UK online backup supplier when competing for indigenous Irish business.

Does this spell disaster for Irish online backup providers?
The existence of competing providers who as a consequence of currency have competitive price advantages is a difficult one. Online backup however is an unusual service. First off, clients in the main see compliance and availability advantages by having their data in their own country. Secondly, online backup as a mission critical service which needs to be managed and supported correctly is not as price sensitive as off the shelf products. I read on a twitter  tweet (not sure if that is the correct way to put it) recently about people gaining in excess of 35% savings on electronic goods. I think therefore that while the current pricing advantages of UK online backup providers warrants recognition, so too do the  benefits of backing up at home. I think the savings will only be tempting on the largest online backup archive situation and ironically in those situation the benefits of backing up at home (physical availability access levels to large data quantities are important due to transfer limitations) are most obvious.

In summary
Sterling area online backup is very cheap for Euro buyers at present. This however is susceptible to change. Keeping data outside the state could give rise to compliance issues. Physical access to data is hindered if outside the state and leaves the client reliant on broadband. It is also important to note that cheap online backup has been available for some time in the U.S., India and China but the uptake of these services by Irish clients has been very modest. It would appear that the scramble to reduce I.T. costs is in the main conscientious from the point of view of avoiding compliance and availability issues.
Online backup at commercial level is for the moment a difficult service to export and has keen following at domestic level in mature markets.

Has anyone got this already? Tell us about it. If its as it sais it is we should put the word out.  I have a upc account at home and expect to be upgraded (no charge as I am on old ultra pack) next week. I will report back late next week but any interim info would be much appreciated.

In my experience I would say the following about NTL. TV is awful, phones OK and support woeful. Ntl / UPC broadband is excellent generally.

I did not know they had a commercial pack. Maybe they didn’t up to now.

Download, install, select, backup.

That’s how simple we would all like it to be. Real world online backup configuration is not always that simple. While many data backup installations are straight forward, there are numerous potential difficulties. Some complicated, all logical. Lets take a closer look at eight logical online backup installation issues.

1 OS compatibility

If you use a completely different operating system to the one intended, this should be an easily spotted one and even if not noticed pre-install it will become very obvious during the install. Your online backup solution needs to be compatible  with your operating system. Less obvious operating system incompatibilities are those in which you have an operating system which is compatible but a release, version or service pack which is not appropriate. If your provider uses different releases for different service pack levels, they should alert you to this and better still the installation itself should check and report when run.

2 Hardware compatibility

This can come about as a consequence of an attempted installation on a very old system. A shortage of RAM or very low processor power are examples. Additionally, the system needs enough hard drive space in the default or selected areas for the actual software and any temp or local store files. The software should require minimal space but local store can be significant relative to your backup selection.

3 Hardware unsuitability.

This arises if an installation is attempted in an environment in which there is faulty hardware used. This is less common than before given the low cost of computer hardware and the “replace rather than repair” attitude which has permeated sensible I.T. support in recent years.

4 Power saving.

Power saving is no longer a concept. It is a moral obligation. You will however need to be mindful of the consequences of enabling power saving throughout a network. Incorrectly implemented it can cause devices to be unavailable for backup.

Most users are aware of the power saving features within the display control panel in a Windows environment. Power management for network cards also needs to be managed.

5 Power down.

Quite simply, some devices will need power for after hours backups to commence. A power blackout policy (rare in any large organisation) negates any plans for the automated backup to run during quiet hours.

6 Connectivity management.

One of the major benefits of online backup is that it allows your network to make use of the nighttime broadband you have always been paying for but never used. Any connection switch off security policy needs to be replaced with a quality firewall. This is needed not only when you are away but also when you are in the office.

7 Firewall

Most online backup offerings will be firewall friendly with regard to any standard operating system bundled firewall. Quality third party firewalls are easily managed and your backup system can be added to the ”safe list”. Some hardware firewalls or outside managed firewalls may need port and range details for your online backup solution. These should be readily available from your provider.

8 Data volume / Broadband

If the volume of data you intend to backup is excessive relative to the upload potential of your broadband, it may be necessary for your provider to run a seed install. This involves making the first backup a local backup (encrypted) to a local removable device  and shipping it to the remote server location. Subsequent backups may then be run online.

Most of the above issues are avoidable given pre-installation analysis. All of them are sortable.

If one of the above issues has caused significant difficulty for you, consider your provider choice.

The backupanytime team.

One common misconception regarding online backup is the assumption that cost per gig (cpg) is the single deciding cost factor. This is far from correct and we will highlight and explain as follows.

