backupdirect.net free trial

Review Text:

I run a small business with an main office, but also a home office where I work one or two days a week. I have my data on my home-office PC as well as at work. I was using a combination of CDs and ZIP drives to backup (or not backup in my case) my home-office files. In the main office we use tapes, but its no one's job to ensure it happens everyday - I think it gets done, but I'm not sure. I decided to try the free trial of an online backup service. I chose Backup Direct www.backupdirect.net as they focused on UK small businesses - although I am sure there are others.

The install is using a setup file downloaded from the website at www.backupdirect.net/online_solutions_risk_free_trial.php. There is a reasonably clear set of install instructions you can print-off, but the process was intuitive enough. The system gives you the option of choosing automatic or manual file selection for backup. I was not quite sure of the difference, so I chose automatic. It seemed to work. It asks you to print off your account details during the setup - for safekeeping. You must do this if you want to be able to recover you data after a complete machine loss or crash.

I had to backup about 3.5GB of data (my limit for the free trial was 4GB). I set it going over night (no cost to do this as I have broadband) - and it was still going in the morning! It had finished when I got back from work that day, so I cannot be sure how long it actually took. At this point, I was a bit worried about whether or not the system is practical for such an amount of data. I decided to continue anyway. I told the system to backup each night after midnight - and the next few mornings the backup had only taken about 10 minutes! It was clearly doing a good job at sending up incremental changes only.

But what about restoring files? It was so simple and quick that I was sold. I had made a mistake on proposal and overwritten a good chunk of the contents. No problem - a quick look at the restore view showed me the last 10 versions of the backed up file. I simply downloaded the last three and within a few minutes I was going again. I could easily see how it would save my life if I lost a lot of data.

After the free trial I decided to subscribe - 4GB was a fixed fee of £20 per month. On the one hand it looked quite a lot of money, but on the other it was nothing compared with the value of the data I had (potentially all my business). I thought of it as a type of insurance I guess - I felt better having it and knowing that I no longer had to worry about the hassle of CDs and ZIP drives!

I'm now talking to Backup Direct about using the service in the office too. Apparently I can share files between my home PC and the office and also get to see via a web browser when travelling. Sounds good, but not yet used in practise.