Beginning in February our Sales Manager, David Branch, will offer a series of free webinars designed to help you sell more online backup services. Dave has decades of experience in software and services sales, and has been through advanced industry sales training. His insight and experience will prove invaluable.

Webinar dates will be announced soon. Each will start with a presentation, and end with a question and answer period.

Join us online and learn how to sell more, faster!

Space is limited, so please [register in advance here.]

Some topics include:

Don’t say This say That

• How to better answer new client questions
• Answering customer questions

Have You Asked This Lately?

• Can you share with me your growth expectations for 2012?
• Are we currently protected all your data?
• What changes can we make in 2012?
• Do you find us to be informative?

Telemarketing and how we can help

• Telemarketing is the first step.
• When to get us involved.
• Explaining the price point.

Subscription Importance

• Everyone’s future
• Keep your customers with the best technology

Forecasting vs Budget vs Incoming Revenues

Space is limited, so please [register in advance here.]

I haven’t mentioned the RBS Referral Network lately, mainly because it’s all automatic and just sends out referrals without making too much fuss.

Joining the Referral Network is free, but there are some qualifications. You have to own at least a 200-Credit version of RBackup, sign the Referral Network Agreement, have active Priority Support, have been in business for at least 90 days, and agree to RBS’ Privacy Policy.

All the specifics are at this link. Maybe you would like to join!

-Rob Cosgrove

We are very excited about 2012 here at RBS!

To start the year we brought aboard Dave Branch as Sales Manager.

We made some big changes in Tech Support, including promoting Stephanie Wallace to Support Coordination Manager and adding more Tech Support engineers to our staff.

We replaced our phone system with a new unified communications system that better links our two offices with voice, data, and audio/video conferencing, and added more bandwidth at both offices. This will result in quicker, more efficient Tech Support. It also provides “work from anywhere” capabilities for critical employees as part of our continuity plan.

There’s a lot more going on here that I will talk about later, like moving some critical services into the Cloud, improving our back office integration, and adding some exciting new products. Stay tuned for more updates.

I am looking forward to a GREAT year, and I wish you the same.

-Rob Cosgrove, President

David Branch has been appointed Sales Manager (World) for Remote Backup Systems, a leader in the development of Online Backup software. Based in the Memphis headquarters, David will provide experience and vital resources to RBS’ entire network of Service Providers.

David has a substantial career in software sales and support, having represented Ansys, PDA and AutoTrol. David has been involved with reseller networks and channel partners, and understands the distribution side of sales. We expect our customers to benefit from his experience and technical aptitude.

I need a little help wrapping my head around something. Maybe you can help. You’ve been asking me for a Bare Metal Backup feature, and I am about to give it to you. My questions are all about how you’re going to use it, and how you’re going to charge for it, and truthfully, I want to know why you want an online BMR backup solution at all.

Bare Metal Backup (sometimes called Imaging, sometimes called P2V)  is a feature that backs up an entire hard drive – programs, data and all, and then can restore it to a different drive (or a virtual machine) complete, ready to run, bootable, an exact copy of the original drive. There’s no file selection because it backs up everything.

BMR is good for quick disaster recovery. It’s easy and fast – the fastest way to restore from a drive crash. It is good for restoring an entire drive. With just a few exceptions it is not good for restoring individual files or folders, so you still need standard file-based online backup.

BMR backups are HUGE. If a customer has 500GB of stuff on the drive, the size of the first backup is 500GB before compression and maybe 350GB after compression. Subsequent backups are smaller, but still bigger than file-based backups.

With BMR, Service Providers have to provide storage space for entire drives, including temporary files, junk files, swap files, duplicate files, EVERYTHING on the drive. This uses up far more storage space than just backing up carefully selected file sets, which by the way, compress much tighter than whole drives.

After the first BMR backup (the full backup) even the incremental backups are much bigger than incremental file backups. Just think about it – your operating system changes a lot of stuff on a drive besides the files you work with. Just booting Windows changes things in the registry, gigantic swap files, and temp files – hardly any of which are critical for backups, yet all of which will get backed up in incremental BMR backups.

So here are my basic questions –

Are your customers really willing to pay for storage space for those huge backups?

An average computer doing BMR backups might need 700GB of storage space after six months – the full backup and lots of incrementals. This is FAR more space than might be required for file-based backups.

How much do you charge for storage? If you charge $.50 per GB per month, that’s $350/month. Most of my Service Providers charge more than a dollar per GB. Will your customers pay that much money in addition to your other charges for standard file-based backups, which they still need even if they are doing BMR backups?

How long will your customers wait for a first full backup, or for a restore?

Uploading it for the first time is nearly impossible. So, the first backup will have to be done on-site in a labor and travel-intensive procedure using a portable drive, which is then transported back to your Server and imported manually.

Restores would have to be done the same way in reverse, because downloading 700GB will take too long. Your customers probably won’t be able to do it themselves. You will have to do it, and do it fast, because… (and here’s the kicker.)

Every BMR restore job is an emergency by definition. An entire computer is down. Are you able to drop whatever you’re doing at a moment’s notice to do an on-site restore that might take a few hours?

If that restore is to a new computer (which is the case much of the time) you will have to replace drivers, perhaps set up peripherals again, reset software licenses, and maybe tweak network settings. This could run into many hours of work, which must be done with very high priority.

Will your customers pay for your time and materials to assist them with a lengthy on-site restore?

Will they pay you enough to make it worthwhile for you to drop other customers, leave your shop for a half day, whatever it takes? Will the customers you postponed because of this restore job lose faith in you?

As an alternative to online BMR, my idea to make BMR backups easier to sell is to sell end users a big USB drive to leave on site, and to do BMR backups only to the onsite drive while doing standard file-based backups online like normal. Then you have an easy and very quick way to restore an entire system (from the on-site drive,) and then you can restore all newer files from the Online Backup server through standard file-based online restore.

The BMR backup is not stored on the Service Provider’s server, so storage costs for the end user would be very low. This idea, of course, assumes that the onsite drive isn’t destroyed in a disaster.

Now, lately I’ve had about even numbers of people calling about doing online BMR backups for personal users and for business users. I think many (but not all) businesses will pay an adequate premium for online BMR backups. I do not think personal users will. What do you think?

What pricing structure will you use? Will you charge separately for your time and materials to do the first full backup, and then again if a restore is needed?

Let’s look at some possible costs for providing a BMR backup service.

• You’ll need a few big, fast USB drives. I don’t know, maybe $300 each?
• You’ll need the BMR software. That might cost $299 per end user.
• There’s normal overhead like phones, gasoline, millage, etc.
• There’s the hourly cost of your time.
• Don’t forget possible loss of business because you had to delay work for other customers with very little notice.
• If you’re providing an online BMR backup service, you have the cost of your storage space. You can calculate that here:

http://blog.remote-backup.com/how-to-set-prices-storage-plans-calculate-profits-and-double-your-storage-space/

OK, so what have I missed? Half my sales calls these days ask about Bare Metal Backup. So, you must know something that I don’t. There must be an adequate business case out there somewhere. Please comment with your thoughts.

Trusting you, I have spent thousands upon thousands of dollars to develop a BMR solution – two of them, in fact. You will probably see one of them within a few weeks. But will you be able to sell it at a profit, and will you buy it from me in quantities that will allow me an adequate return on my investment, and enough to pay for its support costs?

Most of the callers I have spoken with assume I will include this as a standard feature of the RBackup software without raising the price. But I am sure I cannot. It has been far too expensive to develop, and it will be far too expensive to support.

I expect one out of every two restores to generate a call to RBS Tech Support, not because restores are hard to do, but because they are so important, and each is an emergency. No time to read the documentation, and you will want to check with an engineer to make sure you do it right. I don’t blame you at all.

But, tech support calls are expensive, and I have to cover their costs with the price I charge for software and maintenance subscriptions. That’s just proper business, and I think you want me to stay in business and continue to support you. So I have to cover my expenses.

We have not yet set a price for RBS’ BMR solution. My best guess is that there might be three versions with different capabilities selling for $199, $299, and $499 per end user. You would need to buy one copy for each of your users.

These prices are FAR cheaper than software with similar features that sells for $800 – $1200 per copy. So while the price might sound high, it’s actually a really good deal.

How will you use a BMR solution? How much will you charge for it? Will you charge a monthly fee? Will you charge separately for the first backup, and again for a restore?

After you work out how much you will have to charge for a BMR service, how many of your customers will pay that much?

Rob Cosgrove is the President of Remote Backup Systems, founder of the Online Backup Industry, and a vocal advocate for maintaining the highest standards in Online Backup software. His latest book, the Online Backup Guide for Service Providers: How to Start and Operate an Online Backup Service, is available online now, on Amazon.com, and at bookstores.

Remote Backup Systems provides brandable, scalable software and solutions to MSPs and VARs enabling them to offer Online Backup Services.

As part of a plan to strengthen its technical support capabilities, Remote Backup Systems, the leading developer of online backup software, is pleased to announce the promotion of Stephanie Wallace to the position of Support Coordination Manager, providing vital resources to the company’s entire network of service providers.

“Our technical team needed a new kind of manager to better coordinate activities and successes,” Rob Cosgrove, CEO noted, “Stephanie is a breath of fresh air for our providers. Her multitasking skills are the best I have ever seen. With her ability to juggle emailing, instant messaging, while talking on the phone is quite a sight. Stephanie has been with RBS for over a year now and has mastered each position with professionalism.”

RBS has also installed a new unified communications system that better links the two offices and will provide higher quality voice communications for customers and staff. Two additional engineers have been added to the support staff to significantly reduce the amount of time required to handle support cases.

Remote Backup Systems develops software and services for Online Backup Services who provide internet-based online backups to end users. Headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee with an engineering and technical office in Chennai, India, RBS has more than 8,500 Service Providers in more than 63 countries. RBackup Remote Backup is the most widely used subscription-based online backup software on the planet.

RBS is happy to announce the release of the public Beta Test Client version 11.4.0 for RBackup. This version has support for Exchange 2010 mailbox-level backups, among other new features.

This is a Public Beta test. Anyone can download and test it. This is the Client only. There has not been a release of a new Server.

The BETA version 11.4 Client can back up and restore Exchange 2010 mailboxes. It has a new scanning and preparation engine that supports Unicode filenames, file paths greater than 255 characters, and it makes use of multiple processors, automatically increasing the number of threads. This results in faster preparation.

We have also added Swedish language support.

You are welcome to download and try this Beta software. We strongly recommend that you use it for testing only, and not with important live clients. Please report any issues you have with it by filing a support ticket on the helpdesk at http://help.remote-backup.com

The Beta software can be downloaded here.

The documentation can be downloaded here.

RBS is expanding, and we are going to hire some new associates for our Memphis office.

Sales Manager – Experienced sales manager with proven channel experience in technical software sales. Help us develop our new channel strategy, hire and train sales people, manage our telesales department, be willing to travel.

Telephone Sales – We need three new experienced telesales professionals with at least 2 years’ experience in technical consultative sales. In-house, B2B only. We provide warm and cold leads.

Senior Software Developer – Join our development team near the top. Experience in design and development of business and web applications. Minimum of 4 years experience with .NET, C#, VB.NET. Proven experience with MS Access, SQL Server, and Oracle 11g.

Network Administrator – 4+ years’ experience with corporate network design and maintenance. Dell, Cisco, Sonic Wall, Bomgar, Linux, Windows Servers, large storage arrays.

All positions are in our Memphis office, and require impeccable references. Please, we are not accepting referrals from headhunters at this time.

If you would like to work with us, please send Rob your resume: rob@remote-backup.com.

Remote Backup Systems, the developer of RBackup Online Backup software for Managed Services Providers, has announced the availability of a Limited Source Code License for its popular Web Manager and E-Commerce PlugIns.

MSPs use RBackup to provide online backup services to their end users. White labeled and brandable, the software allows them to set up their own online backup services, hosting data backups in their own data centers.

The Web Manager and E-Commerce PlugIns provide a web interface so end users can sign up for service online, pay with a credit card or PayPal, download the software, and begin backing up immediately.

“Having the source code for the Web PlugIns allows our customers to have complete control over the look and feel,” explains Rob Cosgrove, President of RBS, “They can also change the functionality and reports, just about anything.”

For more information on this limited source code license, see this link:

http://www.remote-backup.com/online-backup-source-code.htm

About Remote Backup Systems Inc.

Remote Backup Systems, Inc. is the global leader in turnkey Online Backup solutions to MSPs, VARs, ISPs and Managed Hosting Providers, providing leading edge functionality, best-in-class customer support, and an unwavering commitment to product quality and customer satisfaction. With a twenty-five year history in Remote Backup technologies, RBS is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Rob Cosgrove’s latest book, The Online Backup Guide for Service Providers is available at Amazon.com and bookstores.

I am happy to announce that RBS is now offering no-fees, no-interest in house financing on online backup software purchases.

We have had a number of requests for this service, and while we have offered it to a few customers, we have never formalized the process and made it available to everyone, until now.

This program is available for all software purchases from $1,000 to more than $10,000. Payment plans are determined by the purchase amount, with most monthly payments at about $800.

Here’s an example. The monthly payments for a 200-Credit Starter Pack ($3,350) are $837.50 for four monthly payments.

Financed purchases must be at the full retail price, with no special offers, upgrades, or coupons.

For more information and to apply, click this link.

I am happy to announce a new release of RBS’ popular Web Manager and E-Commerce PlugIns with some great new features you’ve been asking for.

