Small Business Tech

Many of us are now depending on online services to store images, documents, thoughts, and memories. A service has surfaced called Backupify that backs up all of this data. Backupify is an online service that backs up data on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google Docs to Amazon's S3 backup service.

When I first heard of Backupify I was intrigued but wondered why. The whole selling point of online services is that we do not need to worry about our local hard drives and backup routines, etc. What are the chances of an online provider such as Google just disappearing or losing our data? Well there is a point I had not considered. What if your online provider cuts you off. It can happen and it has happened to a few users. Read your Terms of Service. There is probably language in there to prevent you from doing things that are on the wrong side of the law. Whether that includes copyright infringement or defamation or any other nefarious activity. Your provider can cut off your access just based on a complaint. They would rather just anger you then fight a legal case.

The sign-up for Backupify is very straight forward. You use your email as your user name and create a password. They ask if you would like the free version or bring your own Amazon S3 account. Right now the service is free for new users who sign up before January 31, 2010. Once you have signed up you just add your services such as Google Docs or Facebook via your login information for those products. Some products such as Zoho require an API key as well.

I do have a couple of questions about Backupify. How are they going to make money down the road? Will they charge for restoration or access to data? Even if I choose to save the data in my Amazon S3 account is the data accessible via another portal into S3 such as Jungle Disk?

Labels: Amazon, Backupify, Jungle Disk

I have long been an advocate of Amazon's S3 online storage for backup and off-site data storage. The one nagging problem with online backup is quickly retrieving a large amount of data if it is needed for a recovery. It could be painful waiting for a large amount of data to download during a crisis. Amazon has a physical import/export data system in beta testing right now. At this point they are only testing the import function.

How it works:

1. Load your data onto an external eSATA or USB equipped hard drive
2. Place an order with Amazon for import
3. Ship your drive to Amazon
4. They will upload your data on the next business day and return your drive

I am anxious to see the pricing model and time expectations for the export function.

Labels: Amazon, Bucket Explorer, Jungle Disk, S3

Rackspace which is a large provider of rented servers and hosting has acquired Jungle Disk. Jungle Disk is a software program that we have referenced in the past for performing low-cost data backups online to Amazon's data storage solution.

Jungle Dave indicates that his reasons for entering the agreement was to continue to innovate and grow in a more challenging economy. The acquisition allows Rackspace to grow usage of their cloud computing initiative.

Dave is going to stay with the Jungle Disk product as it moves into the Rackspace domain. I hope that the product remains to be innovative and affordable.

For information see Dave's blog...

Labels: Cloud Computing, Jungle Disk

I finally had a short amount of time to look at SMEStorage. It appears that you pay a flat fee to SMEStorage and they in turn use Amazon S3 for storage much like other sites. The difference here is that you only pay SMEStorage. At least that is how it seems. They charge $5.00 per month per 10 gigabytes. There is unlimited uploads and downloads of data.

The problem that I have with this model is that I prefer to pay what I use. I actually use very little, so my monthly Amazon S3 bill is very minimal. This could serve someone well who likes the idea of the S3 storage robustness, but the possibility of a large bill scares them away from other products.

It is great that we have another option for online storage.

Labels: Amazon, Bucket Explorer, Jungle Disk, SMEStorage.com

So you have just finished a PowerPoint presentation for a colleague on the other side of the world. He needs it now, and he could use the new product video demonstration. Overnight shipping is out of the question and the files are too large for email. This is where Drop.io comes to the rescue. Drop.io is an easy to use web site for sharing files.

• Go to the site in your browser
• Create a web site extension or take the drop.io recommendation
• Choose your files to upload
• Make decisions regarding access rights
• Send your custom web site address and password to your users
  

You can choose to have the site only available via password. As an administrator you can choose a separate password and if other users will be able to download only or also upload files. Understand that this interface is not intended for sensitive data. This would not be a place to store critical financial or other proprietary data.

Drop.io initially gives users 100 megabytes of storage space. You can purchase more space in 1 gigabyte blocks for one year at a time for just $10.00. The purchase process is quick and easy with a credit card.

Just like Bucket Explorer and Jungledisk, Drop.io is utilizing the flexible and powerful storage capabilities of Amazon S3. This large company connection will ensure your file availability.

There are various methods for users to track new file additions and changes to the site. The methods include Twitter, RSS, and email alerts. You can also create a gadget to install on your web site for users to upload files.

Labels: Amazon, Bucket Explorer, Cloud Computing, drop.io, Jungle Disk

In response to my post about Bucket Explorer, an anonymous reader left this comment...

SMEStorage.com offer a front end rich Web Interface to Amazon S3 also, as well as Iphone, Mobile, Google and Facebook access - been using it for 3 months now since it launched and its excellent.

I am going to investigate this service, and tell you more soon.

Labels: Amazon, Bucket Explorer, Cloud Computing, Jungle Disk, SMEStorage.com

We have referred to Amazon's S3 storage infrastructure in past reviews of Jungledisk. If you are searching for a more direct method of using Amazon S3 for file storage and retrieval then you should try Bucket Explorer.

Bucket Explorer is exactly what the name implies. The explorer means that you will be able to upload, download, and perform common file operations on an Amazon S3 bucket. The operations are somewhat similar to Windows Explorer except much more powerful and intuitive. By the way, a bucket on S3 is simply a folder. For some reason Amazon decided it was up to them to change the vernacular. They could have just stuck with share or something a bit more universal. Amazon does not have a trademark on the word "Bucket" They could possibly do so though. LOUIS VUITTON of France tried to trademark the word in relation to a purse. The application died on July 30th, 2008.

