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Ibackup.com: Do you back up your data?

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When I first started using computers in the mid 90s, I didn’t know what ‘back up’ meant. I really didn’t. My first pc was a notebook 486 which lasted a while, but one day the system died and wouldn’t reboot. Sorry, your data is gone! Woops!

My second pc was a desktop system actually but in those CD writers were the stuff of fantasy, and I hadn’t really learned my lesson on data backup. One day, I turned on the system and … nothing. No boot up sounds. Stone dead. Sorry, your hard disk is gone.

It was at that point I started to get serious about backing up data. I bought a zip drive with 100MB capacity and a half dozen disks. Now that worked well for a while, but then the data began to grow… Suddenly I didn’t have enough space.

So by then I invested in a CD writer as they were quite affordable by then. It worked well. For a while. But then I began to have another problem: I had copies of copies of copies of CDs. I didn’t mark them clearly enough. Then soon, my data needed several disks, then more to back up safely. Yikes. Confusing reigned.

I’m now looking at IBackup – Online Backup and Storage as a way to provide for the present and future growth. Now with a business, and five systems (all used by people who don’t know what backup means!), I’m facing a nightmare situation, so I’m considering using online storage as a way to conveniently update regularly and automatically.

IBackup is offering a number of options that are attractive for internet users: with software that operates like Explorer (in Windows) and options to save data that is typically overlooked in general back up software, such as data in Outlook Express or Outlook, using wizards. There are even downloads for Linux Users, but oddly nothing for a Mac User.

While the pricing is not as cheap as as an extra hard drive nor as big, the storage solution offers a convenience factor in that you do not have to care what happens to the stored date once it’s placed on the service. That’s their job. I’m all in favor of offloading tasks on other people! It’s definitely an economical use of MY time!

My only real criticism of the service is the space size. These days 1GB isn’t that much. A few hundred photos or songs. A presentation can run big, too! If it were my place, I’d multiply the size by a factor of 10 or even 100. Now that would be a good amount at a great price!

This post is sponsored by IBackup.com.

RemotePC: Nothing Remotely Pointless About This Tool!

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Having long used Windows 98 in the office, (yeah I know – really uptodate!) we started the upgrade path to Windows XP just last month! We now have three XP systems out of 5! And boy did it make somethings easier! But somethings unfortunately were harder, including not being able to use our Fuji Copier as a network printer. We couldn’t find the drivers, not surprising! We had to choose being going old-fashioned or learning remote PC functions use a VNC type component! That’s when I started to understand how useful remote computing could actually be!

Using a network, I could access my files, my system, my network printers from anywhere with a sufficiently speedy connection! I never managed to figure out how to connect across a firewall, though. The system settings floored me. However, RemotePC – Remote Access offers a great way to access your entire system through the internet, or even just your data through a browser! You won’t need to download any applets either this way!

So, instead of uploading files via FTP or WebDAV, you can access your entire file system remotely. No more forgetting your important files when you can access them easily! Just make sure your system is turned on first!

Some features that might be relevant for you are highlighted below:

  1. You can login to the system usually within 5 seconds,
  2. You don’t need to worry about firewalls,
  3. You don’t need a static IP address – dynamic works fine,
  4. You can move files from Viewer to Host or other way, and
  5. Security is important with 128-bit RC4/SSL during remote access.

Admittedly it is not free, as you are expected to fork out about $5.00 per month, or $50.00 per year. Still if you travel a lot, don’t particularly care to carry CDRoms, USB Keys, or use FTP/WebDAV for security reasons, you will find this money well spent.

This post is Remotely Possible thanks to support from RemotePC.

Box.net: The whole world’s a widget away!

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Vista has ’em, Opera has ’em, Mac has ’em, even Google has ’em! Now your blog can have ’em, too. It’s a widget, and Box.net Widget is offering a neat way to manage your downloads: you simply upload them to their server, then create a widget. Place the widget in a suitable place in your blog, a sidebar, or post, or in the theme itself. Voila! Your downloads are a click away. No more messing with FTP!

With music files, you simply click and they will play within their own little player. Images simply load! i haven’t tried movies yet! My files are too big to upload! Hosting of your files is upto 1GB for free, with unlimited bandwidth. That’s not a bad deal.


Get your own Box.net widget and share anywhere!

This post is sponsored by Box.net Widget.