Our PlugIns put your Online Backup Service on the Web, with features like credit card processing, recurring billing, instant account provisioning, customer and administrator portals, enhanced reporting and email notifications, and much more.

Now we have updated the PlugIns with these great new features:

Support for multiple RBS Servers – Now one Web Manager PlugIn can manage multiple RBS Servers.

Multi Tenancy (available at additional price) – The Multi Tenancy feature allows you to attract Partners and Resellers by giving them all the features to Customize, Brand and Build their own Client installers. Customizable features include – Customization of graphics, Customizing backup and client options, Customizing Help Files and Client Installer settings, Customization of Email Settings/Notifications & Templates, and Payment Gateway. [more info here]

Source Code Availability (available at additional price) – A Limited Source Code License gives you access to the ASP .NET source code for the Web Manager and E-Commerce PlugIns. [more info here]

For a complete list of updates click here.

Licensed users with current support subscriptions can download the new updates from the Downloads section of the Remote Backup Systems website, http://www.remote-backup.com. For information about Multi Tenancy and Source Code, use the links above or phone RBS at 901-405-1234.

We would like to know what new products, features or services you want to see in the future. Please take a moment to let us know.

Remote Backup Systems, the founders of the online backup industry and developers of the RBackup and Mercury OEM Online Backup platforms activated its Emergency Backup Hot Site for use by its Service Providers in the path of hurricane Irene.

Remote Backup Systems has offered this business-saving service to their clients dating back to hurricane Hugo in 1989. This resource is available to online backup service providers affected by natural disasters such as hurricanes, winter storms, widespread power outages, earthquakes, tornadoes, fires, and floods affecting their data center.

If an RBS Server goes offline because of a natural disaster, RBS can temporarily take backups from provider’s clients at the Hot Site near Memphis, Tennessee, so the Service Provider doesn’t suffer further. When the disaster is over and the providers’ servers go back online, they can download the backups and resume normal business.

Remote Backup Systems encourages all of its Online Backup Service Providers in threatened areas to visit the company’s website at http://www.remote-backup.com for more information on the Hot Site service, including guidelines and instructions for activation.

“We’ve been lucky the past few years to have avoided major hurricanes,” said Rob Cosgrove, CEO and founder of Remote Backup Systems, “However, the next few days look a little sketchy for the East coast.”

Built into Remote Backup Systems multi-award winning flagship product, RBackup, is a special feature called the Server Locator.  It enables a service provider to maintain normal business in the event of a disaster by immediately transferring end users to the RBS Hot Site. It also enables them to move their RBS Servers safely to any Internet connection with a dynamic IP address anywhere in the world on a moment’s notice.

No other company offers this cutting-edge service.

In an outage of Internet service, Providers can simply move their equipment to an alternate location with Internet service, and the Server Locator will seamlessly redirect their clients within seconds to the new location.

For more information on Remote Backup Systems, visit the company’s website http://www.remote-backup.com.

About Remote Backup Systems

Remote Backup Systems, Inc. is the global leader in turnkey Online Backup solutions to MSPs, VARs, ISPs and Managed Hosting Providers, providing leading edge functionality, best-in-class customer support, and an unwavering commitment to product quality and customer satisfaction. With a twenty-one year history in Remote Backup technologies, RBS is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Rob Cosgrove’s latest book, The Online Backup Guide for Service Providers is available at Amazon.com and bookstores.

Since RBS started the Online Backup industry in 1987 many other companies have come and gone, most of them attempting to follow in our footsteps. Over the past 24 years many of these “me-too” companies have based their software on the basic protocol that we invented.

The basic process is simple and has few variants. To do a backup, compress changed data, encrypt it, send it over a network to be stored on a remote server, and make sure it got there safely.

To do a restore, present the user with an interface to select data, download the data from the server, decrypt it, then decompress it and put it back on the local computer, and make sure it got there safely.

This sounds simple, but of course if it were, RBS would have more successful competitors. Doing reliable and fully secure online backups and restores is far more complicated than this, and requires far more experience in the real world than many of the “me-too” companies will have even years from now.

It’s not just about “the software,” either. These days any entry level programmer can write a script that stores and retrieves files over the Internet. Any software designer off the street can put a pretty face on it. A good salesman can sell it nine ways to Sunday.

The software can appear adequate for a narrowly defined set of end users, or in a laboratory environment where all the parameters are known and controlled. But it can fail miserably in the real world because the designers simply don’t have enough experience in the marketplace to be able to program for the vast landscape of different needs and changing environments.

Don’t buy “just software.” Buy experience, wisdom in the marketplace, and a pedigree.

Base your business on a company who has seen it all and done it all, not on some “me-too” startup with no pedigree trying to follow RBS around like a puppy. That other guy might be cute, but he can’t run with the big dogs.

Various data privacy regulations require compliance by many companies who use Online Backup services. Generally, the regulations require that companies ensure their data are completely inaccessible except by authorized people. 

There are many data privacy regulations in many countries. Here are a few in the USA:

• Payment Card Industry (PCI)
• Sarbanes-Oxley (Section 404 – SOX 404)
• Gramm-Leach-Bliley (GLBA)
• Healthcare Industry Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
• California Privacy
• Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA)
• USA Patriot Act
• Defense Information Assurance Certification (DIACAP)
• FFIEC, FRB, OCC, FDIC, NCUA, OTS, and more.

Most online backup services offer some form of file encryption as a solution to satisfying these regulations. Some encryption is stronger than others. 

In order to fully satisfy these regulations, data must be encrypted to a certain level (which is different for each regulation) while it is in trasit and at rest on the Online Backup Server, and encryption keys must not be transmitted to the Online Backup Server. The intent is to prevent unauthorized access to the data even if the files are physically compromised.

To accomplish this, Online Backup software must encrypt data before it is transmitted to the Server, and it must not transmit the encryption keys to the server. The data must remain stored in an encrypted state, and never be unencrypted on the Server for any reason – including deduplication, synthesizing full restores, and patching sub-file backups.

Not all Online Backup Services are compliant. Some send data in its raw form over a secure connection, and the data files are stored on the Server in raw form. The files may be secure while in transit, but they are completely open to scrutiny while stored on the Server.

Other Online Backup services do a good job of data encryption but fall short when it comes to the file names, folder names and file dates.

The bulk of the sensitive data might be in the encrypted files. But, if the file names, paths, and dates are stored in native form, they can disclose very sensitive information like this:

G:\\Dr. Brown\Patients\Jack Smith\Procedures\PROC00.24.DOC   08/13/2010

In the above example, the file “PROC00.24.DOC” may be encrypted and secure, but anyone looking at the Server’s directory might easily know that Jack Smith received services associated with procedure code 00.24 from Dr. Brown on August 13, 2010.

In my opinion, storing filenames, paths and dates in raw format breaks compliance with HIPAA and is just simply a bad idea even if it doesn’t.

RBackup from Remote Backup Systems uses strong encryption (user-selectable up to 448 bits) and fully encrypts filenames, paths, and dates. It is compliant with all data privacy regulations to date.

How can you tell if your Online Backup Service might not be fully compliant? Ask these questions and look for these answers.

1. Are files encrypted using at least 256 Bit AES encryption before being sent over the Internet? (Yes)

2. Are files stored in their encrypted state? (Yes)

3. Are filenames, paths, and file dates encrypted, even in databases and indexes used for online restore? (Yes)

4. Does the Server ever have access to the encryption key used to encrypt the files? (No)

5. Does the Server ever decrypt customer files for ANY REASON? (No)

6. Does the Server do global deduplication, sub-file patching, or synthetic full backups? (No)

Rob Cosgrove, CEO Remote Backup Systems

Rob Cosgrove is the President of Remote Backup Systems, founder of the Online Backup Industry, and a vocal advocate for maintaining the highest standards in Online Backup software. His latest book, the Online Backup Guide for Service Providers: How to Start and Operate an Online Backup Service, is available online now, on Amazon.com, and at bookstores.

Remote Backup Systems provides brandable, scalable software and solutions to MSPs and VARs enabling them to offer Online Backup Services.

Our free white paper discusses the state of the industry from the inside perspective of an industry expert, Rob Cosgrove. It explains why the current economic environment is perfect for Online Backup startups, and gives insight into the costs and profit potential of the business.

With very recent survey results from MSPs who offer Online Backup Services, this report discusses pricing plans and the competitive landscape.

Takeaways:

• Technology spending is increasing but hiring is not keeping pace among the most lucrative market segment for Online Backup services – SMBs. More new SMBs than average are being started now.
• SMBs will purchase more servers in the near future.
• More technology and fewer in-house resources to manage it creates a vacuum for MSPs to fill with premium outsourced services.
• Online Backup helps MSPs retain customers and attract new ones.
• Cheap commodity backup services cannot compete with full service MSPs, but their advertising is very good for business.
• Pricing for full service Online Backup Services is far higher than $5/month.
• It is inexpensive to start an Online Backup Service, and high profit is possible with very fast ROI.

Here’s a great customer service idea that I learned from a pest control service. Not only did this make me feel great about Terminix, but it will potentially save them some money.

Rob Cosgrove, CEO Remote Backup Systems

I switched my pest control service to Terminix because I was dissatisfied with my current service, and I received a discount coupon in the mail. I had an ant problem. I phoned, and within just a few minutes had set up a termite contract and quarterly servicing.

The bug guy came out a few days later. A few days after he left I received a package by mail, which I wasn’t expecting. The package contained a spray bottle of eco-friendly bug spray that smells great, and a short pamphlet with a thank you note.

The note explained that I could use this spray whenever I saw bugs, as an immediate solution instead of phoning for a bug guy to come out and waiting for him. The stuff is also dog-safe and kid-safe. I already mentioned that it smells great.

What a great idea! Terminix spent maybe $5 on this stuff, and the postage and printing. They sent me an unexpected present (which is always good,) they gave me an immediate solution, potentially saving me a half day off work to meet a bug guy, and they potentially saved themselves the cost of one or more service calls.

This worked out great for everyone.

As it turned out my ant problem DID resurface the day I received the bottle of bug spray, and I handled it myself instead of calling them to come back out.

How can we as Online Backup Service Providers use this technique in our businesses? Maybe send out a CD with some free virus software, or disk optimization software, or just a thank you note and a couple of movie tickets?

 

 

 

The two of you who read my blog regularly (my mom and one of my dogs) know that I sometimes get up on a soapbox and start shouting about something. WELL here I go again. This time it’s about some really bad engineering that went into making the Asus EEE Slate power plug.

Whoever designed this plug should never work again. And Asus should replace every power supply they have ever sold free of charge with a newly designed one that can be fitted with a replaceable tip.

The tip of this plug is tiny, maybe 6mm, I don’t know. I haven’t measured it. BECAUSE IT’S BROKEN OFF AND LOST!!! This little tip is on the end of cable hardwired into a 60 watt power supply that costs $100 from the Asus online store.

The tiny little tip of this thing plugs into the side of the slate computer, you know, where it sticks out really far, and is really easy to knock off when you place it on its end, or when you SNEEZE too hard!

So the tip broke off. I went everywhere trying to find a similar tip. I’m handy with a soldering iron. I thought I’d just find a similar tip on another device and solder it onto the spliced cable from the Asus power supply. But guess what? IT’S A NON-STANDARD SIZE!! WHY!?

Why did Asus engineer this thing to break so easily, and then make it a non-standard size so I would have to buy a $100 power supply from them… OH WAIT! It’s so I would HAVE TO BUY A $100 POWER SUPPLY FROM THEM!!

Now I get it. It’s like buying a really cheap printer, then they stick you for those expensive ink cartridges later. BUT WAIT! This computer cost a BLOODY FORTUNE! So it’s not at all like buying a cheap printer. Never mind.

What it’s like, is exactly like Asus engineered this recurring revenue into their product. I’ll have to buy a new $100 power supply about every 6 months, or whenever the tiny hair-thin tip on this crappy power supply, exposed as if it had a sign on it, “BREAK ME!” breaks.

Oh I phoned their tech support. I phoned their online store. I wasted maybe an hour in their purpose-designed voicemail system, designed to keep me from actually talking to someone who might give a sh*t and provide a coupon code for a discount on a CRAPPY PRODUCT DESIGNED BY AN ENGINEER WHO SHOULD BE SHOT! OK, “shot” is too strong a word.

Go ahead, Asus. Charge my credit card for $126.99. You might as well just keep it on file, too. I’ll be needing another one of these the next time it breaks because someone SNEEZES!!!

Recently the IT blog Channel Register posted an article critical of a recent survey by BackBlaze, the Online Backup company. The survey showed (duh) that hard drive prices were getting cheaper. In the article Tim Worstall asserted that by posting those results, BackBlaze were shooting themselves in the foot. But he’s British, so Tim said it in a far superior way:

The self-seeking company-commissioned survey is anathema to all right-thinking people. This is especially so when journos simply repeat its assertions without examining it for bias and agenda. However, when the research conducted by said company actually undermines the very case for the service that the company is trying to sell, it all becomes more interesting.

But Tim,

BackBlaze is a well-respected company of smart people who are in the “online backup” business, not the “find the cheapest way to store your data” business. If they were the later type of business your points could be well taken. Fortunately for them, they are in the former.

Online backup services provide far more than storage space, and (IMHO) will never be cheaper then local disk space. They provide secure offsite storage for copies of data that you may also have onsite.

Data are stored in secure facilities which are, unlike your parlor, impervious to damage from natural disasters. Your housecat is not going to relieve himself in BackBlaze’s data center, ruining years of your Aunt Maud’s famous rhubarb pie recipes. But he might be doing that in your house right this very minute. Better check. If you have your data backed up offsite, your housecat isn’t such a problem.

