RE: Re: Cloud backup/archiving?

["Alex Monaghan" <ha@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I would suggest archive should be something under your full control.
It may
be a lot of work, but, to dump data to DVD or off-line hard disks and to
store in a trusted location (or duplicate locations) is really the only way
to be sure. I guess also, you may want to look at methods for media refresh
to allow for new media types and to ensure no issue due to media storage
lifetime (run the hard disks every x months, verify the DVD's & re-copy
every so often to ensure fresh media)

The archive policy I wrote for the local charity I used to work with
required them to burn each project's collection of documents and media
files
to DVD and to store these with their paper archive. Daily backup was to a
NAS in their other office (couple of miles physical separation) so
accidental deletion was recoverable but archive was a deliberate manual
process to be included at project close down.



-----Original Message-----
From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Paul Gale
Sent: 14 August 2010 08:33
To: 'ukha_d@xxxxxxx'
Subject: RE: [ukha_d] Re: Cloud backup/archiving?

Thanks for the good post.

I've gone with Jungle Disk for the moment - will see how it goes...

I do like the look of Onlinestoragesolution - but it makes me nervous - is
the offer too good to be true? Will they be there in a year or two??? I
guess backup is safe but archiving may not be such a good idea?

-----Original Message-----
From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
jabberwockpl
Sent: 13 August 2010 22:18
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject: [ukha_d] Re: Cloud backup/archiving?

I have just setup my own cloud backup solution, so I can give you a short,
but very subjective review. Your mileage might vary and probably will.

I have been looking for an inexpensive backup solution for quite some time.
I was particularly interested in WebDAV support, as my router (Fritz!Box -
a
great automation companion) already supports it and my NAS (DNS-323) soon
will.

Unfortunately, none of the services looked ideal. I decided to have a look
at three services: MemoPal, Carbonite and OpenDrive (price was decisive
factor, I must admit).

First I tried Carbonite - it has a trial period. Unfortunately, their app
did not install at all and support did not respond in a reasonable time.

Then I had a look at OpenDrive. It looked good, although also limited to
their app. Unfortunately, I could not make it to work in an automated
fashion (using SyncbackSE). Manual syncing was out of question, naturally.
Also, the Home plan offered 100 GB - my backup files do not exceed the
size,
but at 60 GB they are not really that far - in a year a lot of data can be
produced (home files, photos, two small companies' data).

So I settled for MemoPal. It worked fine in the beginning and I purchased a
year plan (200 GB for 49 Euros). It supports WebDAV, too.

Their backup app worked fine... until I pointed my network drive. No such
luck! It flatly refused to acknowledge the fact. Nothing was backed up.
Then
I tried SyncbackSE with WebDAV... Error after error. I went back to the
site
and read the whole WebDAV FAQ - it turns out that it supports read-only! No
way to backup with WebDAV.

The fine and nice folks from MemoPal offered to fix my problems in a remote
connection session. After an hour and a half (I must admit I was a pretty
difficult client - Windows with a swapped shell, no desktop, all programs
run from FARR - the poor guy could not make heads or tails of my system)
they gave up and generously offered to provide a refund.

I went searching again and came up with OnlineStorageSolution. I was rather
wary in the beginning, as it looked too good to be true - unlimited (yes,
you read that right!) storage for USD 29, FTP/WebDAV/rsync access, but no
trial...

I took the plunge and I must say I am cautiously optimistic - SyncBackSE
happily backs up my files to FTP (it would even better if I had given it
right settings!) for the last two days and I did not have any issues with
it.

Of course, I will be able to do a better review of the service in about a
year. The reviews I have found online are usually good, but not overly
enthusiastic (they praise mostly the price). We will see...

Oops... it was not that short after all...



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