Thanks to Rob Cosgrove of Remote Backup Systems for taking time out from his busy schedule to participate in this interview. His story is fascinating. If you have an interest in any of the following you will love this. Cars, record breaking, world firsts, online backup , I.T. pioneers, flying, life, enthusiasm and predictions for the future.
Mercury Online Backup
I introduced my latest Online Backup project, codenamed “Mercury”, back on June 23. Since then I realized that if I wanted Mercury to be able to beat the likes of Mozy on both price and features, Mercury would have to do more, and do it better. It would also have to use a different business and technical model.
Offsite backup, also known as remote backup, is the process of backing up important computer data and files to a server or other storage device located in a separate physical location. Typically, offsite backup or remote backup software is installed on the resource which houses the original data store. Files are selected, a schedule is set, and the offsite backup begins, typically with an initial “full” backup to the offsite server.
Once the full backup has run, offsite backup software usually enables the user to switch to incremental backups afterwards. Incremental offsite backup sessions contain only the changed files, or changes within those files, instead of entire new versions of the changed files.
Other benefits of incremental offsite backup include a fairly dramatic reduction in bandwidth usage as compared to full backups. Less bandwidth is used because less data is being sent from the client to the offsite backup server in each session. Since most offsite backups occur during off hours, or at night when computers are not being used, bandwidth and system resources are not at a premium.
Hard disk space on the offsite backup server is also conserved, as only the changes are transferred to the offsite server with each session.
Remote Backup Systems ( http://remote-backup.com ) is a great resource for information about offsite backup and remote backup software. RBS created the world’s first commercial offsite backup software in 1987, and has been developing and marketing remote online backup software since then.
More information can be found at http://remote-backup.com
A new study confirms what a great many people in IT already suspected: Companies of all sizes are vulnerable to costly and damaging e-mail outages because they trust their messaging infrastructure to a single server and do not have an adequate backup and recovery plan in case of a disaster.
ApplicationContinuity.org surveyed 434 IT professionals responsible for e-mail continuity in small (0-99 employees), medium (100-999 employees) and large (1,000 or more employees) enterprises. ResearchCorp.org provided the analysis.
Only 21 percent of respondents have implemented a disaster avoidance strategy, while 29 percent of midsized companies are operating with only a single Exchange server, and have no application continuity plan in place.
[Read the article on EWeek.com]
By JIM SALTER, AP Business Writer
ST. LOUIS – Charter Communications officials believe a software error during routine maintenance caused the company to delete the contents of 14,000 customer e-mail accounts.
There is no way to retrieve the messages, photos and other attachments that were erased from inboxes and archive folders across the country on Monday, said Anita Lamont, a spokeswoman for the suburban St. Louis-based company.
“We really are sincerely sorry for having had this happen and do apologize to all those folks who were affected by the error,” Lamont said Thursday when the company announced the gaff.
Charter, one of the nation’s largest cable TV operators, also provides telephone and high-speed Internet service. It has applied a $50 credit to the bill of each customer whose account was affected by the mistake, Lamont said.
By Mary Jander, Byte and Switch
An unencrypted backup tape missing from an Iron Mountain storage facility has forced a major credit card company that specializes in online credit protection to contact hundreds of thousands of customers.
By Grayson Kamm, First Coast News
JACKSONVILLE, FL — The target may be high-tech, but the emotion involved is as old as humanity. Spite, anger, and revenge. Police say that’s what filled a woman’s heart after she picked up the classified ads.
When Marie Cooley came across a job that looked like hers in the classifieds, she admits she was certain she was about to be fired.
FRAMINGHAM, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Fueled by a combination of factors, including the tremendous growth in digital data generated by individuals and small businesses, the worldwide online backup services market is poised for growth. IDC estimates revenue for this emerging market to reach $715 million by 2011, representing a 33.3% compound annual growth (CAGR) between 2006 and 2011.
“Consumers and small businesses especially are interested in alternative methods of protecting their data, as traditional backup methods fall short regarding efficiency, reliability, and ease-of-use,” said Doug Chandler, research director for Storage Services at IDC. “Online backup has become an attractive approach for many customers, with the advent of cheaper broadband access, users’ greater comfort level with Web-based services, and the growing business need for a second site for remote data protection purposes.”
Among key assumptions behind IDC’s forecast are the following:
IDC’s study, Online Backup Services Forecast 2007 – 2011: A New Market Emerges (IDC #209868), presents a five-year forecast for the online backup services market, discusses key issues and offers guidance for providers.
To purchase this document, call IDC’s Sales hotline at 508-988-7988 or email sales@idc.com.
About IDC
IDC is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 900 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 90 countries worldwide. For more than 43 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world’s leading technology media, research, and events company. You can learn more about IDC by visiting www.idc.com.
All product and company names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
From the Associated Press
The loss or theft of personal data such as credit-card and Social Security numbers soared to unprecedented levels in 2007, and the trend isn’t expected to turn around soon as hackers stay a step ahead of security and laptops disappear with sensitive information.
And while companies, government agencies, schools and other institutions are spending more to protect an ever-increasing volume of data with more sophisticated firewalls and encryption, the investment often is too little too late.
In researching offsite data backup and recovery services, I’ve read a number of horror stories about business owners that subscribed to (and paid for) an online backup service for many months, only to find that they could not actually recover their information when they needed to. Why would this happen?
(DAILY NEWS) – Small business owners know that a savvy way to boost sluggish income is to adopt new sales tactics. As it turns out, the sales aspect of the job is the most painful part for many business owners.