Online backup services verify your data is correctly backed up, they keep redundant copies in redundant geographically separate data centers, they keep multiple versions so you can restore to last month’s version of that spreadsheet, you know, the one WITHOUT the virus. Your cheap hard drive can’t do that.

Online Backup services manage their hardware and rotate it out of service when it gets old, without impacting your data at all. When your super-cheap hard drive gets old and starts dropping sectors you’re going to lose data, irrecoverable data. And you’re going to have to go out and buy another drive and worry with properly copying what’s left of your data to the new drive. That takes time, expertise, and money – things some users won’t have.

Online Backup services monitor your backups to make sure they are done properly and on schedule. They send you status emails. Your local hard drive will not do that.

The software that comes with Online Backup services is pretty great stuff. It usually has built-in automatic agents to back up open and locked files, your email, Active Directory, System State, Sharepoint, and other special file types. It usually backs up data in real time as it is changed, or on a convenient schedule. To do all this with a cheap local hard drive you would have to purchase, install, manage, and maintain several applications, each of which is a point of failure and might be a management nightmare

Online Backup services maintain far higher standards of security and privacy protection than you do. If someone breaks into your house and steals your cheap hard drive, they will have all your information – bank records, credit card numbers, phone numbers, and yes, Aunt Maud’s secret recipes.

On the other hand, Online Backup services store your data in encrypted form, inside secure facilities that are often protected by armed guards. These facilities have backup generators, special fire suppression, redundant security systems, man traps, monitored cameras, and all manner of secret gadgets to protect your data. Nobody is going to steal your data from an online backup company – even by hacking into their systems. Your data are tightly encrypted. Even if it were possible to steal it, it would be useless.

What about regulatory compliance? Most countries have laws that govern how and where data are kept and transported. Many types of businesses are required by law to handle data in very specific ways. In NO country is a cheap, unencrypted hard drive in your parlor compliant. Most Online Backup services comply with security and privacy regulations.

You could spend far more time and money maintaining correct local backups to a cheap hard drive than you could by using an Online Backup service. So, that super-cheap hard drive you mentioned in your article might end up costing you many times more than you think, while failing at performing the important task of backing up your data.

Rob Cosgrove, CEO Remote Backup Systems

Rob Cosgrove is the President of Remote Backup Systems, founder of the Online Backup Industry, and a vocal advocate for maintaining the highest standards in Online Backup software. His latest book, the Online Backup Guide for Service Providers: How to Start and Operate an Online Backup Service, is available online now, on Amazon.com, and at bookstores.

Remote Backup Systems provides brandable, scalable software and solutions to MSPs and VARs enabling them to offer Online Backup Services.

When I was young I wanted to be a newspaper man. So I trained as a journalist and learned old school journalism and the New York Times stylebook. One of the basic tenants of journalism back then was to “remain objective,” and report the news without bias. Otherwise an article is not “news,” rather, it is mere opinion and belongs on the op-ed page, if anywhere at all.

Newspapers and reporters who wrote articles with a bias (toward an advertiser, or a political party, or an underwriter, etc.) and tried to pass them off as NEWS were considered unethical and unprofessional. Their opinions were considered worthless and non-authoritative, and they didn’t last long in the legitimate press. Their reputations were (in my opinion) justifiably impinged.

Then came the Internet and blogs. I’ll get specific and point fingers.

I am no longer in the Journalism business. I’m in the software business with a company that is at the forefront of its industry. My company produces press releases and announces new software. We write white papers and publish books. We make news nearly every week – news that is worthy to be printed anywhere (and is,) just like the news made by our few competitors.

However, one particular blog that would like to be considered  “authoritative” refuses to print my news. At the same time, they print my competitors’ news, and even fawn over them. Why? BECAUSE THEY BUY ADS AND I DON’T. That’s called “pay for placement” and it is absolutely unethical.

To be totally honest, there was an incident a few years ago where the guy who runs that blog asked me for material for an upcoming article with a title exactly like an article I had published a few years earlier, and instead of sending it to him, I republished my own piece, and scooped him.

I considered this an ethical (but perhaps morally challenging) move, since I had already published my piece once before; But it really pissed him off. Mine was better, and I gave it away for free. He’s trying to sell his, with little luck.

The guy admitted refusing to publish news about my company because of this incident, and his little blog is worse off for it, and his readers poorer. After he reads this article he will surely never print my news. Fine. Whatever. Plenty of better sites do.

As an old school journalist with my ethics fully intact, I refuse to pay for news placement, especially in a blog that so blatantly operates that way. Maybe I am too old fashioned – maybe too old, period. Maybe this is simply the way the Web operates, and journalism (the way I remember it) is dead. Maybe readers these days are just willing to swallow whatever anyone feeds them, and see it as objective. I really hope not.

Of course, I WILL pay for ads. I have no problem with that. Ads do not masquerade as objective news. I regularly pay for Google ads, and for placement of my non-objective commercial articles. No problem.

What I have a problem with (continuing to beat this dead horse) is being asked to buy ads as a condition of printing objective news about my company – and this is exactly what is going on over on that other blog, and to be honest again, many others.

The online backup industry needs a real objective blog. Not this one. Mine is not objective at all. I’m trying to sell you software and convince you I’m right and whoever I’m aiming my gun at is wrong.

But, I think I would fund and support a truly objective website that covers Online Backup and similar storage and sharing technologies. Maybe I will! Is anyone else interested? Email me.

Rob Cosgrove, CEO Remote Backup Systems

Rob Cosgrove is the President of Remote Backup Systems, founder of the Online Backup Industry, and a vocal advocate for maintaining the highest standards in Online Backup software. His latest book, the Online Backup Guide for Service Providers: How to Start and Operate an Online Backup Service, is available online now, on Amazon.com, and at bookstores.

Remote Backup Systems provides brandable, scalable software and solutions to MSPs and VARs enabling them to offer Online Backup Services.

Remote Backup Systems, the founders of the online backup industry and developers of the RBackup and Mercury OEM Online Backup platforms activated its Emergency Backup Hot Site for use by its Service Providers in the path of hurricane activity this season.

Remote Backup Systems has offered this business-saving service to their clients dating back to hurricane Hugo in 1989. This resource is available to online backup service providers affected by natural disasters such as hurricanes, winter storms, widespread power outages, earthquakes, tornadoes, fires, and floods affecting their data center.

If an RBS Server goes offline because of a natural disaster, RBS can temporarily take backups from provider’s clients at the Hot Site near Memphis, Tennessee, so the Service Provider doesn’t suffer further. When the disaster is over and the providers’ servers go back online, they can download the backups and resume normal business.

Meteorologists are calling for an active 2011 hurricane season compared to last year, with 12 to 18 named storms and 3 to 6 major hurricanes. Remote Backup Systems encourages all of its Online Backup Service Providers in threatened areas to visit the company’s website at http://www.remote-backup.com for more information on the Hot Site service, including guidelines and instructions for activation.

But Remote Backup Systems wants to remind Service Providers that a natural disaster can occur any time, year round.

“This year Memphis was hit hard with record flooding. Being in the business of Disaster Recovery, we are always prepared,” said Rob Cosgrove, CEO and founder of Remote Backup Systems, “We open our Hot Site at no charge to help our Service Providers who need us.”

Built into Remote Backup Systems multi-award winning flagship product, RBackup, is a special feature called the Server Locator.  It enables a service provider to maintain normal business in the event of a disaster by immediately transferring end users to the RBS Hot Site. It also enables them to move their RBS Servers safely to any Internet connection with a dynamic IP address anywhere in the world on a moment’s notice. No other company offers this cutting-edge service.

In an outage of Internet service, Providers can simply move their equipment to an alternate location with Internet service, and the Server Locator will seamlessly redirect their clients within seconds to the new location.

For more information on Remote Backup Systems, visit the company’s website http://www.remote-backup.com.

About Remote Backup Systems Inc.

Remote Backup Systems, Inc. is the global leader in turnkey Online Backup solutions to MSPs, VARs, ISPs and Managed Hosting Providers, providing leading edge functionality, best-in-class customer support, and an unwavering commitment to product quality and customer satisfaction. With a twenty-one year history in Remote Backup technologies, RBS is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Rob Cosgrove’s latest book, The Online Backup Guide for Service Providers is available at Amazon.com and bookstores.

If you would like more information, or to schedule an interview with Rob Cosgrove, please phone Elizabeth Greenup at (901) 405-1234 or email elizabeth@remote-backup.com

Remote Backup Systems, the leading developer of Online Backup Software has released an upgrade to its popular Web Manager and E-Commerce PlugIns. The upgrades are available for licensed users on the company’s website.

The PlugIns provide a fully automatic turnkey website that allows end users to order Online Backup Services, pay with a credit card or PayPal, and begin backing up data immediately. The PlugIns fully support automatic recurring billing.

The Web PlugIns also allow end users to download their data to any computer, and allow Administrators to manage accounts and account groups online, manage the Remote Backup Server, manage backup plans, and completely custom-brand their service.

Companies using Remote Backup Systems’ RBackup Online Backup Software can use the Web PlugIns to fully automate their Online Backup Services from customer acquisition to billing, fulfillment, account management, and self-service file restoration.

This release, v11.2.6, contains upgrades and new features. A complete list can be found at this link: http://www.remote-backup.com/webpluginsupgrades.htm

For more information contact Remote Backup Systems at (901) 405-1234, sales@remote-backup.com, or the web site at http://www.remote-backup.com.

A new White Paper from Remote Backup Systems, leading supplier of software for Online Backup Services, discusses the state of the industry from the inside perspective of an industry expert, Rob Cosgrove.

The paper explains why the current economic environment is perfect for Online Backup startups, and gives insight into the costs and profit potential of the business.

With recent survey results from MSPs who offer Online Backup Services, this report discusses pricing plans and the competitive landscape, in addition to:

• How increased technology spending by the most lucrative segment of business is driving an increased need for outsourced Online Backup services;
• How decreased hiring by the same business segment has created an enormous gap for MSPs to fill with specialized services;
• How Online Backup can help MSPs retain current customers and attract new ones;
• How widespread advertising by the cheap “commodity” Online Backup services who cannot properly serve this lucrative business segment is a boon for MSPs;
• A simple business case for a startup Online Backup Service with Profit and Costs analysis.

This Online Backup White Paper can be downloaded from the following link.

http://www.remote-backup.com/starting-an-online-backup-service-wp.htm

For more information, contact Remote Backup Systems at (901) 405-1234, sales@remote-backup.com, or the web site at http://remote-backup.com.

The RBS Bare Metal Restore utilities have been released for Beta testing. BMR will back up an entire hard drive to a file in Virtual Hard Drive (VHD) format which can then be directly mounted using Hyper-V or Gizmo (free from arainia.com), or restored to another hard drive.

BMR supports restores to dissimilar hardware, and can copy drives that are active and in use. It can make a bootable CD containing the BMR utilities.

This Beta test is open to all RBS Service Providers with active Maintenance Subscriptions who have access to the Service Provider’s Forum.

You can find the downloads at this link. You will need your Service Provider’s Forum login. If you have lost your login, you can request a new password by clicking the “I forgot my password” link.

This Beta version will stop working after July 15 2011.

For this Beta test we are distributing the BMR utilities as stand-alone applications. RBackup is not needed to test these utilities. There are three utilities. Please fully read the documentation and understand the utilities completely before risking your hard drives.

The Bare Metal Backup / Restore system has three parts.

The RBS Bare Metal Backup Utility
rbsbmbackup.exe

The Bare Metal Backup Utility will copy an entire hard drive, block by block, to another drive as a VHD file that can be copied just like a regular file and directly mounted as a Virtual Hard Drive.

The RBS Bare Metal Restore Utility
rbsbaremetalrestore.exe

The Bare Metal Restore Utility restores a drive image previously created with the Bare Metal Backup Utility.

PE Builder for RBS Bare Metal Restore
rbsbmrpe.exe

To restore the bootable primary partition you must boot the computer from a device other than the primary partition. PE Builder for RBS Bare Metal Restore is a free program that creates a bootable Windows Setup CD that includes the Bare Metal Restore Utility and some other diagnostic and network tools. An original Windows XP or 2003 Server Setup CD is required.

Complete documentation is here: http://www.remote-backup.com/showme/bmr … estore.htm

Whenever I am asked “How do I compete with the other Cloud Backup services,” I have to search for a list of articles to explain the answer. So, here are some of my favorite answers all in one post.

These links are for articles in our blog at http://blog.remote-backup.com

http://remote-backup.com/kb/online-backup-guide-for-service-providers-chapter-7-why-your-service-is-worth-more-than-5month/

http://remote-backup.com/kb/online-backup-guide-for-service-providers-chapter-6-how-do-i-compete-with-5month-services/

http://remote-backup.com/kb/online-backup-guide-for-service-providers-chapter-5-unlimited-online-backups-for-5month/

http://remote-backup.com/kb/mozy-halts-unlimited-backup/

http://remote-backup.com/kb/cloud-based-storage-as-a-commodity-do-what-i-say-or-be-prepared-to-be-phased/

http://remote-backup.com/kb/online-backup-guide-for-service-providers-chapter-9-two-markets-personal-and-business/

http://remote-backup.com/kb/online-backup-guide-for-service-providers-%e2%80%93-chapter-14-how-to-sell-online-backup-part-1/

http://remote-backup.com/kb/online-backup-guide-for-service-providers-%e2%80%93-chapter-15-how-to-sell-online-backup-part-2/

http://remote-backup.com/kb/online-backup-guide-for-service-providers-%e2%80%93-chapter-15-how-to-sell-online-backup-part-3/

http://remote-backup.com/kb/online-backup-guide-for-service-providers-%e2%80%93-chapter-15-how-to-sell-online-backup-part-4/

http://remote-backup.com/kb/ten-must-have-features-for-any-server-backup-program/

We had six terabytes of data to copy from one NAS device to another, and not enough time to do it. Here’s how we turned on the afterburners to move that data in about thirty hours.

