BACKUP SOFTWARE FAQ'S

How is my bill calculated?

Your online backup bill is calculated as a monthly average of your daily space usage. If you delete something part way through the month, it will be factored into the average. If you are still within the free trial, there is no charge of course.

How secure is my data?

All data storage being backed up is compressed and encrypted before leaving your PC. Data is stored at the data centre in this encrypted form. Authentication traffic between your PC and the online data centre is also encrypted. Restores via the online interface are protected using encryption. One2backup™ uses only the best encryption technology available.

At no time will usernames, passwords or data be sent out over the Internet in unencrypted form.

Can anyone else access my online data?

Can anyone else access my online data storage? Only if you give someone your username and password. Passwords are encrypted so you are the only one with access to your password and online backup.

See 'How does file-sharing work' to learn about how you can selectively share individual files, but not all your data, with other people.

Where is my data backup kept?

Your data backup is kept in a state-of-the-art data centre alongside the systems of several telephone and communications companies. This highly secure physical infrastructure includes several levels of access control and round-the-clock security officers. Your data is stored at One2backup™ data centre and only you have access. All data storage at the data centre and any communication with the data centre is two-way encrypted.

Will the online backup work through my firewall?

The Backup Client was designed to be firewall friendly. If the firewall is configured to allow outgoing web traffic on ports 80 and 443 (which are required for browsers to function), the Backup Client will function correctly.

Is the backup software web based?

You have both a Windows/Mac Backup Client and a Web Client. The Windows/Mac client provides the online backup and simple restore functions. The Web Client provides more powerful restore options and allows you to manage your online data storage.

The Web Client also provides advanced collaboration features such as sharing files and folders with colleagues, mailing of very large attachments and the ability to access your data from anywhere on the Internet.

Do online backups have versioning?

Yes. You can configure the number of data backup versions you wish to keep as well as the minimum amount of time between new versions. Through the web interface, you can restore any available version of the file. Those versions may cover a month or two year's worth of changes. It all depends on how you configure the backup.

Do versions take up a lot of data storage space?

Not really. Before we backup a new version of a file, we compare it to the previous version and only backup the data that changed. So if you have a 50Mb mail file, and then receive 10Kb worth of new messages, we only backup the 10Kb that changed.

Are online backups scheduled?

No. Online backups are continuous rather than scheduled. The Backup Client continuously monitors your hard drive while you work. When it notices a file that has changed (within set parameters), it backs it up immediately to our online data backup facility. Should you wish NOT to backup during certain times you can use our block-out feature and your backup will run at all unblocked times.

Will it slow down my PC?

No. The Backup Client has a feature that suspends the data backup when the PC is in use. When you use the keyboard or mouse, One2backup™ pauses. When you stop to answer the phone, the online backup continues.

And since we backup the files as they change, the amount of data being sent through your Internet connection is kept to a minimum. Most people can't tell a data backup is in progress.

What if the online backup gets interrupted?

Data backups stop and resume automatically. If you unplug your laptop halfway through online backup of a large file, the online backup continues where it left off when you plug it back in. This is especially useful during the initial backup, which may take some time to complete.

What if I have dial-up Internet?

Because online backups are compressed, incremental and interruptible, they work quite well on a dial-up connection. If you have a lot of data, you may find that your initial backup takes quite some time. Rest assured that it will get done. Once the initial data backup is done, only individual file changes have to go up. So the amount of data going out through your modem is small.

What folders should I backup?

When you install the backup software, it will automatically locate popular folders like 'My Documents', 'Desktop', 'Favorites', 'Outlook', etc. You have the ability to choose your own selections and change them at any time.

We recommend you only backup data files. The system will automatically exclude Program and Operating System files. These generally don't need to be backed up as you can easily reinstall them from the original media.

Can I backup more than one PC?

Yes. We do not charge for the number of PCs you backup. You only pay for the data storage they use.

Online data backup is stored in separate volumes that are sorted by PC name and drive letter. If you have a similar file with the same name on more than one PC, there is no danger of the files overwriting each other.

What operating systems are supported?

The Backup Client will run on any version of Microsoft Windows from Windows 95 onward. Macintosh client runs on recent OSX versions. Other Operating Systems can run the Windows client using emulation software, such as Virtual PC, or they can use a PC to do the online backup through a mapped drive letter.

How easy is it to restore a file?

Very easy. You just a right click the One2backup™ icon at the bottom of the screen, select 'Restore', find the file in the tree and right click 'Restore'. That's it.

To retrieve a previous data backup version of a file, login to the web site; select 'My Data', find the file in the tree; click on the file link, then click the "Download" button. That's it.

How does file-sharing work?

Once your data has been backed up, you have the ability to share selected portions of it with whomever you want. You can share individual files or folders.

In the 'Online Storage' section of the Web Client, you can mark a file as 'Sharable', and assign it a separate password. The system will give it a unique URL for download and even send an email to the recipient with a link. The system maintains a log of who downloaded it and when. Sharing of folders is similar.

Why does this help me with very large email attachments?

If you need to send a large file to someone, but his or her email will not allow large attachments, use the file-sharing feature of the Web Client. Mark it as 'Sharable' and email the recipient a link to the file. Then simply click the link to download the attachment.

Why should I choose continuous backups over scheduled backups?

With continuous backups, the backup software is constantly on the alert for any changes in your files. As soon as a document or file has been changed, these changes are backed up immediately to our online data backup facility. This means no delays, and no heavy data backup periods slowing your computer down.

Will it backup only closed files or also my open files?

Open Microsoft Word documents are locked, until it is saved and closed. Most backup software will not back up these open files. Consequently, your backup sets may be incomplete and unreliable. We even back up your application files which are left open for long periods of time (such as an Outlook PST file). It doesn't matter if certain application files were in use during the backup process, we will ensure safe data recovery.