Data Backup Software and Service

While the vision and mission of a business is critical its success, the security of its data is critical to its very existence in the market. Data Deposit Box offers a non-intrusive, secure backup system that ensures data security with a minimum of investment in IT and IT related resources.

Setting up an account with Data Deposit Box can be completed in two simple steps. The first requires the organization to register for the service and make the necessary subscription. The next step is to download the software and install it on the machines to be backed up. The backup then happens automatically and securely and the organization is free to pursue its business unhampered.

Data Deposit Box is owned and operated by Acpana Business Systems Inc. The company is headquartered at Toronto, Ontario in Canada and has an office in New York, USA.

Data Deposit Box offers to backup your mission-critical data at the cost of two dollars per gigabyte. When compared with other online backup services such as Idrive, Mozy, MemoPal, Keepit.com and Carbonite, at first glance, Data Deposit Box’s price of $2 per GB, a bit expensive. Most backup companies offer 1 or 2 GB free and some charge as little as $5 per month for unlimited storage space. However, with Data Deposit Box, there is no licence fee per machine. If you need to backup multiple systems on to a single server, Data Deposit Box may be an ideal choice, as other online backup systems get more expensive when you select options for backups of multiple computers. Data Deposit Box also offers extra useful features like file and photo sharing as well as protection for Open Files, which is not the case, for example, with some other backup solutions.

In addition, it is worth noting that Data Deposit Box does not delete any storage files when they have been deleted from your PC. This is important because accidental deletions are one of the main reasons for file backups in the first place. Other programs, for example, Mozy, automatically delete files after 30 days if they have been deleted from your PC.

Data Deposit Box does not cater to the needs of pre Windows 95 users and Macintosh (although this is in development) and Linux users. If the machine on which Data Deposit Box is installed runs Check Point Software, ZoneAlarm, Firewall/security suite, settings will have to be adjusted to allow the software to communicate through the firewall. If the machine is running Windows Vista, setting will have to be adjusted in the “Programs waiting for Startup Approval” panel.

The default list of programs that are automatically backed up are My Documents, Desktop, Favorites, Microsoft Outlook, and Microsoft Outlook Express. Other folders and files can be easily added to this list. This helps to ensure that bills do not escalate because users have inadvertently backed up large multimedia files.

Once the set up process is complete, the backup is automatic. The backup client checks for changes in files and backs them up on the online server. The default assumption is that you are online on startup. If not, periodic checks will be made and data is backed up the first instance you are online. Since the amount of data to be backed up will be small after the initial backup process, the backup happens quickly and efficiently.

When the “Suspend” option is enabled, the software detects keyboard and mouse activity and suspends the backup process, beginning again only when the activity stops. Backup activity can also be blocked out, by specifying times when backup need not be performed.

File access and recovery can be initiated from the Data Deposit Box control panel or by connecting to the site using the web browser. The process is very simple. Users can click through the directory or search for specific file names with file wild cards. Searches within files are not yet provided however. The control panel on the desktop facilitates the process by displaying the active (files being backed up) and inactive directories.

Data Deposit Box allows users to save up to 28 versions of individual files. Users can specify a minimum time between versions and also view versions using a time stamp criteria. This feature is available only if the versioning feature is enabled in the client.

Latest versions of entire files and directories can be recovered from the Data Deposit Box control panel. Files can be recovered one at a time using the Web interface.

Since all data is backed up into the central web server, files can be shared with other users, using a simple authorization system such as emailing of password-protected links. This puts Data Deposit Box at an advantage over some of its competitors who do not offer a file-sharing feature.

Data Deposit Box has built up a security system that uses encryption technology (called the blowfish algorithm) that is stated to be “bank-grade”. All data is encrypted first and then transferred to the online server. The key that decrypts the information is available only to the user and no one else. Since the delete feature is not automatic, files cannot be inadvertently deleted from the server. However, the clean up wizard will allow users to clean up and remove files and folders that are no longer required.

You can download a free, unlimited 14-day trial version of Data Deposit Box from the site by providing some personal information and credit card details.

Occasional problems that one encounters while using Data Deposit Box could be missing file extension or messages that say that you do not have permissions to view a particular file.