A customer’s Server was down because of a bad NAS device, and unfortunately he didn’t have a hot backup. He needed to copy a lot of data quickly, and he asked us to help. The data set consisted of many 35GB files, 6TB total. He needed to copy it across a 100MB Ethernet fast network to a new NAS device.

The customer had tried copying the data using the Windows copy function, but Windows failed to copy 35 GB data files across local network. It usually failed with an error “Not enough server storage is available to process this command,” though it was not a problem with the actual storage device itself.

A reboot would sometimes provide a temporary fix, copying the first file, but it would fail on subsequent files. There are some registry tweaks posted on blogs online, but none proved useful. Each 35GB file took about an hour to copy. Rebooting for each file was unreasonable.

Then we tried using a variety of utilities including Robocopy, xcopy and eseutil  (an Exchange utility) but all failed with similar errors. (Although Robocopy was able to resume from the point of failure, each file would take 2+ hours to finish the copy due to all the interruptions.)

Research turned up a couple of possibilities. One of them, FTP transfers, never occurred to us. But it turned out that when used in a local network environment, and running multiple threads, FTP is REALLY fast and efficient.

The second possibility was to use a program called “RichCopy,” which was originally written by Microsoft for internal use, and later released to the public as freeware. It is really good at copying huge files. We decided to use both of them.

For FTP we installed a Filezilla server (freeware) and SmartFTP client. Using FTP alone, we were able to move each 35 GB data file in 15-20 minutes. The SmartFTP client can do multiple simultaneous transfers (worker threads.)

But, with 6+ TB of data in 175 files, the copy process was still too slow. So we fired up RichCopy and set it to run with three threads.

Using this combination of tools we were able to copy six terabytes in about 30 hours.

Full Service Online Backup Service Providers can offer their customers far more than just simple backup and restore. They can offer services like on-site full backups, bulk restores via USB drives, proactive monitoring, full system management, hot-site and cold-site services, and Disaster Recovery planning – services that those cheap $5/month services simply cannot offer.

This is why full service online backup services can charge more – because they can deliver so much more – and why they are not in competition with the cheap $5/month services. If you are offering a full service online backup service, do not consider Mozy and Carbonite your competitors, and do not try to compete with them on price. Your segment of the market is much more savvy than theirs, and knows the value of your added services.

If your prospects are telling you, “Yea, but I can get the same thing from Mozy for $5,” then you have not done an adequate job of explaining your services. Work on your pitch so you can very quickly explain the difference between your service and theirs.

Here’s an article I wrote on competing with cheap online backup services. It has a nice chart you can use to help explain the difference between your full services and the $5/month cheap ones:

Here’s something else you won’t get with the $5/month services: a complete Disaster Recovery Plan. But, as a full service provider, you can offer your customers this valuable service based on the FREE Disaster Recovery Plan Template I’m going to offer you now.

My 19-page Disaster Recovery Plan is a template in MS Word .DOC format that you can edit, customize, and use in your own business. The plan includes sections on DR Goals, checklists, contact lists, Preparedness, Recovery, impact analysis, and more.

Get your FREE Disaster Recovery Plan Template here.

Rob Cosgrove, CEO Remote Backup Systems

Rob Cosgrove is the President of Remote Backup Systems, founder of the Online Backup Industry, and a vocal advocate for maintaining the highest standards in Online Backup software. His latest book, the Online Backup Guide for Service Providers: How to Start and Operate an Online Backup Service, is available online now, on Amazon.com, and at bookstores.

Remote Backup Systems provides brandable, scalable software and solutions to MSPs and VARs enabling them to offer Online Backup Services.

Would you like a FREE download of the complete Online Backup Guide for Service Providers as an E-Book? Only 200 available through May 15. [PICK THIS LINK].

Here at RBS, “Our mission is to make you successful.” Is more than just a motto – it’s how we do business. We want you to be successful in the Online Backup business no matter whose software you use (although we hope you use ours!)

That’s why we give away so much valuable information about actually operating online backup services. If you are successful, we are successful. It’s about a lot more than just selling software.

One of the most valuable things you can do when starting your business is to develop a formal business plan. It helps you set your expectations, acquire the right resources, and budget the right amount of money to make your business a success.

Here’s a FREE 37-page business plan template designed for an Online Backup business. You can modify it for your own business. The business plan will be sent to you as an MS Word file in .DOC format attached to an email.

Click this link for your free Online Backup Service business plan template.

Rob Cosgrove is the President of Remote Backup Systems, founder of the Online Backup Industry, and a vocal advocate for maintaining the highest standards in Online Backup software. His latest book, the Online Backup Guide for Service Providers: How to Start and Operate an Online Backup Service, is available online now, on Amazon.com, and at bookstores.

Remote Backup Systems provides brandable, scalable software and solutions to MSPs and VARs enabling them to offer Online Backup Services.

Would you like a FREE download of the complete Online Backup Guide for Service Providers as an E-Book? Only 200 available through May 15. [PICK THIS LINK].

It is important for Online Backup software to assist its users in compliance with HIPAA and all other government regulations.

The Online Backup Guide for Service Providers is a complete 196-page guide on starting and operating an Online Backup Service – the latest revision of Rob Cosgrove’s industry defining RBS Book originally published in 1987. The entire book is being published here, chapter by chapter.

RBackup and Mercury Online Backup Software are compliant with HIPAA, GLB, SOX and other regulations.

The Encryption Key generated by RBackup and Mercury is known only to the customer, and is never transmitted to the Server. Data are stored on the Server in compressed and encrypted archives that are not accessible by the Online Backup Service Provider.

The software is adequate to help companies comply with the Final Security Rule. It also complies with the Privacy section, even though Online Backup Service Providers are not “Covered Entities” as defined by the current rules, and thus are not required to comply with it.

In addition, RBackup and Mercury can help customers comply with other provisions of the rules as part of a larger data protection and disaster recovery plan. At the time of this writing there is no “HIPAA Compliance” certification for backup software, and it is important to note that under the current rules, no software is truly “HIPAA compliant,” because there are no regulations that specifically address backup and privacy software.

In 1996, a bill known as the Kennedy-Kassebaum Bill was passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. The new law was known as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or more commonly, HIPAA. It had started as a measure to ensure that workers could keep their health insurance when they changed jobs. By the time of its passage, it had become much more complex and far-ranging, affecting the vast majority of all health-care entities in the United States.

Because of the complexity and wide range of HIPAA, there has been and continues to be a great deal of confusion about how it applies to many areas, including Online Backup. This page will present a brief overview of HIPAA, and demonstrate how Online Backup can be a valuable tool in meeting the requirements of HIPAA’s Security Rule.

Who Must Comply

Those who must comply with HIPAA fall into two categories. The first category is Covered Entities. Covered Entities include all health plans, health care clearinghouses, or health care providers who transmit health information in electronic form.

The second category is the Business Associates of those Covered Entities. A Business Associate is someone who performs certain functions or activities on behalf of, or provides certain services to, a covered entity that involve the use or disclosure of individually identifiable health information. Business associate functions or activities on behalf of a covered entity include claims processing, data analysis, utilization review, and billing.

Business Associate services to a covered entity are limited to legal, actuarial, accounting, consulting, data aggregation, management, administrative, accreditation, or financial services.

However, persons or organizations are not considered Business Associates if their functions or services do not involve the use or disclosure of protected health information (PHI), and where any access to protected health information by such persons would be incidental, if at all.

Must Online Backup Service Providers Comply?

Online Backup Service Providers are clearly not Covered Entities.

Because Online Backup Services do not use or require disclosure of PHI, and any access to PHI by an Online Backup Service Provider would be incidental, if even possible, Online Backup Service Providers are not normally considered to be Business Associates, and are therefore not covered by the HIPAA Privacy Rule. However, some Covered Entities may wish to have a Business Associate Contract in place regardless. How this is handled is up to the individual Online Backup Service Provider.

Online Backup Services do clearly fall within the requirements of the HIPAA Security Rule. Covered Entities must be compliant with the Security Rule by April 21, 2005. Online Backup software and services are compliant today, and can provide a foundation for overall compliance.

HIPAA Overview

HIPAA consists of five parts:

1.     Title1 – Health Insurance Portability – helps workers maintain insurance coverage when they change jobs

2.     Title 2 – Administrative Simplification – standardizes electronic health care-related transactions, and the privacy and security of health information

3. Title 3 – Medical Savings Accounts & Health Insurance Tax Deductions

4. Title 4 – Enforcement of Group Health Plan provisions

5. Title 5 – Revenue Offset Provisions.

Fortunately, four of the five parts of HIPAA have no bearing on Online Backup. The one part that does apply is Title 2 – Administrative Simplification.

Administrative Simplification

HIPAA Administrative Simplification consists of two areas. The first is commonly referred to as the Transactions and Code Sets Rule, although it also covers standardization of identifiers. This Rule requires standardization in all health-related electronic transactions, such as electronic transmission of insurance claims, verification of insurance, statements, explanations of benefits, remittance advice, etc.
Online Backup is not a health related transaction, and is therefore not covered under the Transactions and Code Sets Rule.

The second area of Administrative Simplification is made up of two Rules, the Privacy Rule and the Security Rule. Because these two rules are where the most confusion arises, we will examine them in some detail.

Privacy and Security

Before the Privacy and Security Rules can be explained, we must understand what they are intended to protect. Both Rules are intended to safeguard any health-related information that can be traced to or used to identify an individual. Some examples of this type of information include name, address, Date of Birth, Social Security number, or any other identifier. This type of information is referred to as Protected Health Information, or PHI.

The Privacy Rule and Security Rule are intended to protect PHI in different ways. The Privacy Rule sets out limits on who can have access to PHI and for what purpose. The Security Rule regulates the Procedural, Physical and Technical means that are used to protect PHI.

Privacy

The Privacy Rule places limits on the ways that PHI can be used and disclosed, and requires accounting of disclosures. But it is relevant at this point to review how Online Backup works.

With an Online Backup solution, all information to be backed up is encrypted by the local client before being transmitted, using a key that is stored locally. Data is stored on the Online Backup Server in its encrypted form. Data can only be recovered by transmitting it back to the local client, which decrypts it, again using the locally stored key. The most important feature of this arrangement is that while the data is stored on the Online Backup Server, it is encrypted and not in a readable format. The remote server does not have access to the key, and without the key, the data cannot be converted to a readable format.

Online Backup Services do not involve the use or disclosure of PHI. All backup data is stored on the Online Backup Server in an encrypted form, and any access to PHI by an Online Backup Service Provider would be incidental, if even possible. Online Backup Service Providers are therefore not normally considered to be Business Associates, and are not covered by or required to be compliant with the HIPAA Administrative Simplification Privacy Rule.

Security

The Security Rule is the one part of HIPAA that clearly applies to the type of services that Online Backup offers. The Final Security Rule was published in February 2003, and became effective on April 21, 2003.

The Security Rule legislates the means that should be used to protect PHI. It requires that covered entities have appropriate Administrative Procedures, Physical Safeguards, and Technical Safeguards to protect access to PHI.

Examples of appropriate safeguards include:

• Establishment of clear Access Control policies, procedures, and technology to restrict who has authorized access to PHI.
• Establishment of restricted and locked areas where PHI is stored.
• Establishment of appropriate Data Backup, Disaster Recovery, and Emergency Mode Operation planning.
• Establishment of technical security mechanisms such as encryption to protect data that is transmitted via a network.

RBackup and Mercury are compliant with the Final Security Rule.

Their Online Backup client software contains all appropriate technical security mechanisms to protect the data that is transmitted to and from the Server.

Online Backup can form a critical part of Data Backup, Disaster Recovery, and Emergency Mode Operations strategies by providing offsite backup that can be geographically distant from the client site to minimize the likelihood of data loss in a large scale disaster. In the event of loss of the primary data center, data on an Online Backup Server can easily be recovered from any replacement data center.

Online Backup, as part of a comprehensive security plan, can be an important part of compliance strategy.

Disclaimer: Please note that, although all information presented in this chapter is believed to be factually correct, this is not intended to give legal advice. Please consult with your legal counsel if you have questions about your specific situation.

Rob Cosgrove, CEO Remote Backup Systems

Rob Cosgrove is the President of Remote Backup Systems, founder of the Online Backup Industry, and a vocal advocate for maintaining the highest standards in Online Backup software. His latest book, the Online Backup Guide for Service Providers: How to Start and Operate an Online Backup Service, is available online now, on Amazon.com, and at bookstores.

Remote Backup Systems provides brandable, scalable software and solutions to MSPs and VARs enabling them to offer Online Backup Services.

Would you like a FREE download of the complete Online Backup Guide for Service Providers as an E-Book? Only 200 available through May 15. [PICK THIS LINK].

Regardless of whether you sell your service to individuals or businesses you will want to have your customers agree to your Terms and Conditions of Service. This is a legal document also referred to as an End User License Agreement (EULA).

The Online Backup Guide for Service Providers is a complete 196-page guide on starting and operating an Online Backup Service – the latest revision of Rob Cosgrove’s industry defining RBS Book originally published in 1987. The entire book is being published here, chapter by chapter.

