I’d like some help in doing some research and analysis of online back
up services. If it helps, I'm primarily interested in using services
to back up web site data via the internet.
 
More specifically I’d like the following: 
  
1. 9 Online back up services to be reviewed  
  
2. 3 should be free-low cost, 3 should be mid-market, 3 should be high
end 
  
3. You will need to define the pricing brackets for these 3 groups – 
‘free-low cost’, ‘mid-market’ and ‘high end’ 
  
4. You will need to pick the 3 in each bracket which you feel are best
of breed for that market bracket 
  
5. For each online back up service I need the following:   
  
- Company name  
- Product name  
- Pricing information  
- Contact information (URL, telephone, address)  
- Summary of pros / cons  
- Product features
- Technical information  
- Support / Customer Service information 
- Links to relevant reviews (industry and consumer) 
  
Much of the above information should be available on the vendor’s web
sites. I would expect you to add value as follows: 
  
- knowing which back up services to select  
- including some intelligent analysis in the “Summary of pros/cons” 
section though this should be brief 
- leaving no blanks and keeping the structure/quantity/quality of your
review of each consistent 

6. Your recommended top resources for the research you do for this 
 
7. Your criteria for selecting the 9 online back up services
 
8. A list of other firewalls + URLs that you looked at but rejected

<I identified the various companies operating in this market by
looking at general articles about online backup and following up their
recommendations. My criteria for selecting the companies was
influenced by the level of security, the reputation of the company,
how long they had been operating, professionalism and reviews of their
services.

Due to lack of revenue from advertising, free services have
dramatically declined in number. A number of these services were
rejected due to poor security.

I have separated the companies into the three requested groups. To
give an accurate comparison of prices, I compared the price for one
gigabyte storage per month. The prices for each group are as follows:
Low- free under $19.95.
Mid-market is $19.95 - $49.99 
High end $50 - $100.

1. Low price/free

1a. 
Company name - Connected Corp
Product – Connected TLM Data Back Up Service
Pricing information   - $1.60 per gigabyte per month. Connected offers
three types of subscriptions: individual, small-business, and
enterprise. An individual account costs $6.95 per month for 200MB or
$14.95 per month for 4GB. Small businesses can purchase 5 to 200
accounts, at about $16 per month for each 10GB account.
http://storage.ziffdavis.com/article2/0,3973,906289,00.asp
Contact information http://www.connected.com/
Connected Corporation
Corporate Headquarters
100 Pennsylvania Ave.
Framingham, MA 01701
Telephone (toll free U.S.) 800-934-0956 
Telephone 508-808-7300


Product features 
Fully automated back ups and restoration for all Windows operating
systems. Compressed data transfer. Secure system. Supports low and
high speed lines.

Technical information 
Uses 112-bit Triple DES encryption.
Line speeds as low as 28.8 Kbps or high speed internet access.
Secure sockets layer technology (SSL) used.
http://www.connected.com/downloads/Connected_Service_Benefits.pdf

  
Support / Customer Service information  
Web, email and phone support systems. Live phone support available
weekdays 08.00 - 21.00. Calls charged per minute with a minimum charge
of $1.95.
http://www.connected.com/support/individual/index.htm

Pros – Comprehensive and easy to use. 
Cons -  Software contains bugs and customer support is poor. Can take
a long time to transfer data. PC World for example found it took
almost 9 hours to transfer 600MB.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,29314,00.asp
http://pcworld.shopping.yahoo.com/yahoo/article/0,aid,101767,pg,8,00.asp

Reviews 
Customer testimonials
http://www.connected.com/customers/quotes.htm
Review in PC Magazine 5 stars
http://www.connected.com/news/articles/2002_Articles/PC_Mag_5_stars_for_TLM.pdf
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,889902,00.asp
Review by Mike Avery
http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayTC.pl?97btc.nets.htm

Review in Business Week
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2002/tc20020621_7510.htm
Review by Helen Johnson
http://content.techweb.com/winmag/library/1998/0101/featu102.htm#connected
Customer review
http://www.cnet.com/internet/0-3762-8-20593868-1.html



1b. 
Company name -  Data Vault Corporation
Product name -  Data Vault System
Pricing information   From $6.65 per gigabyte per month.
Contact information 
http://www.datavaultcorp.com/
Telephone (301) 352-9449
Data Vault Corporation
3540 Crain Hwy #210
Bowie, MD 20716


Product features:
Getting started Wizard.
Automatic online upgrades.
Choice of automatic or on-demand backup.
Offline or online restoration.
Back up logs. 
http://www.datavaultcorp.com/data/features.shtml

Technical Support - support@datavaultcorp.com

Pros: Can back up open files and databases.
Cons: Website link to technical support does not work.


