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Sunday, December 09, 2007

Why Online Backups Are The Only Choice For Many Businesses

Online backup is a process of taking routine backups of data and files from your computers or servers and it is generally taken at least once every week and ideally every day. This is one of the preferred data protection measures and nowadays all business organisations regularly take online backups of important data and documents.

Taking regular online backups of your essential documents and data is now very easy and initially your service providers may provide a free trial for a fixed duration. To begin your service, you simply download the online backup software and the software does the rest of the job.

The program collects the various files, compresses and encrypts the files and then sends these encrypted files to the remote server of the service provider. No one, even the employees of the backup company, has access to these files and the files decrypt only when they are received back on the originating computer or server. Thus, this ensures not only the safety of the data but also its security.

There are lots of features available including open file backup, binary data transfer, and continuous or predefined backup. Generally the software has the feature of taking backups even when several files such as Outlook emails or SQL files are open. The administrator, in such case, need not plan separate maintenance and backup schedules. Another feature is continuous backup of data instead of predefined schedule. Companies and especially financial institutions need continuous backup of financial records and banking statements for FSA regulation purposes.

The latest techniques allow the identification and transfer of only binary data that has been changed from earlier backups, instead of taking whole data files. This technique not only reduces traffic on local area networks (LAN) and the time required for online backup, it also reduces the bandwidth and hence the cost of backups. The other typical feature of backup software is that it is compatible with almost all the operating system environments such as Windows, Linux, UNIX, and Macintosh.

There are many advantages of online backups over traditional backup systems. First of all the user has nothing to do manually to store data, or take the backup of data. Secondly, with online backups the data is automatically stored on the remote servers at a predefined time intervals or continuously.

Secure online backups also use software that encrypt the files so no one can have access to the data, however in traditional backup scenarios, you have to ensure yourself that the data is safe as well as secure, by keeping it in safe custody as well as password protecting it.

Online backups are necessary for data safety and you should ensure that your data or the necessary documents should be stored at a remote and safe location for your business continuity in the event of disaster or hardware failures.

Using Online Data Storage

Most people don't realize how convenient online data storage really is in these days using email storage services. The benefits for storing excess data online and freeing up space on your own hard drive is becoming a popular trend. Backing up information that could be lost if something is to go wrong on the current storage media is another very common use of online data storage.

Instead of going through a process of sending data from one computer to the next, online data storage makes files easier to access from all around the world. You can backup those pictures and important documents online for free by opening an account with a free online storage provider and access them from any internet connection.

Online data storage is an excellent way to back up files in a place that can always be counted on to find your what you backed up. Internal and external hard drives can't always be counted on for your back up needs. An internal hard drive can simply crash and you will lose all your information you thought was safe forever. An external hard drive can be stolen, or misplaced. This is why online storage sites are becoming more common for the home user and businesses.

Accessibility is everything nowadays. You don't have to go out and buy a huge pack of cds to back up all your material. Online data storage is quick and simple way for the home user or business person to quickly store information and access it at another time with out having to go through the loops of searching for everything on a computer or back up disks. Most websites will allow you to login with a secure password and access your data from anywhere in the world. Have you ever been at work and needed to access a document that would normally be stored on your home computer? This is no longer a problem when taking advantage of the advice provided by this article.

There are many different websites that promise many things when it comes to online data storage. A good way to makes sure the site that you pick is safe and reliable is to read up on the website's history and check reviews by other users that happen to frequent the site for their back up needs. Make sure the usual online subjects are present on the storage website. Also, review the terms and privacy policies to ensure you know where you understand how your data is held.

Protecting your data by backing it up online has never been so easy and free. Be a smart user and keep your important files online for the sake of the data and ease of access.

Online Backups, Are You Being Smart?

Data loss is one of the major problems especially in big business houses where a large number of data has to be dealt with and in all the circumstances the data loss can be minimized by using secure online backups. Although there are many conventional backup systems such as CD, DVD, and floppy that can be used for storing small amount of data, however for storing large amount of data secure online backup seems to be the right option.

Nowadays many commercial secure online backup providers are easily available and after paying a nominal fee, you can store your data at a remote location. These commercial online backup stores ask you to download their backup software and the software manages the backup and does the rest of job. A few commercial backup stores charge anywhere between 20 cents to 3 dollar per month for storing 1 GB of data, however there are some online backup stores who offer the online backup free for a limited period.