Your Terms and Conditions document spells out exactly what your customer is going to get, and under what conditions. It acts as a Software License Agreement, a Copyright Notice, a Limitation of Liability, a Fair Use Agreement, Privacy Statement, and Export Restriction Agreement, among other things.

This document is usually included in the Client software installer – it is that document in fine print that you have to select “I AGREE” to before the software will install. You should also post a copy on your web site, and the most careful Online Backup Services have customers agree to it before they can download the software.

This document states (among other things) that you (as the Service Provider) have no responsibility for the data you store, you have no responsibility to return it to the customer, the customer can’t sue you for anything, and just in case he does, the limit of the judgment is what the customer has paid you for the service, and he has to come to your location to sue you.

For Personal accounts, your Terms and Conditions should not include a Service Level Agreement. For business customers, it probably should, since an SLA is a good selling point.

Following is the Terms and Conditions document used by MyBackupSpace, (mybackupspace.com) an example Personal Online Backup Service that I put online to test some concepts for my Mercury Online Backup platform.

 

End User License Agreement
Last update: 28 October, 2009
PLEASE READ THIS AGREEMENT CAREFULLY

This license agreement is a legal agreement between you (either an individual or an entity) and MyBackupSpace DBA MyBackupSpace. By downloading the software, clicking an “ACCEPT” button during installation or purchase, and every time you use the software, you are agreeing to be bound by the terms of this agreement.

DEFINITIONS: (a) “MyBackupSpace,” “we,” and “us” means MyBackupSpace DBA MyBackupSpace, its subsidiaries, owners, investors, vendors, suppliers, executives and employees. (b) “You,” “subscribers,” “your”, “user,” and “users” means the individual or entity using MyBackupSpace products or services. (c) “Data,” means all files you have backed up to the MyBackupSpace service, and any other records associated with your MyBackupSpace account. (d) “Service” means all services provided by MyBackupSpace. (e) “Software” means the MyBackupSpace application(s) installed on your computer.

GRANT OF LICENSE: This License Agreement permits you to use one copy of the MyBackupSpace software on one computer, for purposes of accessing the MyBackupSpace Service only. If you have signed up for multiple accounts with MyBackupSpace, this License Agreement permits you to use one copy of the MyBackupSpace software on each computer, one computer per account. This license is non-transferable, and non-sublicensable.

COPYRIGHT: The SOFTWARE and accompanying materials (including any images, “applets”, photographs, animations, video, audio, music and text incorporated into the SOFTWARE and accompanying materials) is owned by Online Holdings, LLC. and licensed to MyBackupSpace. It is protected by United States copyright laws and international treaty provisions and all other applicable national laws. Therefore, you must treat the SOFTWARE and accompanying materials like any other copyrighted material (e.g. a book or musical recording) except that you may either (a) make one copy of the SOFTWARE solely for backup or archival purposes or (b) transfer the SOFTWARE to a single hard disk provided you keep the original solely for backup or archival purposes. You may not copy the documentation accompanying the SOFTWARE. You may not repackage the Software for further distribution by any means.

ACCEPTABLE USE: You are solely responsible for your behavior and your data stored and retrieved using the MyBackupSpace Service. You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless MyBackupSpace and Online Holdings, LLC. from any and all loss, cost, liability, and expense arising from or related to your data, your use of the Service, or your violation of these terms.

The MyBackupSpace Software and Service are made available to you only for your personal use or for use within your own business (depending on the version of MyBackupSpace to which you subscribe), which use must be in compliance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations and must not infringe or violate third party rights. Any unauthorized use of the MyBackupSpace Software, Service, servers or networks is a violation of this Agreement and certain federal and state laws. Such violations may subject the unauthorized subscriber or user and his or her agents to civil and criminal penalties.

SERVICE-SPECIFIC RESTRICTIONS ON USE: Certain MyBackupSpace products and subscription levels have certain limitations, including and not limited to the types of files you can back up, the schedule on which your backups operate, the bandwidth available to you, and the features available to you. You agree not to circumvent these limitations in any way, including and not limited to, and circumventing settings that do not have a user interface.

FILE PROTECTION: You are solely responsible for protecting the files on your computer by installing anti-virus software, updating your applications, password protecting your files, and preventing third party access to your computer. You understand that MyBackupSpace may back up files that are no longer usable due to corruption from viruses, software malfunctions or other causes. This might result in you restoring files that are no longer usable. If your Data contains viruses or other malicious code, MyBackupSpace may deactivate this code as a by-product of its encryption features; however, MyBackupSpace will back up this code along with your Data. Upon restoration, this code may become re-activated. Such viruses and malicious code backed up by any one user will not affect other users while it is stored with the MyBackupSpace service.

FILE RETENTION POLICY: MyBackupSpace may set file retention policies for some accounts, according to the features of the account to which you subscribe. Your account may allow you to edit these policies, which determine how long your files are stored on the MyBackupSpace servers before they are deleted. You agree to carefully read and understand these file retention policies as they relate to your subscription, and to hold MyBackupSpace harmless when it deletes data that falls outside the File Retention Policy associated with your account.

STORAGE SPACE QUOTA: Certain MyBackupSpace accounts have storage quotas. You understand that if you run out of space on the MyBackupSpace Servers, your backups will stop running until more space is made available to you through your purchase of more space, or if you delete files from the Server, or if files are deleted automatically as a result of the File Retention Protocol you have selected.

USERNAMES, PASSWORDS AND ENCRYPTION KEYS: MyBackupSpace may require you to establish a Username, Password, and (optionally) an Encryption Key to protect your account and your Data stored with MyBackupSpace. You are solely responsible for any consequences that arise in whole or in part from your compromise of your Username, Password, or Encryption Key. MyBackupSpace assumes no liability to supply you with your Username, Password, or Encryption Key. You understand and agree that MyBackupSpace cannot access your Data, and that if you forget or lose your Username, Password, or Encryption Key, MyBackupSpace may not be able to restore your Data.

Your Data is encrypted before it is sent to the MyBackupSpace data centers, and remains encrypted when it is stored there. If you used a Private Encryption Key, MyBackupSpace cannot view the data you back up using the MyBackupSpace service. If you forget your Private Encryption Key, you will not be able (and MyBackupSpace cannot assist you) to restore your Data.

CONSENT TO COLLECT INFORMATION: The MyBackupSpace service may collect non-personally identifiable information that resides on your computer including, and not limited to, statistics relating to backup times and status, performance metrics relating to the MyBackupSpace Software, configuration settings, but not the contents of your files. The information collected will be used only to improve our service to you.

TERM: This Agreement becomes effective when you register for MyBackupSpace services. It remains in effect until your account is terminated.TERMINATION: You may terminate this Agreement at any time by uninstalling the MyBackupSpace Software and canceling your subscription, following the instructions on the MyBackupSpace web site.

This Agreement automatically terminates if you fail to comply with this Agreement. MyBackupSpace reserves the right to refuse or discontinue any subscription at any time at its sole discretion. You agree that, upon termination, you will uninstall the MyBackupSpace Software and that your subscription and access to the MyBackupSpace service will immediately terminate.

Upon termination of paid accounts, MyBackupSpace will use reasonable efforts to make your data available for you to download for a period of three (3) days. Notwithstanding, MyBackupSpace is under no obligation to provide you with a copy of your Data after termination and may, at its sole discretion and without liability, destroy or retain any Data after termination.

The terms of the Sections entitled Consent to Collect Information, Copyright, Disclaimer of Warranties, Limitation of Liability, and Miscellaneous will survive termination of this Agreement.

RESTRICTED USES: You may not install or use this software on computers that are connected to life-saving or life-support medical equipment, nor on any equipment used in the production or administering of drugs or breathable gasses, nor on any equipment used in connection with nuclear, power generation, aviation or mass transit applications, nor with any application or on any computer that, through malfunction or misuse, could directly or indirectly cause personal injury, death, physical damage or destruction.

OTHER RESTRICTIONS: You hereby agree not to reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble the Software. You agree not to analyze the software, its data files, or transmission protocols in an attempt to discover its systems and methods of operation. You agree not to communicate to others any discovery of technical procedures, systems and methods, or protocol of the Software or Service. You hereby agree that the Software does not infringe on any patent, copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property rights under your control either directly or indirectly, or under the control of any company or other entity to which you report. You agree to hold harmless MyBackupSpace, its suppliers, vendors, owners and employees in any intellectual property dispute that might arise from the discovery or disclosure of such information by you as a result of a violation of this paragraph. You may not use the MyBackupSpace Software with any service or server other than the MyBackupSpace Service. You may not access the MyBackupSpace Service with any software not provided to you by MyBackupSpace.

CUSTOMER SUPPORT: MyBackupSpace may, at its sole discretion, provide customer support through whatever means and on whatever schedule we set. This means that live customer support might not be provided during certain hours or on certain days (for example, US National Holidays), and might be provided only through certain channels or vehicles such as email, live online chat, telephone, remote control, or an automated online help system. We may offer support using technicians in the USA or any other country.

MyBackupSpace cannot provide support for, and is not responsible for, problems affecting the Service which are caused by any external software, hardware, or service. This includes routers, firewalls, network interface devices, Internet connections, antivirus software, disk management software, or any other software, hardware, or service that might hamper the proper operation of the MyBackupSpace Software or Service. You agree to properly and promptly report support issues through the proper channels, to completely explain your issue, to read your email or check with an Online Help Desk System (if available) to view our response, and to reply promptly when we request further information and/or offer suggestions.

MyBackupSpace is not responsible for your receipt of our emails, nor of our receipt of your emails. If you are not receiving our emailed replies, check your spam filters, or make sure we have your correct email address. Emails from MyBackupSpace come from an email address at varbackup.com or from sales@remote-backup.com. If we are not receiving your emails, make sure you are sending them to the correct address, that your emails are not being blocked by outbound spam filters, and that your mail server is not on any spam lists or real time black hole lists. Because of difficulties imposed by spam software, we strongly suggest you contact us through one of the methods on the Contacts page on our website.

REMOTE SUPPORT: MyBackupSpace may, at its sole discretion, offer you the option of having a support technician remotely control your computer in order to resolve an issue. You will have the option of accepting or declining this offer. MyBackupSpace cannot access your computer without your approval. If you approve, the support technician will then be able to control your mouse and keyboard, view your monitor, and have full access to your computer and its unencrypted data. (This service may not be available for Mac computers.)

In this case, you hereby give special permission for MyBackupSpace to access your personal and unencrypted data on your computer. You hold MyBackupSpace, Online Holdings, LLC, and the attending support technician harmless for any liability that might arise as a result of a remote control operation, including and not limited to disclosure of personal information, disruption of business, and loss of data. Our remote control software will be automatically removed from your computer when our technician disconnects. You hereby re-affirm your acceptance of the sections of this Agreement entitled LIMITED WARRANTY, CUSTOMER REMEDIES, and NO OTHER WARRANTIES and agree that those sections apply fully to your remote control session.

SOFTWARE UPDATES: From time to time MyBackupSpace releases updates for the Software. The Software has the ability to automatically update itself by downloading an update and applying it. However, because firewalls, routers, and anti-virus software can sometimes block the download, MyBackupSpace is not liable for the failure of this update process. You are responsible for making sure your installation of the Software is up to date. MyBackupSpace may, at its sole discretion, refuse to provide support (but not Services) for software that is older than the current version.

U.S. GOVERNMENT RESTRICTED RIGHTS: The SOFTWARE and documentation are provided with RESTRICTED RIGHTS. Use, duplication or disclosure by the United States Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph (c)(1)(ii) of The Rights in Technical Data and computer Software clause at DFARS 252.227-7013 or subparagraphs (c)(1) and (2) of the Commercial Computer Software– Restricted Rights at 48 CFR 52.227-19, as applicable. Manufacturer is Online Holdings, LLC / 2565 Horizon Lake Dr. St 110 / Memphis, TN 38133 USA.

EXPORT CONTROLS: You may not download or otherwise export or re-export the Software or any underlying information or technology except in full compliance with all United States and other applicable laws and regulations. In particular, but without limitation, none of the Software or underlying information or technology may be downloaded or otherwise exported or re-exported (i) into (or to a national or resident of) Cuba, Haiti, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Syria or any other country to which the U.S. has embargoed goods; or (ii) to anyone on the U.S. Treasury Department’s list of Specially Designated Nationals or the U.S. Commerce Department’s Table of Deny Orders. By downloading or using the Software, you are agreeing to the foregoing and you are representing and warranting that you are not located in, under the control of, or a national or resident of any such country or on any such list.

CHANGES TO THIS AGREEMENT AND SERVICE: MyBackupSpace reserves the right to make changes to, modify, suspend, or discontinue providing service in part or in whole at its sole discretion. MyBackupSpace will make reasonable efforts to notify you of any such event by sending an email to the email address associated with your MyBackupSpace account and/or by posting a notice on the MyBackupSpace website. Under no conditions will MyBackupSpace be liable to you or to any third party for any event defined in this paragraph. MyBackupSpace reserves the right to modify this Agreement without liability to you. The modified agreement will become effective for existing subscribers 15 days after it has been posted on the MyBackupSpace web site. You agree to be bound by the terms of the modified agreement. If you do not agree, you must terminate your subscription immediately.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES: MyBackupSpace SOFTWARE AND SERVICE ARE PROVIDED “AS IS,” WITH NO WARRANTIES WHATSOEVER. MyBackupSpace EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW ALL EXPRESS, IMPLIED, AND STATUTORY WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT OF PROPRIETARY RIGHTS AND ANY WARRANTIES REGARDING THE SECURITY, RELIABILITY, TIMELINESS, AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE OR SERVICE. YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT YOU DOWNLOAD AND/OR USE THE SOFTWARE AND SERVICE MADE AVAILABLE IN CONJUNCTION WITH OR THROUGH THE SOFTWARE OR SERVICE, AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK AND THAT YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGES TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE DOWNLOAD OR USE OF THE SOFTWARE OR SERVICE.