Technical information
DataVault supports Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, 2000 or XP computers. The
Client software communicates to the Data Vault's Server using the
TCP/IP protocol.   http://www.datavaultcorp.com/data/network.shtml

It offers a choice of encryption algorithms including DES, Triple-DES
and Blowfish.
Support / Customer Service information  

Links to relevant reviews (industry and consumer)  


1c. 
Company name – Pro Softnet Corporation
Product name – Ibackup

Pricing - Various plans starting at $3 per month for 50MB rising to
$800 for 100GB. https://www.ibackup.com/regtermsssl.htm

Contact information - 
http://www.ibackup.com/ibwin/newibackup/press.htm
Pro Softnet Corp.
IBackup Division
21300 Victory Blvd Suite 1230 
Woodland Hills CA 91367
Telephone (818) 594 5972 # 104
info@ibackup.com

Product features
Drag and drop selection of files.
Full and incremental backups.
https://www.ibackup.com/ibwin/ibwin.htm

Technical information
System requirements: Windows 95/98, ME, NT/2000, XP
Internet Explorer 5.0
64 MB RAM
10 MB Free Hard Disk space for installed program, 20MB or more
recommended for local caching
Uses 128 bit SSL encryption
https://www.ibackup.com/ibwin/ibwin.htm
https://www.ibackup.com/ibwin/newibackup/faq.htm
https://www.ibackup.com/security.htm


Support /customer service information
1-800-594-0655 (Monday thru Friday,  6-00 AM to 6-00 PM PST)
https://www.ibackup.com/feedback.htm

Pros – Easy to use wizards. Easy transfer of files.
Con - The IBackup automatic backup software and QManager file-sharing
application are available only for Windows.

Reviews

Recommended by Consumer Guide
http://auto.consumerguide.com/cp/electronics/review/index.cfm/id/24455

CNET review
http://www.cnet.com/software/0-5421322-7-2153955.html

Ibackup is judged best in a comparison of storage systems.
http://www.ibackup.com/ibwin/newibackup/press.htm





2. Mid range $15 - $39.99 per gigabyte per month

2.a. 
Company name - Amerivault Corp

Product name 
Amerivault 
 
Pricing information
For 100GB $44,000 per year.
Approx $37 per gigabyte per month.
http://www.naspa.com/PDF/2002/1202%20PDF/T0212003.pdf
Cost of retrieval $9

Contact information (URL, telephone, address)
http://www.amerivault.com/
Corporate Office:
60 Hickory Drive
4th Floor
Waltham, MA 02451
800.774.0235
   

Product features 
Amerivault offers regular, automated backup. 
Uses leading software.
Compresses data to reduce transmission times. Data is stored in
highly-secure offsite storage vaults.

Technical information   
Data is in SIDF format.
Uses TCP/IP as the base protocol.
White paper
http://www.amerivault.com/publications/amerivault_Technical_White_Paper_02-2002.pdf

Support / Customer Service information.
Free support from 09.00 – 18.00 at 888-AMV-TECH. Outside these hours a
fee is charged. http://www.amerivault.com/support.html

Pros - Secure storage systems, fast delivery of data. Can store up to
100GB. No reported problems.


Reviews
PC magazine 5 stars for the software used.
http://www.backuphelp.com/
http://www.amerivault.com/publications/amerivault.pdf
Network storage forums
http://www.enterprisestorageforum.com/outsourcing/news/article.php/918861
http://www.enterprisestorageforum.com/outsourcing/news/article.php/942191
http://www.itsecurity.com/tecsnews/feb2002/feb206.htm
http://www.astrumsoftware.com/docs/Press_Releases/2003_Mar_AmeriVault.asp
http://www.pcworld.com/resource/printable/article/0,aid,101767,00.asp
http://archive.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/01/09/24/010924hntestcenter.xml
http://www.amerivault.com/publications/November_5_NY_Times.doc

Awards
http://www.amerivault.com/press_060402.html
Customer testimonials
http://www.amerivault.com/AmeriBrochure%201-14.pdf


2.b. 
Company name – Novastor Corporation
Product name  - Novastor Online Backup 

http://services.online-backup.com/index.asp
Pricing – Free 15 day trial. $17.95 per month for a 500MB base account
and an extra $9.95 per month for an additional 250MB. $37.85 per month
per gigabyte. http://services.online-backup.com/store/deptmain_ols.asp
Contact information (URL, telephone, address)   
NovaStor Corporation
80B West Cochran
Simi Valley, CA 93065
Telephone 8-5, Mon-Fri at 1.805.579.6700


