How to choose an online backup provider

.

Different online backup providers provide different features and customers’ requirements vary. The ultimate decision depends on the features the customer requires. To help you work out which company will offer you the best service we have listed a few considerations that are a ‘must ask’.

.

1. Select your back up solution carefully, time spent now evaluating the services on offer will pay dividends when you need to restore.

.

2. Anyone can backup but only heroes can restore!! It’s an old cliché but rings true every time. Make sure the solution allows you to restore your files and databases easily and quickly.

.

3. Don’t think about ‘how do I back up’, think about ‘how do I restore’?

a. Look at it this way… if you back up 500GB of data online and you need to restore it following a disaster, that will take 5 days on a fast 10MB internet    connection.

b. If the service provider hosts their servers behind a link that is slower than yours, you could be waiting a lot longer for the restore to complete.

c. Ideally the service provider should own all of their own servers and have a dedicated rack or suite of racks. That way they can access your data directly and courier it back to you in a timely fashion rather than waiting for an restore over the Internet.

.

4. Can the service provider install the software remotely on your server or desktop. Exchange, Active Directory and SQL databases can be difficult to back up on any platform. Do you want to struggle with software you have never seen before? If they can’t help here, will they help when you need to restore?

.

5. Will the service provider allow you to back up any size and type of file?

.

6. Will the service provider retain your data for longer than 30 days?

.

7. Are there hidden charges for agents or a long term contract?

.

8. Don’t be fooled by gimmicks such as a million pound insurance guarantee. Will the insurance company really pay off your mortgage and buy you a Ferrari if you can’t restore your iTunes?

.

9. You could try asking your independent IT Support Company, chances are they will already use and trust an online backup service they can recommend and implement for you.

.

10. Perform a test restore every six weeks.

.

One last thing…. make sure you can restore your data!