SOME STATES OR OTHER JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. YOU MAY ALSO HAVE OTHER RIGHTS THAT VARY FROM STATE TO STATE AND JURISDICTION TO JURISDICTION.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL MyBackupSpace, Online Holdings, LLC, OR ITS SUPPLIERS, RESELLERS, PARTNERS OR THEIR RESPECTIVE AFFILIATES BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE SOFTWARE OR SERVICE WHETHER SUCH CLAIM IS BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), OR OTHERWISE, (EVEN IF MyBackupSpace HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES).

WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, THE TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF MyBackupSpace, AND ITS SUPPLIERS, RESELLERS, PARTNERS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE AFFILIATES ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE SOFTWARE OR SERVICE SHALL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT, IF ANY, PAID BY YOU TO MyBackupSpace FOR THE SOFTWARE OR SERVICES.

THE FOREGOING LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY SHALL APPLY WHETHER THE DAMAGES ARISE FROM USE OR MISUSE OF AND RELIANCE ON THE SOFTWARE OR SERVICE, FROM INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE OR SERVICE, OR FROM THE INTERRUPTION, SUSPENSION, OR TERMINATION OF THE SOFTWARE OR SERVICE (INCLUDING SUCH DAMAGES INCURRED BY THIRD PARTIES). SUCH LIMITATION SHALL APPLY NOTWITHSTANDING A FAILURE OF ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY LIMITED REMEDY AND TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

SOME STATES OR OTHER JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR DIRECT DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

MISCELLANEOUS

ENTIRE AGREEMENT: This instrument is the entire agreement between you and MyBackupSpace. Oral changes and agreements have no effect. This agreement may be altered only by a written agreement signed by an executive of MyBackupSpace.

ACCEPTANCE OF THESE CONDITIONS: By clicking the “I AGREE” button or typing “I AGREE” in the space provided, or by downloading, installing or using the Software, you accept the terms of this license agreement. You agree that you fully understand the capabilities of the Software and Service, and the terms of this Agreement, and that you accept the Software and Service as-is. By accepting this license, you agree that you will not reverse any credit card charge for this purchase.

MyBackupSpace may, in its sole discretion, transfer or assign all or any part of its rights in the MyBackupSpace Software or Service, and any license or contract related thereto, and may delegate all or any portion of its duties, if any, for any MyBackupSpace Software or Services, licenses, or other contracts.

This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the state of TN and shall inure to the benefit of MyBackupSpace and any successors, administrators, heirs, and assigns. Any action or proceeding brought by either party against the other arising out of or related to this agreement shall be brought only in a STATE or FEDERAL COURT of competent jurisdiction located in TN. You hereby consent to in personam jurisdiction of said courts. The foregoing notwithstanding, MyBackupSpace retains the right to institute action in any court of competent jurisdiction to enforce its rights under this Agreement.

The most recent version of this End User License Agreement is on the MyBackupSpace web site.

Rob Cosgrove is the President of Remote Backup Systems, founder of the Online Backup Industry, and a vocal advocate for maintaining the highest standards in Online Backup software. His latest book, the Online Backup Guide for Service Providers: How to Start and Operate an Online Backup Service, is available online now, on Amazon.com, and at bookstores.

Remote Backup Systems provides brandable, scalable software and solutions to MSPs and VARs enabling them to offer Online Backup Services.

Would you like a FREE download of the complete Online Backup Guide for Service Providers as an E-Book? Only 200 available through May 15. [PICK THIS LINK].

Some Service Providers who offer a fully managed service like to install the Online Backup software themselves during an on-site visit with their customers. These Service Providers deliver the most personalized service and command the highest prices.

The Online Backup Guide for Service Providers is a complete 196-page guide on starting and operating an Online Backup Service – the latest revision of Rob Cosgrove’s industry defining RBS Book originally published in 1987. The entire book is being published here, chapter by chapter.

Test Your Server – Before going on site, make sure your Online Backup Server is on and functioning properly.

Create Accounts – If required, create accounts in advance – one account for each installation of the Client software. Record the account login information and take it with you.

If you use the Registration Wizard PlugIn for RBackup (highly recommended) you do not need to create accounts in advance. The PlugIn creates them for you during installations.

USB Memory Stick – Take a USB memory stick with you.

Locate Data Files – Inventory the applications whose data needs to be backed up. Locate the data files.

Categorize Files – Separate the files into three categories: Critical, Important, and Archival.

Determine RTO and RPO – Determine the customer’s Recovery Time Objectives and Recovery Point Objectives for each category.

Recovery Time Objective (RTO) is the acceptable amount of time between the loss of data and its recovery. If there is too much data (because of bandwidth) to download from a service based out of the area, and the service is too far away to deliver a USB drive to the customer, you have an advantage by being close enough to your customer to make the RTO very short.

Recovery Point Objective (RPO) is the amount of data a business is willing to lose, in hours or days. If a business does not keep paper records of all transactions, it may never be able to recover data that is lost between backups. Can the staff enter a week’s worth of transactions from memory? The more often backups are done, the shorter the RPO can be.

Test Internet Speed - Test your customers’ upstream and downstream speed at a web site like DSLReports (www.dslreports.com). Your customer will use his UPSTREAM (slower) speed when doing backups, and his DOWNSTREAM (higher) speed when doing restores.

You might want to use my Online Backup Estimator. You can download it free at the following URL:

http://www.remote-backup.com/estimator

Install Software – Install and activate the Online Backup software on each computer that needs it. Each Server will need its own copy of the software and (usually) its own account with your Online Backup server.

Set Encryption Keys – Some Service Providers who offer a fully managed service accept responsibility for their customers’ encryption keys. If you do, assign strong encryption keys.

Save Key File – When RBackup asks you to save the Key File, save it to a folder on a USB memory stick. Use a different folder for each computer.

Print Key Form – When RBackup asks you to print the Key Form, print it. If there is no printer attached to the computer, record the information on the form some other way. You should have both the Key File and the Key Form. Either alone will suffice to restore data after a disaster, but it is good practice to have both.

If your customer wants to keep his own Encryption Key, allow him to enter it while you look away. Tell him to save the Key File and print or otherwise record the information on the Key Form.

If you are using RBackup (highly recommended) you might find the Advanced Interface easier and quicker to work with than the default Simple Interface. Don’t forget to switch it back to the Simple Interface before leaving.

Key Escrow

RBackup contains an exclusive Key Escrow function, which is ON by default. If you do not turn it off, this feature will triple encrypt the customer’s Key File and transmit it to your Online Backup Server in a secure Escrow File, where it is stored in case of a disaster after which the end user forgets his Encryption Key. Only RBS can access the Escrow File, and can only do so with written permission of both the Service Provider and the Customer, and only if the Service Provider’s Server is intact. The recovery process is only 70% effective, and costs $500 to initiate. I recommend you remember the Encryption Key instead.

Test Connection – Do a “Test Connection” to make sure the software has a connection with your Online Backup Server. This also tests your account settings, and alerts you to any issues with Firewalls.

Create Backup Sets – Create backup sets based on the examples earlier in this chapter. For each backup set, select a Start Time and Backup Window that will not interfere with the normal operations of the business. Set backups to start at least 2 hours after the normal close of business, and set the Backup Window to end about two hours before the business opens.

Perform Seed Backup (if needed) – If you have determined that the first full backup will take too long (based on my Estimator or your own calculations), do the first full backup to a USB drive. In RBackup, this is done using the Copy to Disk function on the Run menu.

Copy Seed Backup – When you return to your Online Backup Server, copy the data from the USB drive according to the instructions in the software’s documentation.

Rob Cosgrove, CEO Remote Backup Systems

Rob Cosgrove is the President of Remote Backup Systems, founder of the Online Backup Industry, and a vocal advocate for maintaining the highest standards in Online Backup software. His latest book, the Online Backup Guide for Service Providers: How to Start and Operate an Online Backup Service, is available online now, on Amazon.com, and at bookstores.

Remote Backup Systems provides brandable, scalable software and solutions to MSPs and VARs enabling them to offer Online Backup Services.

Would you like a FREE download of the complete Online Backup Guide for Service Providers as an E-Book? Only 200 available through May 15. [PICK THIS LINK].

Typical Online Backup Services allow end users to restore data themselves using an intuitive graphical user interface that presents a file and folder tree structure and some way to select files and folders to restore. Some, like Mercury, also allow restoring files by application name.

The Online Backup Guide for Service Providers is a complete 196-page guide on starting and operating an Online Backup Service – the latest revision of Rob Cosgrove’s industry defining RBS Book originally published in 1987. The entire book is being published here, chapter by chapter.

RBackup and Mercury also provide a way to search for files to restore by file name, folder name, dates, and other file attributes, including some powerful functions provided by Synthetic Full Backup. Unlike other software, RBackup and Mercury can deliver a full restore of all the latest files, or of just a group of them, in a single quick pass.

End users can define groups of files to restore by any file or folder attribute, and can even do a disaster recovery by simply asking for “the latest copies of all my files.”

RBackup and Mercury can deliver a full recovery of all the latest files, even if there has only been one full backup and all the rest were Incremental.

As with the first full backup, a full restore can be too big to perform over the Internet within an acceptable amount of time. So, the software you choose should be able to restore from a USB drive or from the RBS server itself. RBackup can do this.

You should select a disk-based restore option that conforms to the security and privacy requirements of your customers. It is generally not acceptable to restore data to a disk drive, and then ship the disk drive containing native data via common carrier (the US Postal Service or UPS.) It may be acceptable to hand-deliver such a hard drive.

If you have to ship a drive containing restored data to a customer, it is preferred to ship the drive with compressed and encrypted files that are then decrypted at the end user’s site using a Disk Recovery Utility such as the one included in RBackup. This is in compliance with regulation, and will prevent loss or disclosure of data due to theft.

Recovering a Complete Drive System

This is the procedure to use in case of a complete failure of a drive system and total data loss.

1. Repair or replace the hardware.

2. Re-install the Operating System.

3. Re-install drivers.

4. Re-install applications from distribution media.

5. Upgrade the OS and applications to the current versions.

6. Re-install the Online Backup software.

7. Perform a Disaster Recovery operation with the Online Backup software.

While some end users can do this procedure themselves, most will not want to. You should charge a premium for doing it. Many end users take this opportunity to upgrade their hardware and operating system. Use your good judgment about drivers.

It is important to remember that most Online Backup Services can restore files and folders only, and cannot (as of this writing) do an adequate “bare metal restore,” a procedure that restores the complete hard drive including its operating system, applications and settings, sector by sector.

Rob Cosgrove, CEO Remote Backup Systems

Rob Cosgrove is the President of Remote Backup Systems, founder of the Online Backup Industry, and a vocal advocate for maintaining the highest standards in Online Backup software. His latest book, the Online Backup Guide for Service Providers: How to Start and Operate an Online Backup Service, is available online now, on Amazon.com, and at bookstores.

Remote Backup Systems provides brandable, scalable software and solutions to MSPs and VARs enabling them to offer Online Backup Services.

Would you like a FREE download of the complete Online Backup Guide for Service Providers as an E-Book? Only 200 available through May 15. [PICK THIS LINK].

There are many Online Backup services that specialize in home computers. People want to back up their pictures, music, and bookmarks. Businesses need online backup, too, and have very different needs. This article will discuss Server Backup Programs.

Many companies have central computers called Servers which are really just bigger, faster computers than Desktop computers, with more memory and more hard drive space. They are connected to Desktop computers through a network.

Desktop computers usually store their critical files on the Server so they can be shared by other employees, and so they can be backed up by server backup programs.

The server backup programs needed to back up Servers are very different from those needed to back up Desktops and laptop computers, and personal computers.

Servers often contain specialized databases designed to share data among many users. They can also include security software to help operate the network, and email software that distributes emails among the network users and Internet users.

These specialized databases are usually in use, and may be difficult to back up because they are so big, or because the program that runs them has them “locked,” a file state that allows exclusive access only to the Server itself and its own database server software.

A “locked” database is difficult to back up, requiring special server backup programs that can access locked databases and the many other special file types that live on Servers.

Here are ten features every Server Backup Program must have.

1.      Back up Open and Locked Files. Server backup programs must be able to back up files while they are locked and in use by employees. You can’t shut down the company to do a backup.

2.      Back up Active Directory and System State. A server backup program must back up the Windows Active Directory which contains the security credentials for users and workstations, and controls logins and file access (among other things.)

3.      Back up specialized databases like Exchange, SQL Server, and Lotus. These databases are often very big – too big to back up online using traditional backup software. The server backup program must be able to read the databases directly, while they are open and in use, and extract only the changes since the last backup.

4.      Comply with all applicable regulations. Server backup programs often back up extremely confidential data like medical records, accounting records, and banking data. Most countries have regulations in place that spell out very strictly how this data is to be protected. The server backup program must comply with these regulations.

5.      Server backup programs must support Seed Loading. Because Servers often contain too much data to send over the Internet during the first full backup, the server backup program must be able to do the first full backup, fully secure and compliant, to a USB drive which can then be transported to the Online Backup Server facility and copied.