Actually you should ensure that the commercial online backup you have chosen is genuine and reliable and the privacy of your document is maintained. Many individuals take the benefits of these low cost commercial secure online backup facilities and store their family albums and other data. The software provided by commercial stores is easy to operate and with the instructions provided to you, you can install and operate the online backup software. You should try with a free online secure backup for a month and if satisfied with the services you should continue for the desired period.

The secure online backup software will generally have many features and the latest and modern software are equipped with highly sophisticated technique to protect the privacy of the data. The system ensures that backups are taken routinely as per your requirement and accordingly you are intimated by email. The software also ensures that the file system and directories structure is maintained during backup.

The software installed at your computer first compresses the data and sometimes the space occupied by the data is reduced to 85 percent. The data afterwards encrypted so that the privacy of these data is maintained and then forwarded to the commercial backup store via local area network or Internet. Due to the encryption of the data, these are even not accessible to the backup store employees and therefore the data are fully private and while retrieving the software installed at your computer decrypt the data.

The data loss is a very big problem for large business houses, commercial ventures and even for an individual and therefore secure online backup of data is one of the right options for each one of us. Sometimes it is also necessary to maintain the privacy of the data and therefore suitable commercial backup organization having an excellent track record should be carefully selected. So instead of taking a risk of loosing your important data, it is better to store and secure online backups available at a marginal price.

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Recover Deleted Email Messages in Vista Windows Mail

Outlook Express was, and by the time of this writing still is, the most popular email client by a huge margin. It's hard to overestimate the amount of support Outlook Express has received from third party developers. Multiple free and commercial products compete for your disk space and a place in your Start menu, including tools that backup and restore email messages, and that fix and recover corrupted mail database. Outlook Express users certainly have no lack of email recovery tools that help to recover accidentally deleted email messages.

The situation has changed momentarily. With the release of Windows Vista, Outlook Express has been superseded with a new-generation email client, Windows Mail. Windows Mail stores email messages in a new format that is completely different from Outlook Express and incompatible with anything before it. Familiar mail recovery tools for Outlook Express no longer work with Windows Mail, and, as is typical, there is no method to un-delete email messages provided by Microsoft.

Recovery for Windows Mail http://www.nsware.com/Windows-Mail-Recovery.htm is one of the first products on the market to support the new Windows email client. It is designed specifically to un-delete email messages in Windows Vista.

Windows Vista offers increased security and strengthened protection against modern threats. New security measures typically prevent users and applications from accessing important files and modifying vital information. In order to overcome these restrictions, you would have to be logged in as an Administrator, or at least as a user with administrative rights. This may become a major inconvenience for a home user, and a total show-stopper in a corporate environment.

Recovery for Windows Mail is fully aware of the new account security measures implemented in Windows Vista, and does not require you to be logged in with an administrative password. Just run Recovery for Windows Mail, and it'll do the rest - automatically!

Windows Mail differs from Outlook Express in the way it stores email. Each message is stored in a separate file, complemented by meta-information that's stored in a mail database for faster indexing. Deleting email in Windows Mail simply moves messages into the "Deleted Items" folder without affecting the files. But if you remove a message from the "Deleted Items" folder, there is no easy way to un-delete that mail.

Recovery for Windows Mail protects your messages from accidental deletion. It can un-delete and fully recover deleted mail even if it has been erased from the "Deleted Items" folder.

Recovery for Windows Mail is fully capable of recovering deleted email in the Windows Mail client. Protect yourself and download your free evaluation version here: http://www.nsware.com/Windows-Mail-Recovery.htm

THE BENEFITS OF BACKUP SYSTEMS

Remote backup is fast becoming an alternative to traditional backup procedures. Most businesses do not rely on online remote backup as a single source for storage of critical data, but instead use it in addition to traditional backup solutions. It affords them a third storage area and data recovery source in the event of a catastrophic disaster. A remote, online, or managed backup service is a service that provides users with an online system for backing up and storing computer files.

Online backup systems are typically built around a client software program that runs on a schedule, usually once a day. This program collects, compresses, encrypts, and transfers the data to the remote backup service provider's servers.

