Fabrik Ultimate Backup

Shopping Fabrik's line of external hard drives, you might get the idea that Fabrik Ultimate Backup is an adjunct of those products, but it's actually a separate, exceedingly useful online backup service.

The pricing for Ultimate Backup is very similar to another such service--Mozy.com--which is not surprising, as they both use venerable Berkeley Data Systems' storage facilities. Like Mozy, Fabrik offers 2GB of online storage for free, or unlimited storage for just $5 a month.

The Fabrik Ultimate Backup client sits in your system tray automatically backing up the files and folders you select, but it also gives you a number of thoughtful options. You can limit its usage of your broadband connection, set the program so that backups transpire only while your computer is at idle, and specify how much CPU time the client uses during backups. You can also schedule it to back up only during specified hours or at specified times.

Data may be retrieved by double-clicking the "Fabrik Ultimate Backup" icon that the program adds to "Other devices" in Windows Explorer, or by logging on to your account with your browser and using an online restore function. Fabrik also offers the same 128-bit SSL and 448-bit Blowfish encryption Mozy employs, and you can use Fabrik's self-generated key or one of your own (but don't lose it, or you can't restore).

My only quibble with Fabrik Ultimate Backup is a minor one--it should be integrated into the company's Total Backup and Record local backup utility, which is bundled with its hard drives.

If you're not backing up off-site to guard against data disaster, you should be, and Fabrik is as good a way to do it as any. Did I mention that you get 2GB for free?

--Jon L. Jacobi