You can download the software for a free, 30-day trial. After the trial, you will need to purchase a copy for $49.95 per user. This includes versions for Windows, Mac, and Linux. There are not any volume discounts. You will also need an Amazon S3 account of course to utilize the software, because Amazon does charge for the storage based on the amount stored as well as upload and download.

The Bucket Explorer web site does have some great demonstration videos on not only how to use the software, but also how to use S3 as a web site host. They walk you through how to create a URL to your Amazon hosted files, sharing to users, and even how to enable bucket logging so you can count visitors.

Another feature of Bucket Explorer is the ease to setup shared buckets. This would allow you to share files with another S3 user that you choose. Great application for large collaborative projects such as large print files or such. Just remember that the party sets up the shared bucket will also be responsible for any upload, download, or storage fees associated with the bucket. Your friend will also need an Amazon account. You will use their Amazon identity email to share the bucket. This is a lot like having a server share without all of the upfront costs, setup hassles, and electric bill for a constant running server.

Jungledisk now also offers ostensibly what is supposed to be a similar service called Jungledisk Workgroups. I have not tested it, but I hope to do so soon.

Labels: Amazon, Cloud Computing, Jungle Disk

We have reviewed the first version of the Jungledisk online backup solution. I was impressed with initial implementation of this online backup solution, and I like the additional services introduced by Jungledisk.

Jungledisk Plus. This addition to Jungledisk allows you to resume the backup of large files if the backup is interrupted. The plug option also allows you to backup only the changed portion of large files. This is invaluable with Exchange data files. The cost for Jungledisk Plus is $1.00 per month.

Jungledisk Workgroups. This solution is designed for small businesses and groups of distributed workers. You can create a centralized storage bucket as well as private areas with user privileges. This would allow everyone in a company to backup data to a central storage area, and files can be shared among selected coworkers. The cost for Jungledisk Workgroups is $2.00 per user per month.

I am looking forward to experimenting with Jungledisk Workgroups. I am unsure about the implementation of this system, and I need some first-hand experience to appreciate it.

Labels: backup, Jungle Disk

Amazon has announced that they are lowering prices for data transfer to their servers. Amazon is the service that stores backup data in the background if you use Jungledisk.

You can see more information about the price decrease at the Amazon Web Services web site.

Labels: backup, Jungle Disk

I have recently begun the search for a better backup system. I had been using a pair of external hard disk drives with goals of backup daily and always storing a backup off-site. To ensure security each backup was encrypted with TrueCrypt. This arrangement was time-consuming and dependant on me to physically swap the drives. The other problem was that the computer and external hard needed to remain powered overnight to perform the backup. Needless to say this did not happen enough and left me without a backup for periods of time. Even if I had did this routine without fail my off-site backup would still be up to a week old.

I have been interested in online backup solutions for some time. I have had a series of requirements that systems have not met such as...

• Open files system that is not dependent on particular software
• Hosted by an established, large company
• Costing based on usage versus a set monthly cost
• Client software compatible with multiple operating systems
• Rich option set on client software

I know I am asking for a lot, but we are talking about the one thing we can do to protect our digital assets. I have found a solution that has met my criteria - Jungle disk.

I have run down my requisites and how Jungle disk has met them all.

• Open files system that is not dependent on particular software

Jungle Disk is not open-source, but the developers do take security very seriously. Steve Gibson of Gibson Research has spoken to Dave Wright the Jungle Disk creator. Steve was impressed with the security of Jungle Disk. If Steve is impressed then I am satisfied.

The other source of satisfaction on this point is that Jungle Disk does not store the backup data in a proprietary format. The data can be accessed by any software that can access Amazon S3.

• Hosted by an established, large company

Amazon S3 service actually stores the backup data. You really cannot get much larger or more established on the Internet than Amazon. (and you thought they just sold books)

• Costing based on usage versus a set monthly cost

There is a minimal upfront cost of $20 for the Jungle Disk software. That does include a copy for all operating system platforms with lifetime upgrade support. Amazon does charge a monthly fee for storage and upload/download. The table below outlines storage costs:

Storage
$0.15 per GB-Month of storage used

Data Transfer
$0.10 per GB - all data transfer in

$0.18 per GB - first 10 TB / month data transfer out
$0.16 per GB - next 40 TB / month data transfer out
$0.13 per GB - data transfer out / month over 50 TB

Requests
$0.01 per 1,000 PUT or LIST requests
$0.01 per 10,000 GET and all other requests*
* No charge for delete requests
Jungle Disk has a great chart and calculator on their home page that simplifies this cost structure.

• Client software compatible with multiple operating systems

Jungle Disk is currently offered for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. This also includes Windows server flavors including Windows Home Server.

• Rich option set on client software

Jungle Disk offers many options related to your backup routine as well as utilities to manage your S3 backup set.

• Backup interval from 5 minutes to a week
• Limit upload speed
• Clean up backup files (This option deletes files on your backup as you delete them on your hard drive)
• Choose multiple folders to backup and filter files by file type
• Options to keep multiple versions of files for a specified number of days
• View backup history to confirm backups are taking place
• Clean up utility to remove deleted files manually

I would STRONGLY recommend Jungle Disk. I frankly have not been this excited about software or a service in a long time. It handles a universal computer problem in a very sensible and smart manner. So many devices, software, and services come close, but usually miss the mark. That is not the case with Jungle Disk. It hits the mark in every category, and I cannot think of a single way to improve the software/service.

Labels: backup, Jungle Disk, Linux, Windows