Worldwide online backup options

[funstuie]

I am looking for ideas for a worldwide online backup solution. I would like to keep is pretty simple where the user would login and just back up files and folders based on a set central script. So it would backup My Documents, profile details, desktop etc. Due to the size we would probably have to exclude .pst files for example.

At the moment almost all staff (approx 1000) are remote (based in APAC, EMEA and the Americas - North/South) and there is little or no backup options. Some people buy an external hard drive and backup to that. Some people use a shared office and backup there. I would like to get it so everyone has an online backup option.

So what service should I look at? Security is the number 1 priority. Data security would be a real hot topic with Legal so that's top of the pile. Next would be ease of use and effectiveness.

I think something like 20gb per person would suffice but we would need to think about retention etc.

I am just looking for some ideas at the moment and companies to look at and talk to (and what to ask/talk about)

 

[k1pp3r]

Ugh, talk about a nightmare solution trying to backup 1k individual PC's worldwide lol.

Are these different office? or all employees based out of their homes? The more detail on the environment and a budget would be great to keep us from going into to much detail or enterprise level equipment

 

[Captain Colonoscopy]

Sheesh, that's a daunting task. What OS are these remote users running? If they were all win7 and you had some server 2008 R2 action you could do direct connection VPNs, have the computers on the domain and force them to run a script or something in the background to backup those folders to a network share at your CO...

Otherwise, several on-line backup services: iDrive, iBackup, Carbonite, MozyPro

 

[funstuie]

I realise it's a horrible task, it's a horrible, horrible task!!!

Most users are running WinXP but this will be upgraded soon but that's another project. I would like to offer a backup solution ASAP though as we have nothing and it's just embarrassing (I have only been here 6 months and it's be a constant firefight at times). The backend is pretty ropey so connecting to that wouldn't be an option at this time.

Has anyone experience of rolling out Mozy (for example) to a worldwide user base?

 

[k1pp3r]

I would use Mozy at home, but would never depend on it for business. I would rather go with a more solid backup provider, in the past i have used offsitebackupsolutions.com, they can brand your agents and everything. Best part is, i have done several restores from them and the restored files work fine.

If the users are not in a local office, this a decent way to do it, but it will get expensive

 

[-Jess-]

What about Amazon's Simple Storage Service?
Encryption could be done by each user with 7Zip/GPG or something to your company's liking.

And since you're checking out a couple other solutions, look at KeepVault.

At my office we use Mozy, but it's usually for a redundant system (critical files stored before someone leaves for overseas, in case VPN fails). Most of the time, persons don't top out at more than 3GBs.

Good luck man, you'll find something!

 

[Darthkim]

Well, it depends on how much you want to spend.

I've seen companies use Symantec Puredisk and EMC Avamar to accomplish this. Think of it like Mozy in house, but made from the companies that have experience in doing backups.

If cloud providers where you use pay per use models don't work for you, take a look at vembu. It's probably way cheaper than the Symantec and EMC options and provide that ease of use that you look for.

However, keep in mind that software is just a piece of the whole pie. The backend storage, deduplication ratio's, backup of the backup and server/hardware all add to the cost.

You just might find out that mozy is cheaper in the long run and has the security that you are looking for. Lastly, mostly hardware manufacturer resell these services at a steep discount. Lenovo resells the Mozy offering and very cheap (something like 70 bucks per device for 3 years).

 

[robertg]

Hi.

I came across this thread via a Google alert and our online backup solution should meet your requirements - so I hope it's ok to respond with an overview.

Our mobile backup client can backup 1,000s of computers worldwide to a central online vault in our secure data center. There is no per computer licensing, just per GB stored. You control and define what files/folders get stored via centralised policies and with data deduplication, compression and common file elimination built-in at the client and vault level the costs are very reasonable.

In terms of security, your data is protected during transmission and in our vaults by AES 256 encryption. Only you hold the keys, so the data is not accessible by us.

I agree that you should probably skip .pst files and this is no problem using centrally managed filters. If you have exchange servers, we can also provide file system, mailbox and message level backup of the server into the same vault. If you have any other platforms it's likely we support those too.

Our online backup services are powered by Asigra - a Gartner magic quadrant leader in backup. Asigra powers backup for over 250,000 sites, but isn't a household name because it is primarily sold through managed service providers like us.

We primarily provide services to companies in the UK, but if you're a global organisation that's no problem - or if you're located elsewhere we're happy to put you in touch with another high quality service provider.

We offer a free trial of Asigra as well as a free Forrester report comparing Asigra backup to other vendors.

Please feel free to PM me and I'll put you in touch with our Technical Director Steve who has been working with Asigra for 6 years and will be able to discuss your particular situation in more depth.

Alternatively, if you reply with any questions in this thread I'll be happy to respond.

Regards,

Robert - OnDemand Recovery