My Secure Backup

My current Online backup recommendation is Spideroak. I no longer recommend My Secure Backup. SS- Jan 2019

I've been using and recommending Internet backup for my clients for a few years now.

Why Internet Backup?

Here is what one of my clients wrote me after moving from DVD backups to the Internet backup.

A feature that I (really) like about this back up is:

I do not have to remember:  Am I leaving the office for awhile? Will I be using the computer heavily for the next hour?  To get the DVD. Set up the back up, Start the back up, Check it, Return the DVD, Label the DVD.

In other words, I don't have to remember anything.

He asked to remain anonymous. You see, the backup simply happens whether you remember anything or not.

The backup is kept off-site so floods, fire or theft are not an issue.

Choosing an Internet Backup Provider

A proper backup site will be audited and comply with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Audit procedures for service organizations (SAS 70). This ensures that their data handling procedures are reliable and have been carefully examined. They will also replicate their data center in two other cities so a fire or earthquake or equipment failure in two separate sites still will not lose the data.

When looking at an Internet backup system you need to look at price, support issues, whether the place keeping your backups replicates them, whether they have passed SAS 70 audits, how flawlessly the software works and how easily you can retrieve your files. For a few years I've been recommending IBackup and moved many of my clients to it. For the last few months I've moved to MySecureBackup which I like even better.

If you are currently using Ibackup and it is working for you, then that's fine, there is no need to change, however, I am now recommending MySecureBackup which is less expensive, and seems to have better software and support.

Selecting your files is very easy and works perfectly. You can choose any folder and the sub-folders or no subfolders. You can choose a folder and all subfolders except some. There are plenty of options to make the selection easy and accurate. It will keep as many previous copies as you like.

If you want to see how it is working, just open the program and view your backup history.

Accessing Your Backup

You can access your files on the web, but the easiest way to do so is to make a network drive.  This can be done with 3 clicks. Once setup, it will remain until you disable it. Start the program from the icon in the system tray and select Configure.

That's all there is to it. Just Select Network Drive then Pull down the list and choose a letter. I use M for MySecureBackup.

Once you have enabled a network drive, it will appear in Windows explorer just like any other network drive and you can upload to the drive, or copy files from it.

You don't want to use this to backup files. That is done by selecting "What to Backup" from the main configuration menu. There are advantages to using Backup instead of Copy to backup your files, but this is the perfect way to get a file off your backup.

Cost and Service

I charge $36⁄year for an account. The account enables you to backup as many computers as you like. Each computer will be stored separately under your account. So, all your office computers and some home computers could be under a single account if you like. I also charge $15⁄year for each 5 gigabyte increment for data storage, and I charge $35 per computer to install the software and setup your backup for you and give you any training you want.

A typical user with 2 computers would pay: Recurrent charges: $36 ⁄ year for the account $15 ⁄ year for 5 gigabytes of space Total: $51 ⁄ year.

One time charges: $35 per computer for software installation and setup.

MySecureBackup has software  for Windows, Macintosh and Linux. I am only competent to support Windows.