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Bank Your Data on the Web

Updated Web backup and file access services surface from @Backup, Atrieva, Imation.

Cameron Crouch, PC World

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Bank ATMs have helped make banks not only a safe place for your money, but an accessible one. Wouldn't it be nice if your desktop files could be stored somewhere as secure and handy as a bank?

The service provides small business and home-office users with automated and secure storage of their valuable desktop files. Announced Tuesday, @Backup 2.0 now gives access to stored files from any Web browser. It costs $99 yearly for 100MB of storage space. But @Backup is not an Internet-hosting service; rather, a combination of client-based software and encrypted off-site storage.

Protecting the Forgetful

Until everyone is confident of a high-speed connection, it's good to have two copies of important files: a server-based backup and the copy on your laptop or desktop, says Jim Till, vice president of marketing at @Backup.

Unlike other Web-only storage offerings from Atrieva and iDrive, @Backup 2.0 resides partially on your desktop as software embedded in your Windows applications. To make it easier for you to set up your backups, @Backup uses Windows shell-extension technology to select files.

"A simple right click lets you automatically back up files or add a document to your files to be backed up," Till explains.

Many Internet services offer varying amounts of free Web storage, but @Backup promotes its automation and security. Rather than clogging up connections by copying the same files repeatedly, the service sends only files changed since your last backup.

"You can still get complete backup with a 28 kilobits-per-second connection," Till adds.

The @Backup desktop software applies two levels of 56-bit encryption technology and encrypts the channel through which data is sent. You can change your password frequently for added security.

The average customer stores about 49MB of personal data, taking four to five minutes for a backup session. @Backup also provides bundled storage services for Dell, Gateway, Intuit, Office Max, and PSINet.

Other Options Update

Web backup and storage services, which have grown in availability and use in the past year, are hitting their next generation of technology.

Imation recently announced a new storage initiative for backing up an entire server's data. It offers application hosting in addition to its automated Web-based backup services.

Priced per seat starting at $169.50 each for 10 users, Imation Web Backup is designed for administrators who want to back up data from remote workers. Its recovery features include specific file synchronization and complete data recovery.

Also on Tuesday, another backup service, Atrieva, unveiled its free Driveway Internet file storage service that stores up to 100MB of data. Atrieva also offers Internet FileZone, a storage and backup service that's free for the first 10MB.

Although the files are hosted on the Internet, Driveway accounts are regularly backed up to off-site, disaster-proof servers, according to Atrieva.

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