Is Online Backup Necessary?

• Posted on January 26, 2013
• in Blog
• by Candy Miller

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Many of you have asked me if online backup necessary? The answer is YES!

One of the problems with data is that it’s stored on a medium which eventually crashes, gets infected with viruses or simply lost. Imagine your company files missing; your family photos lost forever…not a pretty sight.

Virus, theft, fire, accidental deletion, hardware failure, all these can contribute to lost files. Files which are no longer just binary code, these files are irreplaceable memories, important documents, or accounting records which cannot be brought back.

Online Backup is like insurance against a crisis. For a small annual fee you can have peace of mind your data is safe. With this all you need to restore your files is quite literally a click of a button.

Here are some questions I get asked about online backup:

1. we already back up files to external hard drives.  why should we use carbonite?

When you back up with Carbonite your backups may be more complete, your backup data is safer, and backing up requires little or no effort on your part. Consider:

• Carbonite is completely automatic. Once you set Carbonite up, it works on its own, backing up your files whenever your computers are connected to the Internet. You don’t have to remember to back up, because Carbonite never forgets. And you and your team never lose working hours to managing backup activities.
• Carbonite stores your files safely offsite. Offsite storage keeps your backup safe from theft, fires, floods, accidents, and anything else that can happen in your office (or in your home, if you currently bring your backup media home every night).
• Carbonite is more reliable than your external hard drive. Carbonite stores your backup on a redundant disk array (RAID) that is immeasurably more reliable than a computer’s internal hard drive, OR an external hard drive. The good news is that you can include your external hard drives in your Carbonite Business backup – and we strongly recommend that you do.
• Carbonite backs up wherever you go. As long as employees are connected to the Internet – Carbonite backs them up. Whether they’re in the office, at home or on the road, Carbonite keeps working to keep everyone’s backup up to date.
• Carbonite makes it easy to monitor everyone’s backup. A simple, browser-based dashboard lets you check backup status for everyone’s computer, at a glance – plus monitor your backup storage levels for your company.

2. What types of files does Carbonite back up?

Carbonite backs up many of the most common file types you’d use in a small or mid-sized business. This includes, but is certainly not limited to:

• Documents
• Spreadsheets
• Email
• Point-of-sale (POS) files
• Pictures and graphics
• Videos
• Financial/Accounting files (.QBB, .PTB)
• Customer relationship management files

These file types will be included in your backup automatically if the files are saved in your Users folders. If you have files stored outside your Users folders, or want to back up file types that are not already included automatically, you can manually add them to your backup.

Carbonite does NOT back up:

• Application program files (the files you install when you install a program such as Microsoft Word, Quicken, etc.)
• Temporary files (files your programs create for various reasons, while you’re using the program)
• System files (files that make up part of your Windows or Mac OS operating system)

3. Will Carbonite back up my external hard drive?

Both the Business and BusinessPremier plans allow you to include external hard drives in your online backup. To include an external hard drive in your backup, it needs to be attached to the computer by a USB connection and formatted in NTFS, HF+, or FAT32. You may back up as many external hard drives as you would like, provided you have enough storage space available. If you need additional storage, you can add it to your account at any time

4. Will Carbonite back up my NAS device?

Both the Business and BusinessPremier plans allow you to manually add NAS devices to your backup. An account administrator using a Windows computer must right-click on the NAS device and select “Back this up”. Once added to the backup, any data on that NAS device will be automatically included in the admin’s backup. Note: This functionality is only available using the Windows version of Carbonite through an Administrator Account.

5. Can I use Carbonite to back up my servers?

The BusinessPremier plan ($599/year) allows you to back up servers running Microsoft Windows Server 2003, 2008 and 2011. You may include as many servers running these operating systems as you’d like, provided your account has enough storage. If you need additional storage, you may add it to your account at any time.

The Business plan ($229/year) does not include server backup. If you would like to back up a server, you must upgrade to BusinessPremier.

Please note: The BusinessPremier plan allows you to back up your local backup file of Microsoft SQL and Exchange, but it does not back up the programs themselves.

6. Is Carbonite secure?

Yes. Your business depends on your data – so we make it our top priority to keep your data safe. We encrypt your files before transmitting them from your computer to our data center, using the same encryption technology used in online banking and e-commerce transactions. And your files remain encrypted on our servers, which are housed in state-of-the-art data centers that are guarded 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Learn more about everything we do to keep your data safe.

7. Does carbonite allow me to manage my own encryption key?

Yes. During installation, Carbonite Business account admins can select private encryption key management, allowing them to manage the sole copy of the encryption key for each Windows computer, NAS device and server. With private encryption key management, no one, not even the Carbonite technical support staff, can recover files without your unique encryption key. And since your private encryption key is never sent to Carbonite, there will be no way to recover the key should it be lost or misplaced.

Please note: If you choose to manage your own encryption key, you will be unable to use features such as Anytime, Anywhere Access and Courier Recovery