Product features.
24 hour access to data.
Off-site encrypted data storage.
Automated, background backups.
Multiple storage of most valuable files. 
Getting started wizard.
Silent mode runs backup in background.
Fastbit binary incremental backups.
Automatic online upgrades.
http://services.online-backup.com/software.asp


Technical information   
Uses a 448-bit blowfish encryption key.
White paper
http://www.online-backup.com/datasheets/whitepaper.html
Backup software
http://www.online-backup.com/datasheets/product.html

Support / Customer Service information  
Support via email, website and telephone from 06.00 to 19.00 Pacific
time.
(805) 579-6700
http://www.novastor.com/techsupt.html

Pros; Reliable and easy to use. Free technical support. Free trial.
Cons: Not able to start file restoration from administrator console.

Reviews 
Review
http://storage.ziffdavis.com/article2/0,3973,906289,00.asp
Novastor rated 2.93 out of a possible 5.
http://www.nwfusion.com/reviews/2002/0422rev.html



2.c.
Company name - NetMass Inc
Product name – System Safe Online Backup
Pricing - Various plans. $19.95 per GB per month.
http://www.netmass.com/olb_pricing.html

Contact information 
http://www.netmass.com/index.html
NetMass Incorporated
112 E. Louisiana St.
Suite C
McKinney, TX 75069
Telephone 800.731.2737 
  
Product features
Automatic backups.
Customised configuration.
Secure transfer of data.
Offsite secure data storage.
Easy transfer of data to new systems.
http://www.netmass.com/olb_features.html


Technical information 
Bank grade encryption.
Block differential file comparison.
Common file technology.
Data compression. 
http://www.netmass.com/olb_features.html
 
Support / Customer Service information  
Summary of pros / cons   
Links to relevant reviews (industry and consumer)  




http://www.netmass.com/

Review
http://morebusiness.buyerzone.com/computers/backup-remote/brochures/systemsafe.pdf

ZD net
http://www.zdnet.com.au/downloads/pc/swinfo/0,2000036746,10166760,00.htm
NetMass
http://www.computeruser.com/articles/daily/10,56,1,0201,03.html
NetMass Backup
http://www.networkcomputing.com/1023/1023ni.html?ls=NCJS_1101rt




3. High end $50 – 100 per gigabyte per month.

3.a
Company name   
LiveVault Corporation

Product name 
LiveVault
  
Pricing information
$100 per gigabyte reducing with greater volume.
   
Contact information (URL, telephone, address)   
LiveVault Corporation
201 Boston Post Road West
Marlborough, MA 01752 USA
Phone: 508-460-6670
Fax: 508-460-6771
Email info@livevault.com

Product features 
Immediate off site electronic vaulting at Iron Mountain facilities.
Continuous back up.
Fast, reliable data recovery.
State of the art security.

Technical information  
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) connection.
Secure connection to the LiveVault internet gateway via a VPN tunnel.
AES encryption of data.
Users need a browser capable of supporting 128-bit encryption.
http://www.livevault.com/pdf/Secure_Transmission_Over_the_Internet.pdf
http://www.livevault.com/pdf/Introduction_to_LiveVault_Security.pdf
http://www.livevault.com/pdf/IronMtn_DataCenter.pdf

 
Support / Customer Service information  
24/7 service operation center.
support@livevault.com
508-460-6670

Pros - Highly secure data transfer and storage. Continuous transfer of
data.
Cons - There are restrictions to the type of files that can be backed
up. Files not backed up include open files, databases, access control
lists and device files.

Reviews 

http://www.storageadmin.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=16004
http://www.storageadmin.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=21888
http://www.livevault.com/news/press_releases/02_04_03.asp
Customer testimonials
http://www.usdatatrust.com/service/stories/new_castle_hotels.asp
http://www.livevault.com/customers/PDFs/AnnalyCaseStudy_101502.pdf
http://www.livevault.com/customers/PDFs/GoodwillCaseStudy_101502.pdf
http://www.livevault.com/solutions/information_kit.asp
White paper
http://www.livevault.com/pdf/Whitepaper_LV_WEB.pdf


3.b.
Company name - Evault
Product name - Evault  
Pricing information -  $40 - $60 per gigabyte per month
Contact information -  http://www.evault.com/default.asp
1600 South Main Street
Suite 295
Walnut Creek, California
94596
Telephone 925.944.2422 

Product features 
Stores, retrieves and migrates data throughout a company’s data
lifecycle.
Keeps data encrypted throughout the entire data migration process.
Provides disk-to-disk backup, coupled with EVault DeltaPro™
technology, to reduce restore times.
Compresses data.