A feature of some services is the capability to back up the primary site data plus remote offices and branch offices in a relatively seamless manner.
The ability to back up files that are extensively opened, such as Outlook files or SQL database files can be useful. Such ability allows IT administrators to run back up jobs any time of the day, not requiring setting aside server maintenance time. Most online backup products need an add-on for this.

A Multi-platform backup service can back up multiple platforms such as the various flavors of Windows, Macintosh, and Linux/UNIX. A continuous backup feature allows the tool to back up continuously or on a predefined schedule. Both methods have advantages and disadvantages. Most backup tools are schedule-based and perform backups at a predetermined time. Some services provide continuous data backups which are used by large financial institutions and large online retailers. However, there is typically a tradeoff with performance and system resources.Some services allow you to access your backed up files via a normal web browser. Many tools do not provide this type of functionality.

A way to minimize network traffic is to transfer only the binary data that has changed from one day to the next. The more serious tools use this method rather than transfer entire files. Tools originally designed for network backup use this method.

Remote backup has advantages over traditional backup methods. Remote backup does not require user intervention. The user does not have to change tapes, label CDs or perform other manual steps. It maintains data offsite. Perhaps the most important aspect of backing up is that backups are stored in a different location from the original data. Traditional backup requires manually taking the backup media offsite. Some remote backup services will work continuously, backing up files as they are changed, but most remote backup services will maintain a list of versions of your files.

These computer backup systems might have, though, some disadvantages. Depending on the available network bandwidth, the restoration of data can be slow. Because data is stored offsite, the data must be recovered either via the Internet or via tape.

Often business might look at data storage in another state as additional protection against data loss, especially if the original area is prone to natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes or earthquakes. Online and remote backup is gaining in popularity for the safety and security of the data. The idea is you download your data through an online process to a remote location that stores the data in a secure environment. Your company has access to the data 24/7 for recovery needs or further backup.

Sunday, December 02, 2007

The Need For Remote Backups

Remote backups, as the name suggests, are backups taken remotely. These backups are taken without interfering with the server, the data of which is being backed up. Remote backups are relatively new but are catching up quite rapidly as compared to other forms of backup.

Remote backups are exactly similar to online backups. Online backups involve copying the data while it is being saved on the server and simultaneously saving it to some offsite location. Online backups are also known as real time backups as they involve backing up the data in ?real time' that is almost simultaneously to the entry of the data. In the same way, remote backups involve taking a backup of the data to be backed up in real time. Real time backups involve backing up the data as and when it is entered into the system. However remote backup and online backup should not be construed to mean the same thing. Remote backups are a part of online backups. Remote backups are a type of online backups, which are normally preferred by organizations as they do away with the shortcomings of conventional backups as well as the shortcomings of other forms of online backups.

Remote backups involve backing up of the data of a particular server from a place distant to the server. Online backups involve running a backup process simultaneously on he server, which is to be backed up. This often leads to the server being overloaded with multiple processes and programs. This leads to low performance and output levels from the server. It also increases the risk of a server crash due to overloading. These shortcomings of other forms of online backups led to the origin of remote backups.

Remote backups do away with almost all shortcomings of conventional forms of backing up data. Remote backups do not involve interfering with the server being backed up. This virtually rules out any form of mishap to the server due interference during the back up process. Hence data integrity is not compromised on during the process of remote back up. Also remote backups are conducted simultaneously to the process of data entry. Hence, this form of backup does not require the server to remain idle for some time. This form of back up thus does not involve any down time on the part of the organization. Thus the organization can save on many productive man-hours. These can further be used profitably by the organization.

Remote backups also do away with the shortcomings of the other forms of online backups. As they are not run on the server being backed up, they do not compromise on the integrity of the data being backed up as also on the performance of the server. Also, such backups can be retrieved almost instantly. This is not the case with other forms of online backups, which can be retrieved only with a certain time lag. Remote backups also have a distinct advantage in comparison to other forms of backup. Remote backups are taken simultaneously offsite on a different server and hence are almost always reliable. Remote backups are steadily gaining ground among corporate and other organizations due to their obvious advantages and are here to stay.

Electronic Discovery 2.0

Electronic Discovery 2.0, or ?e-discovery 2.0? refers to the next generation of processes, technologies, and services that streamline and modernize the traditional e-discovery process as well as allows businesses to manage huge volumes of data, lower costs, and meet tight deadlines. In this Electronic Discovery process civil litigants seek to acquire information from both parties and from third parties.

