"The data security and storage solution for the modern work environment"

www.online-backup.com

INTRODUCTION

We live in a 'paperless' society, but companies still generate massive amounts of data, customer lists, inventories, sales data, it has to be saved somewhere. To any company, losing or even not having access to this data can result in financial losses anywhere from hundreds of dollars to millions of dollars. This data can be lost through theft by employees, competitors or malicious computer code. It could be lost through a fire, natural disaster or just carelessness. What if there was a way to ensure this could never happen to you?

One of the most encompassing backup solutions any company can choose to utilize will involve secure offsite storage of their essential data. NovaStor's Online Backup Service is designed exactly for that purpose. It is designed to accomodate the capabilities and needs of everything from a one man accounting company to much more involved corporate requirements.

Summary of Online Backup Features:

• Provides secure, encrypted, off-site backup and restoration of your data
• Utilizes the easy-to-use NovaNet-WEB Client Software
• Easy "Getting Started Wizard" to help configure your backups
• Silent Mode runs backups invisibly in the background
• FastBIT binary incremental backups reduce backup times and bandwidth requirements up to 99%
• Supports Dial-Up Networking, Internet and TCP/IP Network Protocols
• Comprehensive, automatic backup scheduling for "hands-free" backups
• File selection filters so you can easily select only your most important and crucial files
• Choose between DES, Triple-DES and Blowfish encryption algorithms
• E-mail notification

INSTALLATION

Getting started with NovaStor's Online Backup Service is a simple matter of downloading the client and running the executable. The download is only 12 megabytes in size and comes down quickly. The install itself is very straightforward, the only thing of note that is different from other software installs is that prior to the EULA, there is the requirement to click ok on a privacy statement offered by the service guaranteeing the security and privacy of any personal data that is stored. The installation may feel a little intrusive with the amount of personal information that it requests, but this is to assure the security of the installation.

CONFIGURATION

There are a lot of choices to make when setting up your backup the first time; what security to set for the transfer, what files/folders/directories will be backed up, how often should the backups occur, etc. On the surface it can seem a little complicated, but simple screens, abundant wizard guides and a detailed help file make setting up the program to your desired specifications a snap.

The option to cancel a setup is at every stage should you realize you may have entered something incorrectly. Should you be unsure of a setting or some other limitation, the help file will provide clear and concise information on whatever section you are currently in.

INTERFACE

NovaStor's Online Backup Service could not provide a simpler to understand interface. This program focuses on what it is supposed to do and does not clutter the main screen with unnecessary functions. there are two rows of tools, the top is the standard text command menus; File, Select, Backup, View, Tools and Help. Immediately below them are icons representing the all of the common tasks that you will want to perform with this service.

The client also utilizes right click hidden menus to provide more options within the screens to minimize the need to continually move to the top of the screen to open an option or make changes to set configurations.

Click on the thumbnails to view the screenshots.

FUNCTIONALITY

The strength of NovaStor's Online Backup Service lies in the method it uses to manage the storage itself. The service will allow anyone to manage a proper backup regimen, but the technology used in the client to keep the data current is very conscientious of the bandwidth demands of a busy network. After the initial backup, the service will monitor all selected files for any changes to their size. When it detects a change to a monitored file, on the next scheduled backup, the client will transfer only the data that has changed to the stored data.

NovaStor's Online Backup Service uses a new technology called FastBIT which monitors the selected files at the bit level for changes. This means it does not matter what has changed in the selected files or folders as the program sees everything in simple ones and zeros. As the changes are going to be nominal amounts of data, the bandwidth demands will be minimal for each backup operation.

Here is a chart from novastor's web page showing you the results...

File Type Original Size (in bytes) Change Description Changed Size (in bytes) Patch Size (in bytes) % Reduction   Windows BMP (8-bit) 307,514 Added text to center of image 308,278 2,615 99.15%   Microsoft Word v7.0 431,616 Copied text from middle and pasted at end 448,512 13,598 90.60%   Microsoft Excel v7.0 108,544 Inserted new worksheet; created basic calculation and added 3D Bar-Graph 114,176 5,915 94.82%   Microsoft Access v2.0 1,802,240 Added 3 new records 1,802,240 5,700 99.68%   Intuit QuickBooks 1,265,664 Paid 4 bills and added 2 invoices 1,301,504 8,074 99.38%   Photoshop File 515,473 Added new layer and added text to new layer 524,769 4,480 99.15%   Plain Text File 37,084 Added text to beginning, middle and end of file 39,123 1,285 96.72%   Total: 4,468,135 Average: 4,538,602 41,667 99.08%

An additional bonus of this method is that if the data should be intercepted, without the original files to work with, it will be meaningless gibberish.

CONCLUSION

With the need to keep detailed records more and more in demand for tax reasons, security, customer satisfaction and just for archiving, having an efficient means to manage and protect it is going to be more and more important. NovaStor's Online Backup Service is the logical evolution of the backup regimen that all companies need to perform. This service serves the purpose of any other service, it allows companies to focus on what they do best and not have to be distracted with the administrative concerns of managing the data they are generating. At only $9.95 per month for half a gig of space, you can't go wrong.

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ANIMATED WALKTHROUGH

PROS: a. extremely simple to install b. very user friendly. CONS: a. the three different ways to perform the same function are helpful but can seem a little redundant.