Cloud data protection: Synching versus backup

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	BEST PRACTICES Cloud data protection: Synching versus backup
	By Lincoln Spector Cloud services such as Dropbox and Google Drive provide both safe data storage and the convenience of synching files across platforms. But are they suitable for reliable, automated backups of PCs and other devices? Are they on par with backup-centric services such as Carbonite and Mozy?

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The full text of this column is posted at WindowsSecrets.com/best-practices/cloud-data-protection-synching-versus-backup/ (paid content, opens in a new window/tab).

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How well do any of these backup-synching services protect against cryptolocker type viruses that actually encrypt files on your hard disk?

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Please check out Backblaze a service that I chose over your reviewed offerings that is lower cost and seems to have higher performance and lots of flexibility.

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My criteria and analysis concludes that OneDrive works better than the others in my situation. I have no need for versioning and use Office exclusively for documents, spreadsheets and databases. I find that other analyses depict OneDrive in a more favorable light.

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I agree about separate syncing and backup – I use DropBox and OneDrive for syncing. I use IBackup.com for backups.

I’ve tried Mozy, Carbonite, sosonlinebackup.com, and backup.com. I found all of them slow or hard to use.

I’ve been using IBackup.com for more than two years. It’s inexpensive and easy to use. I have been happy with it but I’m especially happy with the newest version. The initial backup is a full backup so it can take a while. Subsequent backups are very, very fast. IBackup keeps something like the last 30 versions of each file – this is more than sufficient for my needs. I rarely have to go back more than 2 versions.

Restore is also very fast. Speedy restore is very important to me because, although I rarely need to restore, when I need to restore, I need it to be fast.

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Thanks for the review.
First thing I’d say is I quite disagree about system images. A reinstall of the OS, all apps and then data has typically taken me several days. Would your business handle you being off-line for several days? Or waiting a week for a drive to arrive?

I’ve tried several online services for backup and found them way too unreliable for a primary backup. Sync? Sure, but not backup. You want backup to be bullet-proof and online adds way too many new points of failure. I’ve found a system image impractical to store online. Too long to upload, too expensive to maintain, too long to download.

The solution for a system image is 2 external hard drives. Image weekly and store that drive off site. Alternate them.

I then use a separate local data backup daily. Plus a periodic sync as a secondary backup. And I use FileHamster for backup on save of key files and folders. It’s saved my bacon a couple of times.

Also a key note if you use encryption – can you access that data if your system is down and special software required? You may find 7-zip encryption more suitable so you can always access your data with portable software. A backup is useless if it’s inaccessible until you’ve fully restored.

If you want to be really geeky, check out ownCloud. It allows you to create your own online storage system – no worries about Google or MS etc snooping. It has shared calendar, bookmarks and other such things too.

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“…The solution for a system image is 2 external hard drives. Image weekly and store that drive off site. Alternate them…” DavidFB
That’s exactly my vote here. Each computer is backed up onto each of the two external HDs, which are then stored in another room. Offsite considered, however, if I lost the apartment, the restores won’t matter. Hmmm, maybe I should consider offsite?

"Take care of thy backups and thy restores shall take care of thee." Ben Franklin, revisted

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Lincoln: I am disappointed that you dropped OneDrive from your analysis. I have no use for versioning, or rather I manage my own versioning system, and absolutely do not want or need my OneDrive backup system to retain versions. OD provides a remarkably cheap (with 1 TB coming “free” with an Office 365 sub) and effective back up option. I sync my data partition to a OneDrive partition on my computer twice each week (on other days I backup key folders to Briefcase). This seems a fine option to me, since I am working in Central Asia and do not have the luxury of highspeed broadband. I hope you can think through the range of options that OneDrive (and other cloud backup programs) offer and cover them in a future article.

By the way, the reason I don’t want versioning in the cloud is that I maintain my own versions, by moving backup files to a folder in a different partition on my hard drive. So I end up with an almost complete history of a file, with up to around 50 versions. Some time after completion of the job, I delete the folder.

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Lincoln: I am disappointed that you dropped OneDrive from your analysis. I have no use for versioning, or rather I manage my own versioning system, and absolutely do not want or need my OneDrive backup system to retain versions. OD provides a remarkably cheap (with 1 TB coming “free” with an Office 365 sub) and effective back up option. I sync my data partition to a OneDrive partition on my computer twice each week (on other days I backup key folders to Briefcase). This seems a fine option to me, since I am working in Central Asia and do not have the luxury of highspeed broadband. I hope you can think through the range of options that OneDrive (and other cloud backup programs) offer and cover them in a future article.

By the way, the reason I don’t want versioning in the cloud is that I maintain my own versions, by moving backup files to a folder in a different partition on my hard drive. So I end up with an almost complete history of a file, with up to around 50 versions. Some time after completion of the job, I delete the folder.

I’m disappointed that you dropped OneDrive too. Now with unlimited free space with O365, you can’t beat it. Versioning is not important to me either. Much of what I do is with Photoshop Lightroom, which keeps changes in a database rather than updating each image file. It automatically does database backups, and versions those backups. While the granularity isn’t perfect, it’s more than adequate for me. The vast majority of my other documents rarely change. And for those that do, I save a separate version consciously. I’ve found OneDrive to have the best uploading performance of those I’ve tried. I currently have about 700gb of data, and this is excellent off-site, inexpensive, easy to share cloud storage.

I’m also considering doing an image backup of my operating system partition and letting OneDrive sync the backup file.

And this is in addition to my local backups…

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Good article on all these services. What I suggest to people who ask me is, all those “cloud based” services are fine for vacation pictures, committee agenda Word documents, etc. but I would NEVER send my tax return, Quicken data or wills or anything personal up there. No matter what they say, they can be hacked. One rogue server admin can delete or copy your info. I know, you might say they are encrypted. But I say, there are some really smart guys on the bad side so why take a chance. Thanks for the good work.

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One of the best in the industry CloudBacko Backup Software. This software would allow backup on multiple drives. You can try this, I recommend because I’ve used it many times.

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