Online backup cost is affected by a multitude of factors. Here we will address the most important cost variables.

Software costs.

Some companies will provide the software for free. Your function as a buyer here is not necessarily to ensure your software comes free but that any free offering you accept is at least as good as a competing paid or conversely that any paid for software option you purchase is superior to free offerings.

Installation

installation may also be free. Ensure however that this does not compromise on the area of data selection and that your intended gives you adequate time, advice and assistance. Free software and installation can attract large numbers of short term clients so make sure your supplier takes your business very seriously. Remind yourself that this is your data, not anyone else’s. If you have a complicated network you would be well advised to actively seek a paid installation solution so you can call the shots in the absence of an free gratis.

Broadband (Speed)

Your broadband upload speed will have to be fast enough to transfer your data in the period you allow. If for example you intend backing up overnight you will need the backup variables data quantity and backup window to be compatible with your upload speed and this may require a broadband upgrade.

Broadband (Limits & fair usage policy)

Given that your broadband speed is satisfactory, you will need to ensure that any upload limits exceed the quantity of dat you will be transferring per session. Also, in the case of so called “unlimited broadband” you will need to ensure that any fair usage policy does not slow down your transfer or general browsing.

Cost per gig

This is the most commonly used (and possibly the most commonly misunderstood) variable with regard to online backup cost. Cost per gig is actually a more complicated area than most people realise. Here is why.

There are a number of contradictory interpretations of the term “cost per gig”. It can be used to relate to the amount of native data you backup of it could be used to relate to the amount of compressed data you backup. Add to this the confusion around varying degrees of compression. For example, office documents will compress very well while a zip file (which is already compressed) will in most cases not compress at all.

Also, different online backup software options offer varying levels of compression. In addition, some software options allow the compression rate to be changed by the user. Be aware however that the higher the level of compression, the longer it will take for the data to be processed which in turn reduces your effective backup window. Low rates of compression will reduce the backup window but increase the amount of space required.

Retention

This is the quantity of versions of data you wish to retain over a period of time. The greater the number of versions the more restore options you have and the more space you will use. This is a very important area of online backup and is the reason that intelligent users will require commercial space offering significantly more than their estimated post compression requirement. You do not know how far you need to go back until you go back.

Mirrors

The number of mirrors available to you is the number of actual data stores which your online backup provider has retained should an outage occur at provider level. In brief, the number of mirrors multiplies the quantity of space used. This greatly increases the cost to the provider. If a provider seems particularly cheap and does not mention mirrors, ask and seek evidence. Commonly a provider will offer their main data store and one mirror as standard with the option to add additional mirrors at a cost.

A very rough formulae for working out a bench mark for the cost and overall suitability of online backup can be presented as follows;

((((Q/C)*(P)*(M)*(1.S))/L)*MA)

Where Q=quantity of data, C=compression factor, P=price per gig, M=number of mirrors, S=supplier quality rating from 0 to 9, L=local infrastructure quality from 1 to 3, MA=months archive from 1 upwards

Try the mathematics yourself using real and comparative data. This exercise will give you a basic grounding in comparing offerings relative to your requirements.

The economics of online backup may be simple. This simple analogy can only be used effectively when you establish the following.

How much data do you have? How much compression do you want to use? How long a backup window do you have? What broadband speeds and limits do you need? How many months archive do I want? How many mirrors do I want my provider to employ?

And critically: What level of support do I require. Remember that this product may be your only safeguard should a disaster strike. Free support means your total data outage will queue up behind the day to day queries and chat of other businesses. Ensure an SLA or critical incident payment option is available.

If you have any questions about this article please contact backupanytime as per our online backup contact page.

The backupanytime team.

7 July 2008
Smart move with ESB network
Smart Telecom which at one time appeared to be not so smart telecom after having clients
cut off by Eircom would appear to have weathered that storm with news that they have
successfully negotiated a three year deal with ESB Telecoms to provide 10 Gbps broadband.

This would allow Smart a potential market not just in excess of their current share but
several times their current target market.

The services would be available to business and domestic users. After the deal, the main
barriers facing Smart telecom are regulatory rather than technical. While regulation
may indeed pose a threat it is likely that given the need for increased broadband and
competition opportunities in the industry, the required increae in Smart telecoms local
loop unbundling should not be a major difficulty.

With rumours abound not so long ago about Smart telecoms upcoming demise, it would
appear that the critics have been silenced by the paradox of Smart telecom surviving
the boom and now entering a phase of great expansion at the start of what many would
call the start of the recession. Watch this space.