Online Backup Best Practices

Here are some of the most popular articles in our Blog, Knowledge Base and website. These are our Best Practices documents.

[Sales & Marketing] | [Technical] | [Procedures] | [Business Management]

Business Management

Operating an Online Backup Company  Operating an Online Backup Company – You might start out with just a few clients and have ambitions to grow to thousands. My advice is geared toward companies who start out servicing fewer than one hundred end users, and who would like to scale up to thousands.

Protect your customers' data with Online Backup  Protect your customers’ data with Online Backup – As an Online Backup consultant, MSP, Service Provider, or whatever you call yourself, you are in the business of protecting your customers’ important data assets with your online backup service and your expertise. However, in order to be really successful you have to set yourself apart from those who only have software.

Five Tips for Online Backup  Five Tips for Online Backup – Backup and recovery are cornerstones for anyone building a data protection structure. From the earliest days of computing, setting aside a recoverable second copy of essential business data has made the difference between a business’ survival and its painful death.

Online Backup increases customer loyalty  Offering Online Backup increases customer loyalty.

Online Backup Software is a Really Good Bargain  Why RBackup Online Backup Software is a Really Good Bargain.

Calculate Profits for Your Online Backup Service  How to Set Prices & Storage Plans and Calculate Profits for Your Online Backup Service

Is Unlimited Online Backup a Scam?  Is Unlimited Online Backup a Scam? It must have seemed like jumping off a cliff in the dark without a safety line for the first online backup company who offered unlimited storage for a set low price. I think it was Mozy in the Summer of 2005…

Why do Some Online Backup Companies Fail?  Why do Some Online Backup Companies Fail? Having spent the past 21 years putting Remote Backup companies in business I have seen thousands of Remote Backup services reach great success. I’ve seen thousands reach a comfortable level, and maybe more importantly, I’ve seen many fail…

estimate online backup monthly pricing  Set online backup pricing. A spreadsheet that can estimate monthly pricing based on increasing storage space, and backup time for the first full backup and subsequent smaller backups

Is Your Online Backup Data Really Secure  Is Your Online Backup Data Really Secure – Six Questions to Ask Your Service Provider

Starting An Online Backup Service in Today's Economy  Starting An Online Backup Service in Today’s Economy – a Free Whitepaper. 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.

Free Online Backup Service Business Plan  Free Online Backup Service Business Plan – Here at RBS, “Our mission is to make you successful.” Is more than just a motto – it’s how we do business.

Terms and Conditions for Online Backup Services  Terms and Conditions for Online Backup Services – 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).

Accepting Credit Cards for Online Backup Services  Accepting Credit Cards for Online Backup Services – 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.

When Planning your Online Backup Service, Don't Be Blinded By Linux. Most of Your Customers Use Windows.  When Planning your Online Backup Service, Don’t Be Blinded By Linux. Most of Your Customers Use Windows.

The History of Online Backup  The History of Online Backup

What is Online Backup?  What is Online Backup? I know, this seems like an article you could skip. After all, everyone knows what Online Backup is. Right? Read this anyway. I’m going to also tell you what your customers expect from you, and what Online Backup is NOT.

 

[Sales & Marketing] | [Technical] | [Procedures] | [Business Management]

Procedures

Optimize backup time by identifying data that needs to be backed up  Optimize backup time by identifying data that needs to be backed up online and exclude data that does not.

Set proper online backup backup strategies.  Set proper backup strategies.

Online Backup include/exclude rules  Select specific files and folders to include and exclude, define backup sets.

Set online backup schedules  Set backup schedules and estimate backup times.

Online Backup Recovery Objectives  Set Recovery Objectives – RTO, RPO, Data Value, Downtime Cost, DR Plan

Best Practices for Online Backup Client Setup  Best Practices for Client-side setup – with common recommendations.

Best Practices for Onsite Installation of Online Backup Software  Best Practices for Onsite Installation of Online Backup Software – 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.

Restoring Data with Online Backup Software  Restoring Data with Online Backup Software – 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.

Best Practices for Managing Your Online Backup Server  Best Practices for Managing Your Online Backup Server – 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.

Scheduling Online Backups and Estimating Backup Sizes  Scheduling Online Backups and Estimating Backup Sizes – 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.

Best Practices for Categorizing Data for Online Backup  Best Practices for Categorizing Data for Online Backup – 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.

Best Practices for Identifying Data for Online Backup  Best Practices for Identifying Data for Online Backup – 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).

Delivering Online Backup Services - Best Practices  Delivering Online Backup Services – To activate service you will need to deliver the Client or Agent to your customer and open an account for him on the server. This can be done as two separate actions, one manual and one automatic, or it can be done with full automation.

 

[Sales & Marketing] | [Technical] | [Procedures] | [Business Management]

Sales and Marketing

How to Sell Online Backup (part 1)  How to Sell Online Backup (part 1)

How to Sell Online Backup Services (part 2)  How to Sell Online Backup Services (part 2)

How to Sell Online Backup Services (part 3)  How to Sell Online Backup Services (part 3)

How to Sell Online Backup Services (part 4)  How to Sell Online Backup Services (part 4)

How Can I Compete with $5 a Month Online Backup Services?  How Can I Compete with $5 a Month Online Backup Services?