6.      Server backup programs must support very fast full restores. When a Server crashes, it can lose many terabytes of data. If we had to restore that much data over the Internet, it could take days or even weeks. Business cannot stand that much down-time. So, the server backup program must be able to restore the data using other secure transmission methods like portable hard drives.

7.      Flexible File Retention Policy. Servers contain different types of data that need to be retained for different periods of time. This policy is sometimes mandated by regulations. The server backup program must be able to maintain different file retention policies for different groups of files.

8.      Active management. Servers are important, often pivotal to the success of a company. If a Server is lost a company may not be able to do business. That’s why it is important that the server backup program supports active management and automated reporting so administrators can be kept informed that their backups are being done properly.

9.      Maintain Multiple Versions. Server backup programs must be able to maintain multiple versions of files and databases that can be restored at will. Administrators will often want a version of a file that is three weeks old (for example) after subsequent backups have already been done.

10.  Strong Encryption. The data on Servers is very important, and could damage a company if it became known to competitors. The server backup program must be able to encrypt data before it is transmitted offsite, and the data must stay in encrypted form while at rest on the Online Backup Server.

Rob Cosgrove, CEO Remote Backup Systems

Rob Cosgrove is the President of Remote Backup Systems, founder of the Online Backup Industry, and a vocal advocate for maintaining the highest standards in Online Backup software. His latest book, the Online Backup Guide for Service Providers: How to Start and Operate an Online Backup Service, is available online now, on Amazon.com, and at bookstores.

Remote Backup Systems provides brandable, scalable software and solutions to MSPs and VARs enabling them to offer Online Backup Services.

Would you like a FREE download of the complete Online Backup Guide for Service Providers as an E-Book? Only 200 available through May 15. [PICK THIS LINK].

There are many considerations for designing your Online Backup Server. You can spend a little or a lot, depending on where it is hosted, security, redundancy, speed, power, and Internet connectivity.

The Online Backup Guide for Service Providers is a complete 196-page guide on starting and operating an Online Backup Service – the latest revision of Rob Cosgrove’s industry defining RBS Book originally published in 1987. The entire book is being published here, chapter by chapter.

The RBackup server software will run on virtually any Windows computer and any Internet connection, even on a Windows XP laptop on WIFI at an Internet cafe. It uses only one CAL (Windows Client Access License) regardless how many users it has. Mercury server software requires a much more robust server (or cluster) in a data center. Both will run in Cloudspace at providers like Amazon.

Much depends on your budget and the level of service you want to provide. Most Online Backup Service Providers who begin small (50 clients or less) lease a virtual server from a company like RackSpace (www.rackspace.com) or host their server in their own office or data center on a dedicated computer.

My company provides Virtual Hosting accounts for both RBackup and Mercury in our own data center. The following link has more information:

http://www.remote-backup.com/vhosting.htm

RBS has recently begun offering Rented Cloud Servers. These are dedicated Online Backup Servers hosted in the Amazon Cloud infrastructure. You pay for them monthly, for the resources you use. It’s a VERY quick (about one day) and easy way to start up a fully automated Online Backup Service. More info at the link below:

http://www.remote-backup.com/amazonservers.htm

You may want to purchase your Online Backup software and host it yourself in the Amazon Cloud. The following link has more info:

http://www.remote-backup.com/ec2.htm

Best Practices for hosting an Online Backup Server are virtually the same as those for any Internet Server, and are well documented on the Web, so I will not do the same here.

When designing your server environment and choosing a hosting facility, remember that many of your customers, especially the business clients, will want to know about it. They will be looking for privacy, security, reliability, and server backups.

It is best to locate your server close to your business and to your customers so you can offer seed loading the first full backup, and quick bulk restores. Both require you to physically connect a USB drive to the Server’s internal network so you can copy files at very fast speeds instead of over the Internet.

Many Service Providers do not offer either of these services because they host their servers too far away. If you host your Server too far away to offer these services, I suggest you add some language to your SLA or Service Agreement holding you harmless for the restore time.

Rob Cosgrove, CEO Remote Backup Systems

Rob Cosgrove is the President of Remote Backup Systems, founder of the Online Backup Industry, and a vocal advocate for maintaining the highest standards in Online Backup software. His latest book, the Online Backup Guide for Service Providers: How to Start and Operate an Online Backup Service, is available online now, on Amazon.com, and at bookstores.

Remote Backup Systems provides brandable, scalable software and solutions to MSPs and VARs enabling them to offer Online Backup Services.

Would you like a FREE download of the complete Online Backup Guide for Service Providers as an E-Book? Only 200 available through May 15. [PICK THIS LINK].

There are three basic schedules used in Online Backup. This article discusses them. It also discusses a way for you to estimate the sizes of your Online Backups.

The Online Backup Guide for Service Providers is a complete 196-page guide on starting and operating an Online Backup Service – the latest revision of Rob Cosgrove’s industry defining RBS Book originally published in 1987. The entire book is being published here, chapter by chapter.

There are three basic schedules.

On Demand – End users can force a backup whenever they like.

After Hours – Backups happen automatically during a pre-set window of time after business hours. This is by far the most popular schedule.

Continuous – Backups happen throughout the day, either as files are modified, or at very frequent intervals, like every fifteen minutes. This is sometimes called CDP – Continuous Data Protection. It often interferes with the usability of the computer, and is not recommended for Servers at the current state of technology. Mercury supports CDP for Workstations and Laptops.

Select a schedule that meets the customer’s Recovery Point Objective (RPO) for each backup set. For example, if a customer can afford to re-enter a day’s worth of work, his RPO is 24 hours, and a single daily After Hours backup is sufficient.

If his RPO is 4 hours, then you should schedule a backup every four hours during business hours for this backup set. (Select the Windows Task Scheduler checkbox.)

Rob’s Free Online Backup Estimator

It is often difficult to estimate the size of a first full backup and subsequent incremental backups. As a Service Provider, you want to know how much storage space a potential customer is going to use, and the customer may want an estimate of his charges before he commits to a subscription.

Here’s a tool you can use to estimate backup sizes on Windows and Mac workstations. Once again, it’s a world first, brought to you by the company who invented the industry, Remote Backup Systems.

You can download this program and run it on your clients’ computers. It will scan the drives and estimate the size of the first full backup and subsequent daily backups. It requires Internet access because it also calculates the backup time by measuring the customer’s upstream bandwidth. To do this it creates and sends a 10KB file containing random numbers.

The Estimator does not collect or send personal information.

The Estimator assumes an average compression size of 60% for calculating the length of time for backup sessions, and displays native file sizes. I recommend that you charge customers by native file size rather than by compressed file sizes.

It also assumes my Best Practices suggestions for Includes and Excludes, and uses my recommended Global Exclusion List, a 4GB file size limit, and includes only files on internal hard drives. You can change some of these defaults.

This free public version can take twenty minutes to run depending on the size of the files, and it displays ads while it runs. At the end it will recommend Service Providers who are part of the Remote Backup Systems Referral Network.

If you want a faster version without ads or referrals to my Service Providers that can estimate both Workstations and Servers, you’ll have to buy RBackup Service Provider Edition. Download Rob’s Free Online Backup Estimator from the following URL:

http://www.remote-backup.com/estimator

Rob Cosgrove, CEO Remote Backup Systems

Rob Cosgrove is the President of Remote Backup Systems, founder of the Online Backup Industry, and a vocal advocate for maintaining the highest standards in Online Backup software. His latest book, the Online Backup Guide for Service Providers: How to Start and Operate an Online Backup Service, is available online now, on Amazon.com, and at bookstores.

Remote Backup Systems provides brandable, scalable software and solutions to MSPs and VARs enabling them to offer Online Backup Services.

Would you like a FREE download of the complete Online Backup Guide for Service Providers as an E-Book? Only 200 available through May 15. [PICK THIS LINK].

I am using the term “firewall” to refer to any software or device that protects a computer from viruses, Trojans, external attacks, malware, evil websites, and other threats.

The Online Backup Guide for Service Providers is a complete 196-page guide on starting and operating an Online Backup Service – the latest revision of Rob Cosgrove’s industry defining RBS Book originally published in 1987. The entire book is being published here, chapter by chapter.

Firewalls are made by McAfee, Symantec, SonicWALL, Barracuda, Zone Alarm, Cisco, Linksys, and Norton, among others.

Firewalls are designed to stop programs from communicating with the Internet. Sometimes they can accidentally tag Online Backup software as “suspect” and stop it from running until someone authorizes it. It is always a good idea to do a test backup and restore after the software has been installed on a workstation or server.

RBackup and Mercury have “Test Connection” buttons that automatically do a backup and restore for testing firewalls.

Firewall software is, by nature, updated frequently. It is not uncommon for an update to a customer’s firewall, or a newly installed firewall, to interfere with the operation of Online Backup software. If a customer has been running properly for a while, then suddenly stops, first assume that a change has been made to the firewall, router, Internet connection, or operating system since the Online Backup software was installed.

It isn’t really your responsibility to correct problems with software you didn’t install, but you should be ready to do so anyway. Your customers don’t understand that it isn’t your fault, and the last thing they want to hear is, “Not my fault. Call Symantec tech support.”

Rob Cosgrove, CEO Remote Backup Systems

Rob Cosgrove is the President of Remote Backup Systems, founder of the Online Backup Industry, and a vocal advocate for maintaining the highest standards in Online Backup software. His latest book, the Online Backup Guide for Service Providers: How to Start and Operate an Online Backup Service, is available online now, on Amazon.com, and at bookstores.

Remote Backup Systems provides brandable, scalable software and solutions to MSPs and VARs enabling them to offer Online Backup Services.

Would you like a FREE download of the complete Online Backup Guide for Service Providers as an E-Book? Only 200 available through May 15. [PICK THIS LINK].

Let’s have a look at a typical small Server that contains a mix of critical data (Exchange Server, System State and Active Directory), important data, and archival data.

The Online Backup Guide for Service Providers is a complete 196-page guide on starting and operating an Online Backup Service – the latest revision of Rob Cosgrove’s industry defining RBS Book originally published in 1987. The entire book is being published here, chapter by chapter.

Typically 70% of data on a Server never changes, or changes very rarely. There are usually many old files that are not being used and might never change, but the end user wants them backed up. If you (as the Service Provider) have a hands-on relationship with the customer, the decision on how to categorize the data should be made by interviewing the end user to determine what applications his business relies on and what data usually changes.

RBackup works on Windows servers. It will automatically detect Exchange, SQL Server, Active Directory and Sharepoint, and will display icons for you to use to back up these special databases. These applications are always considered “critical” and should be backed up frequently.

A typical small Windows server might have three backup sets, designed like this:

Backup Set 1 (Critical)

Included: MS Exchange, SQL Server, System State, Active Directory

AutoSelect: OFF

Backup Type: BitBackup

Schedule: Daily

Keep Latest Version: ON

Retention Period: 365 Days

File Selection: Modified Date/Time

Backup Set 2 (Important)

Included: All MS Office Documents

AutoSelect: ON

Backup Type: BitBackup

Schedule: Daily

Keep Latest Version: ON

Retention Period: 180 Days

File Selection: Fast Pick

Backup Set 3 (Archival)

Included: Manually selected folders and files

AutoSelect: OFF

Backup Type: BitBackup

Schedule: Weekly

Keep Latest Version: ON

Retention Period: 30 Days

File Selection: Archive Bit

Workstations

Workstations are desktop or laptop computers that may or may not be networked with more powerful Servers. Employees do virtually all of their work at the consoles of workstations. Servers are rarely operated by employees for day-to-day tasks, and may be locked away in a closet.

Workstations and laptops usually have different backup and restore requirements than Servers, and sometimes need only one Backup Set. Servers are usually administered by someone who is more computer literate than people who use workstations, so the directory structure of a Server is usually more standardized and easier to back up.

Workstations, however, can have valuable files virtually anywhere on their drives. If the computers were installed and the software configured by a professional, you might be able to depend on critical files being in the right folders. Otherwise, you may have to search for them. RBackup and Mercury have features that can locate critical files automatically.

Recommended Include and Exclude Rules

Here are the most important folders to consider when designing a backup strategy for workstations and non-networked computers, along with my opinion of their importance and recommendations for including or excluding them.

Personal Files (Critical-Include) – Windows computers usually store personal, user generated files in a folder structure whose root is a virtual folder called My Documents. Depending on the application you use to look at the file system, this folder can also look like: C:\Documents and Settings\[User Name]\My Documents\ Mac computers store personal files in a folder structure whose root is called Users.

Start Menu (Critical-Include) – This is where Windows computers store their application shortcuts and group folders. There are two Start Menus – one for the logged in user and the other shared by all users. They are: C:\Documents and Settings\[User Name]\Start Menu\ and C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\.

Desktop (Critical-Include) – Windows and Macs store their desktop shortcuts and other objects here. For Windows there are two – one for the logged in user and the other shared by all users. They are: C:\Documents and Settings\[User Name]\Desktop\ and C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop\. Macs store desktop items in \Users\[User Name]\Desktop\.

Favorites (Critical-Include) – Windows computers store all the items in the Favorites menus of browsers and other applications here. Back these up: C:\Documents and Settings\[User Name]\Favorites\ and C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Favorites\.

User Profile Folders (Critical-Optional) – These are the root folders for all of the “Include” folders above. Some service providers like to back up these folders instead of individually selecting the folders within them, and I agree, as long as you properly manage the Global Exclusions list available exclusively in RBackup (See Global Exclusions later in this chapter). The User Profile folders are: C:\Documents and Settings\[User Name]\ and C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\.