In the early days Electronic Data & Evidence Recovery meant just handling over a few boxes of paper, but in today?s rapidly growing world where it involves terabytes of electronic data & valuable time, it is a different story. To deal with the increasing volume & complexity of e-discovery issues, companies have to adopt new technologies and processes.

If technology has created problem, then it can also solve it. In recent years lot of new technologies have emerged which enables organizations to store and search through their data to fulfill electronic discovery obligations.

As the cost of disk storage is reducing, people are moving from tapes to disks. This enables them to keep their data online and readily available for e-discovery from basic keyword search to sophisticated analysis tools. That mines all meta data from e-mails and groups them together for relevance and allow users to search thousands of mails and logs in minutes to identify and export the data.

From the company?s perspective Electronic Data Discovery has become a core competency and a part of doing business.

iPod Solutions: Data Recovery for Lost MP3 Files

What exactly is an iPod? iPod is a brand of portable media players designed and marketed by Apple and launched in October 2001. Devices in the iPod range are primarily digital audio players, designed around a central click wheel?with the exception of the iPod Shuffle, which uses buttons because of its size. As of October 2005, the line-up consists of the video-capable fifth generation iPod, the smaller iPod nano, and the displayless iPod shuffle. The full-sized model stores media on an internal hard drive, while the smaller iPod nano and iPod Shuffle use flash memory. Like many digital music players, iPods can also serve as external data storage devices. In January 2007, Apple announced the iPhone, a device that combined the features of the video-capable iPod with mobile phone and mobile Internet capabilities. Apple's iTunes software is used to transfer music to the devices. As a free jukebox application, iTunes stores an entire music library on the user's computer and can play, burn, and rip music from a CD. It can also transfer photos, videos, games, and calendars to the models that support them.

Thus, it can be seen easily that the wide use of the iPod, coupled with its vast storage space (anywhere between 512 MB and 80 GB; the latter compares with some full-size hard drives for PCs) together creates situation in which iPod users are not immune from data loss and the subsequent need for data recovery. Data recovery, you exclaim? Is people?s music that important? In fact, it is; however, increasingly commonly, people have been storing data other than music on their iPods. A recent survey conducted by Newsweek magazine reported that of 500 iPod owning-respondents, 492 reported storing music on their iPod. Of these, 342 reported that the iPod contained their most recent and entire music collection. Further, they reported that they would feel ?extreme distress? if they were to lose this collection due to data loss. Of the entire respondent pool, 145 respondents stated that they stored data such as documents, spreadsheets, and other work- and business- related documents on the iPod, elucidating that the iPod?s extreme portability and reliability lead to their doing this.

Thus, it is clear that people do store rather important data on their iPods. Apple reports that 55% of all iPods sold contain hard drives, while the rest use flash-based memory, which is far less prone to data loss due to its lack of moving parts and solid-state technology. However, this renders over fifty million iPods the world over prone to data loss. Experts report that iPods are, in fact, more prone to data loss than typical PCs because of their portability and consequent exposure to far more risky situations and unusual circumstances. Underwriters Laboratories LLP, the world?s leading product testing agency reports that it has received confirmed accounts of iPods that have unwittingly been exposed to the following hazardous situations: fire, water, floods, earthquakes, dropping from a few feet, dropping from ten to twenty-five feet, dropping from four storeys or more, electrocution, power surges, power failures (within and without the devices), physical damage due to children, pets, and extreme anger, and so on.

As with any hard drive, physical trauma to an iPod may result in data loss. Further, logical failures, though rare for iPods, are also possible; an estimated .5% of all iPods sold worldwide had defective hard drives that are more prone to logical failures. This exposes 500,000 potential users to this problem, creating the need for redressal.

iPods that have experienced data loss are treated in the same manner as that for PC hard drives; first, methods employing software are tried. If these fail, more aggressive methods such as removing the hard drive and attempting to access the data through another system/IDE controller are used; however, the latter are costly and are only done in cases in which the data is critical, as these methods involve considerable expense.

However, it is important for iPod owners experiencing possible data loss to remember that their data is eminently recoverable, except in the rarest and most extreme situations. One can say that even in the bleakest of situations, hope is still alive for their precious music libraries and data collections.