Compare Online Backup Products  What is the Difference Between your Products?

Offer an Online Backup Service to SMBs  Offer an Online Backup Service to SMBs Plus Business Continuity Assurance. For small and medium businesses (SMBs), being prepared means being ready for any type of disaster. The obvious impacts of a loss of data can be devastating…

Online Backup as a commodity  Online Backup as a Commodity The problem is (and now I’m speaking directly to YOU, Mr. and Ms. End User) You guys who think cheap backup services are the best thing since sliced bread are misinformed. And here are ten good reasons why…

Why Your Online Backup Service is Worth More than $5/month  Why Your Online Backup Service is Worth More than $5/month – New Online Backup Service Providers are often apprehensive about going into business because they think their business customers will balk at paying $89/month when they see ads for $5/month services.

Two Markets for Online Backup Services: Personal and Business  Two Markets for Online Backup Services: Personal and Business – It is important to be aware of the differences between the Personal Online Backup market and its Business counterpart. They have very different needs, and different prices.

Free Online Backup Disaster Recovery Plan Template  Free Online Backup Disaster Recovery Plan Template – Full Service Online Backup Service Providers can offer their customers far more than just simple backup and restore.

Online Backup Service vs. In-House Backup  Online Backup Service vs. In-House Backup – The key challenge for data backup activity at SMBs (Small and Medium Businesses) is that if there are existing backup processes in place, they are usually not performed regularly and are done in such a way that does not fully protect the organization.

Sales and Marketing Tips - Does Your Online Backup Company have a USP?  Sales and Marketing Tips – Does Your Online Backup Company have a USP? Every company needs a unique selling proposition – sometimes referred to as a USP. Your USP is made up of those features/benefits that you tell prospects (and existing clients) you do that makes your service special.

 

[Sales & Marketing] | [Technical] | [Procedures] | [Business Management]
 

Technical

How do I get Tech Support?  How to get Technical Support – This page lists all the ways you can get tech support, with instructions. Please read this first.

Submit a Support Request  Submit a Support Request – The first step in getting quick Technical Support.

Search the Online Backup Knowledge Base  Search the Online Backup Knowledge Base – This searchable database contains answers to virtually all common issues.

Online Backup Software Evaluation Download  Download the RBackup Evaluation software here.

Online Backup Calculators  Online Backup Calculators – Here are a few online calculators that can help you calculate things like required bandwidth, storage plans, disk space requirements, break even point, and more.

How to test your RBS Server and Firewall  Test your RBS Server Use the Online Server Tester to test and troubleshoot your RBS Server installation and firewall.

How does the Server Locator work?  How does the RBS Server Locator work?

Ten Must Have Features for any Server Backup Program  Ten Must Have Features for any Server Backup Program – 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.

How to Supercharge your Copy Process  How to Supercharge your Copy Process – 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.

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

Firewall Issues in Online Backup  Firewall Issues in Online Backup – 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.

Deduplication - The Latest Buzzword in Online Backup, and Why it is Not Always Possible  Deduplication – The Latest Buzzword in Online Backup, and Why it is Not Always Possible

Free Online Backup Estimator  Online Backup Estimator FREE Download – One of the problems Online Backup Service Providers have always had is the lack of a tool to estimate the storage space needed by their clients, and the time required to do a backup.

Integrating Online Backup with Your Application  Integrating Online Backup with Your Application – As a software publisher or distributor, you know that staying ahead of your competition is getting more difficult every day. To excel you have to constantly innovate…

  Migrating an Online Backup Server How to move/migrate the RBS server (and client’s data) to another drive or computer – OFFICIAL PROCEDURE

Running an RBS Server on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)<br /><br />
  Running an RBS Server on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) – You can start your service with no hardware to purchase or maintain, no data center contracts, no worries about bandwidth or drive space, and a 99.95% uptime guarantee from Amazon.

Online Backup Emergency Hotsite Service  Emergency Hot Site Servers – RBS Emergency Hot Site Servers are available for RBS Service Providers whenever a natural disaster affects your data center. If your RBS Server goes offline because of a natural disaster.

Procedure to migrate/move an existing CLIENT installation to another machine  Procedure to migrate/move an existing CLIENT installation to another machine

Recovering an Online Backup Encryption Key  Recovering an Online Backup Encryption Key

How to perform a disaster recovery for a client  How to perform a disaster recovery for a client.

Online Backup BitBackup Technology  Understanding BitBackup – This white paper discusses the BitBackup technology with recommendations for its correct use.

 

[Sales & Marketing] | [Technical] | [Procedures] | [Business Management]

 


 

About The Author

Avatar
Steve Roberts / http://remote-backup.com

Steve Roberts is VP of Engineering at Remote Backup Systems (http://remote-backup.com), developers of the RBackup Online Backup software platform, providing software powering more than 9,500 Service Providers in 65 countries since 1987.