Technical information   
Uses BRTP protocol.
Encryption used is 56 bit DES, 56 bit Blowfish, Triple DES and
Blowfish 128-bit.
http://support.evault.com/EVSupport1/


Support / Customer Service information  
Support via telephone and email.
Telephone 866-855-9555
Support@EVault.com
http://support.evault.com/EVSupport1/

Pros – The company has a good track record with a wide client base
protecting over 700 businesses including companies like Cisco, Hitachi
and HP.
Cons – no reported problems.


Reviews
http://www.storagesearch.com/evault.html
http://www.internap.com/partners/evault.html
http://www.storageadmin.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=26285
http://www.serverwatch.com/news/article.php/1498831

3.c.
Company name – SwapDrive
Product name - @backup
Pricing information  -  1GB $50 per month. Free 30 day trial. Prices
start from $4.25 per month.
http://www.backup.com/learnmore_price.html

Contact information 
http://www.backup.com/
http://www.swapdrive.com/
1313 F Street NW
Washington DC 20004
Telephone 202.393.9900

Product features 
Automatic backup of files. 
Easy to use.
Data encrypted at bank level security.
Round the clock restoration of files.
Access from anywhere.
http://www.backup.com/learnmore_intro.html


Technical information 
http://www.backup.com/learnmore_secure.html
http://www.swapdrive.com/sdbackup.asp

Support / Customer Service information  
Telephone support is available weekdays 06.00 – 17.00 Pacific time.
Telephone 858-320-4800  
Email support is available weekdays 06.00 – 15.00 Pacific time.
All support is closed at weekends.
http://www.backup.com/support.html

Pros – Fast transfer of files. 
Con – Fails to notify you when you exceed your storage limit.

Reviews
5 star rating at epinions
http://www.epinions.com/cmsw-SwapDrive/display_~reviews 
http://www.hp.com/sbso/services/online_backup.html
http://products.consumerguide.com/cp/office/review/index.cfm/id/23715
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,3973,67653,00.asp
Swap Drive – poor review
http://www.cnet.com/internet/0-3762-8-20593868-1.html



The following companies were looked at and rejected:

InfoSure - this was also a contender for the high end price bracket.
The reason it was rejected was there very little information about the
service on independant websites.
1GB $50 per month
http://www.infosure.com/unibac/
http://www.stepforth.com/search-engine-news/2003-news/Feb12-03.html
http://www.netpac.com/provenance/vol1/no1/features/proact/protest1.htm

Atacomm - No information given about the level of security
http://backup.atacomm.com/


Precision backup – no recommendations, no corporate info, no customer
testimonials, no press details.
http://www.precisionbackup.com/default.htm


Ibackup.com
http://www.ibackup.com/ibwin/newibackup/press.htm

U.S.DataTrust – very expensive compared to other services. Prices
started at $199 per month.
http://www.usdatatrust.com/

Online back up – only uses 64 bit encryption technology whereas other
systems are using more sophisticated encryption.
http://www.onlinebackup.org/free_backup.html>


<Additional links:>

<Outsourcing backup>
<http://storagemagazine.techtarget.com/strgPrintFriendly/0,293813,sid35_gci815233,00.html>
<Storage networks>
<http://www.snwonline.com/implement/growing_role_04-07-03.asp?article_id=225>

<Understanding online backup>
<http://www.techsupportalert.com/pdf/r1833.pdf>

<Back up systems>
<http://www.mhhe.com/cit/uit3e/pages/chap6/prev6.html>

<Ultimate backup guide>
<http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,101767,pg,8,00.asp>

<Protecting distributed data>
<http://www.entmag.com/archives/article.asp?EditorialsID=6368>

<Back ups>
<http://www.finishwell.net/Articles/Backups.pdf>


<Search strategy:>

<"backup solutions" reviews>
<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22backup+solutions%22&as_q=reviews>

<"online backup">
<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22online+backup%22>

<"backup solutions">
<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22backup+solutions%22>

<"online backup"  providers>
<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=%22online+backup%22++providers&spell=1>


<Hope this helps.>

I have spent 2 months researching this particular issue.  
Conneted.com is definitely the cheapest.  The only concern I have is
the lack of technical detail.  For example is your data being
trasfered securely and encrypted?
The same is true for Amerivault, Livevault, Remote Backup.....

I found a simple, no-nonsense site http://www.binarybackup.com.
They use a simple ZIP algorithm for compression and a US Standard
Triple DES encryption.  And is the only one that works over VPN and
IPSEC !!!!!