Application Data (Critical-Include) – These folders contain information used by the Program Files (below). The data in these folders is for personal settings and preferences, and databases like Outlook and Outlook Express. I recommend you back them up as long as you use software like RBackup or Mercury that contains a Global Exclusions list.

Program Files (Archival-Exclude) – These are the files that operate the applications installed on the workstation. They are copied to the hard drive during installation, and rarely changed. Usually Windows workstations have their program files stored in a folder called Program Files while Macs store their program files in a folder called Applications. These files do not usually need to be backed up. Restoring them would not make them useable. They must be re-installed from the original distribution media.

Internet Cache (Unimportant-Exclude) – The Internet cache contains temporary files used by web browsers to speed up browsing sessions. These files should not be backed up. C:\Documents and Settings\[User Name]\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\

System Files (Unimportant-Exclude) – These are files used almost exclusively by the operating system. Restoring them would not make them useful. These files will be replaced by reloading the operating system after a complete failure. On Windows: C:\Windows\ and C:\Windows\System32 and c:\WINNT\ Mac: \System\

Global Exclusions

The best Online Backup software has features that allow you to globally exclude files and folders. The Global Exclusions list overrides all other file selections. For example, if your Global Exclusion list includes files that end in “zip” or that contain the word “cache,” files that match these patterns will not appear for users to select, and will be automatically excluded from any rule that might otherwise select them.

RBackup and Mercury both have powerful Global Exclusion lists.

A Global Exclusion list makes selecting files for backup far easier. For example, you could include the complete User Profile folder structure, and rely on your Global Exclusion list to automatically exclude specific files that never need to be backed up. It is a very powerful feature.

Following are some sample Global Exclusions used for Windows workstations. These are only examples. A typical Global Exclusion list is much larger than this.

Sample File Exclusions

Sample Folder Exclusions

Sample Virtual Folder Exclusions

It is also a good idea to exclude files based on attributes other than their names or folder locations. Depending on your service level agreement, you may want to exclude network drives, USB drives, CD Drives, Floppy Diskette Drives, and Memory Sticks.

It is also common to exclude files by size. Many Online Backup services exclude files bigger than four gigabytes, except for certain databases like SQL Server, Exchange, and Active Directory.

Rob Cosgrove, CEO Remote Backup Systems

Rob Cosgrove is the President of Remote Backup Systems, founder of the Online Backup Industry, and a vocal advocate for maintaining the highest standards in Online Backup software. His latest book, the Online Backup Guide for Service Providers: How to Start and Operate an Online Backup Service, is available online now, on Amazon.com, and at bookstores.

Remote Backup Systems provides brandable, scalable software and solutions to MSPs and VARs enabling them to offer Online Backup Services.

Would you like a FREE download of the complete Online Backup Guide for Service Providers as an E-Book? Only 200 available through May 15. [PICK THIS LINK].

Data can be categorized into three tiers: critical (integral to ongoing operations), important (valuable but not mission critical) and archival (required but not typically retrieved).

The Online Backup Guide for Service Providers is a complete 196-page guide on starting and operating an Online Backup Service – the latest revision of Rob Cosgrove’s industry defining RBS Book originally published in 1987. The entire book is being published here, chapter by chapter.

Usually, the customer just wants everything backed up. Of course this isn’t possible at a reasonable price with today’s technology. Most hard drives contain many gigabytes of data, most of which is non-critical and can be recovered from original distribution CDs and other sources. Computers are not yet fast enough to prepare that much data to transmit over the Internet in a reasonable amount of time, and upload bandwidth is inadequate.

Here’s an example. The computer I’m using right now contains 43.3 gigabytes of data. My Internet connection is fairly fast – 12 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream. So, assuming 100% efficiency, I can theoretically send all this data up to the Internet in 1 day, 8 hours, 4 minutes, and 26.67 seconds.

That doesn’t sound too bad. But, no Online Backup Service Provider is going to take my connection at 3 Mbps, and I’ll never achieve 100% efficiency. The best I can hope for is an overall bit rate of (maybe) 900 Kbps, which is going to take 4 days, 10 hours, and 54 minutes. That’s too long.

Most businesses have an upstream bandwidth less than 900 Kbps. 512 Kbps is more common. That would take twice as much time.

In addition to the time it takes to do a backup, we must consider the time it takes to restore, called the Recovery Time Objective (RTO). This is a more important number because it directly impacts a company’s down time in the event of a disaster.

What is the acceptable amount of time between the loss of data and its recovery? If there is too much data (because of bandwidth) to download in an acceptable period of time, the Service Provider may have to deliver the restored data on a USB drive. This is where physical proximity to your clients is important. You could overnight a drive if your customer’s RTO is twelve hours, and depending on what time of day the data loss occurred.

You can test your upstream and downstream bandwidth at the following URL:

http://www.dslreports.com/tools

Then you can use one of my handy dandy online calculators to figure out how long it will take to do a backup:

http://www.remote-backup.com/calculators

Clearly you have to be selective about which files you back up.

Include & Exclude

Online Backup software contains rules that govern which files are backed up and which files are not. In RBackup and Mercury files and folders can be included and excluded from backups many ways. I won’t go into their specifics, but I will explain the basic concepts.

Backup Sets

Because different groups of files have different tiers (critical, important and archival) which coexist on the same hard drive, Online Backup software needs a way to assign include/exclude parameters and schedules by file groups called Backup Sets.

Some Backup Sets contain critical data that needs to be backed up every day and kept for twelve months, with a Recovery Time Objective of three hours, and the ability to do a point-in-time restore.

Some Backup Sets contain less important data that only needs to be backed up every two days, only kept for ninety days, and doesn’t need point-in-time.

Part of your job as a consultant is to help your customers design a backup strategy that backs up the correct files often enough to meet the company’s RTO and RPO, while archiving data for the required amount of time, and providing the ability to roll back through multiple versions by date or version number.

Synthetic Full Backups

In the old days when people backed up to tape drives a certain strategy had to be used. The most popular was Grandfather/Father/Son tape rotation. This method required 19 to 23 tapes and ensured that there were always backups of the seven most current days, the four most current weeks, the eleven most current months, and the most current year.

This method required keeping close tabs on which tape was which, and rotated them so most of the tapes received even wear from the tape machine, so they could be replaced in groups.

Restoring from tapes required finding the tape containing the backup that had the version of the file you want, and restoring it from tape. To do a complete disaster recovery required restoring first the most recent full backup, then all incremental backups since then. It was a long and arduous task. Tapes would break, or would become unusable because of heat, humidity, wear, and magnetic distortion.

When I designed the first Online Backup software, I predicted a problem with that kind of strategy, and saw an opportunity to employ a powerful function that tape didn’t have – Indexing and database-driven restore.

This gave rise to what was later called Synthetic Full Backup – full backups that are built out of pieces of previous incremental and full backups already on the Server without the need to re-send data to the Server. It saves a lot of time on restore and saves space on the Server.

In addition, it allows for creating full restores to any point in time, and the on-the-fly custom design of virtually any type of restoration of any subset or groups of subsets of full backups by date, file size, file type, backup set, drive location, customer-defined “tags,” file name or folder name, or any other file attribute. Restores became very granular, and very fast, and can be done all in a single pass without the need to restore from multiple backup sets.

As far as I know, my RBackup and Mercury are the only two Online Backup packages currently available that can process Synthetic Backups.

Rob Cosgrove, CEO Remote Backup Systems

Rob Cosgrove is the President of Remote Backup Systems, founder of the Online Backup Industry, and a vocal advocate for maintaining the highest standards in Online Backup software. His latest book, the Online Backup Guide for Service Providers: How to Start and Operate an Online Backup Service, is available online now, on Amazon.com, and at bookstores.

Remote Backup Systems provides brandable, scalable software and solutions to MSPs and VARs enabling them to offer Online Backup Services.

Would you like a FREE download of the complete Online Backup Guide for Service Providers as an E-Book? Only 200 available through May 15. [PICK THIS LINK].

This section is not intended to be a FULL explanation of exactly how credit cards work. What it does instead is give you an overview of how they work from the merchant’s (your) perspective.

The Online Backup Guide for Service Providers is a complete 196-page guide on starting and operating an Online Backup Service – the latest revision of Rob Cosgrove’s industry defining RBS Book originally published in 1987. The entire book is being published here, chapter by chapter.

If you want to automate your service and link it with your website, you will want to accept credit cards. The bank holding your business checking account is the best place to start. Tell them you want to accept credit cards for an online business and they will take it from there.

Expect to pay a discount fee in the range of 1% to 3% (and sometimes higher) of your gross receipts depending on your credit history, the type of each transaction, your use of the credit card’s CVC/CVV number, the type of credit card, your use of AVS, and many other factors.

You might also pay a monthly account fee, a per-transaction fee, and a number of other fees.

You will need a merchant account, a payment gateway, a shopping cart, and a virtual terminal.

Merchant Account – Usually provided by your own bank, a merchant account holds the money you receive from charging your customers’ credit cards, and an amount of money to be used to draw against in case a customer disputes one of your charges.

Money from your merchant account is automatically swept into your company’s checking account nightly. It can take from 24 hours to 36 hours between the time a credit card is charged until the cash is available for your use in your checking account.

Merchant accounts are a little difficult to get these days. They usually require near-perfect credit for the individual and/or company applying for the account. Your merchant account provider will either want to know you personally, or will want you to provide several years of tax returns, bank statements, and financial statements.

Payment Gateway – The payment gateway is a different service with its own fees. It is required. The payment gateway communicates between your shopping cart and the various credit card companies at the time a credit card is charged.

It sends the charge request from your shopping cart to VISA, Master Card, Discover, American Express, and other credit card companies. It then listens for the response, which can be one of several, including the Big Two – Accepted and Declined.

“Accepted” means that the credit card was successfully charged, and the money scheduled to be withdrawn from the customer’s credit card account and deposited into your merchant account. (The actual transfer takes place later, within 24 to 36 hours.)

“Declined” means that the credit card company declined the transaction for one reason or another, which is usually reported along with the Declined message.

Some well-known payment gateways are authorize.net (www.authorize.net), PayPal’s Payflow Pro (www.paypal.com), and the Quickbooks Merchant Service.

Shopping Cart – Your shopping cart presents your customers a web page at which they can order your product or service. Shopping cart programs can be built into web sites and they can be outsourced. If you outsource your shopping cart service, expect to pay between $39 and $199 per month, depending on the services you want.

For the American market, I prefer the service provided by 1shoppingcart.com (www.1shoppingcart.com). It is rich in features including coupons, multi-gateway support, autoresponders, mass mailing, affiliate programs, and much more.

There are also open source shopping cart programs that you can run on your own web server at little or no expense. They include Zen Cart (www.zen-cart.com), Open Cart (www.opencart.com), and Commersus (www.comersus.com).

If you use my RBackup Online Backup Software, you can take advantage of a built-in shopping cart designed specifically for use with my software. See the Web Manager PlugIn and the E-Commerce PlugIn.

Virtual Terminal – The virtual terminal is usually provided for you as a part of your payment gateway service. It takes the place of a manual credit card swipe machine and operates on the Web.

You will use the virtual terminal to manually process credit card transactions that are phoned in by your customers, or that are declined for some non-fatal reason, or for when you want to issue a refund. Your shopping cart may also be capable of some or all of these functions.

If your bank will not (or cannot) handle your Internet merchant account, plenty of other companies will. Just search the web for “internet merchant account” and start applying. Fees vary widely with liability.

Chargebacks

Fraud aside, chargebacks are a necessary evil, especially if you want to accept American Express. A customer can request a chargeback with a simple telephone call to his credit card company up to a year after a charge was made, without returning the product.

Without consulting you, the credit card company will immediately reach into your company checking account and withdraw funds. You will find out about it only after you notice a balance discrepancy in your bank account or when you get a chargeback letter by mail, sometimes up to ten days after the chargeback occurred.

You will have a very limited amount of time to respond. You can dispute the chargeback or allow it. Disputing a chargeback is difficult and time-consuming. You may be required to provide card swipe data (which you can’t because it was an online transaction), a contract or receipt signed by the customer (ditto), a printed sales receipt or invoice, proof of delivery, and an essay on why the chargeback is bogus.

The paperwork for disputing a chargeback can require an hour or two of executive time. For small charges it is more cost-effective to simply allow the chargeback and cancel the customer’s Online Backup account. For larger purchases I recommend requiring the customer to electronically sign a Sales Agreement, which you can use to help challenge a chargeback if you decide to do so.

American Express

Like chargebacks, American Express may be a necessary evil.

Just about anyone can get an American Express merchant account. The application is online, and approval is automatic and instantaneous. There’s a reason for that – they have trouble getting merchants to accept their card.

You’ve seen all those American Express commercials where they spend sixty seconds telling you how easy it is to take advantage of a merchant by purchasing something and then requesting a chargeback for “whatever reason?”

American Express merchant fees are the highest in the industry. Who do you think pays for all those Reward Points? It’s you – the merchant, through high fees.

Rob Cosgrove, CEO Remote Backup Systems

Rob Cosgrove is the President of Remote Backup Systems, founder of the Online Backup Industry, and a vocal advocate for maintaining the highest standards in Online Backup software. His latest book, the Online Backup Guide for Service Providers: How to Start and Operate an Online Backup Service, is available online now, on Amazon.com, and at bookstores.

Remote Backup Systems provides brandable, scalable software and solutions to MSPs and VARs enabling them to offer Online Backup Services.

Would you like a FREE download of the complete Online Backup Guide for Service Providers as an E-Book? Only 200 available through May 15. [PICK THIS LINK].