Want to get a free NetCDP license?

Check out this on how to get a free license.

http://www.netcdp.com/netcdp_online_backup_free_license.htm

NetCDP now supports backup of external drives.

The new release supports backup of external drives. Enhanced security makes better for business users. This release also adds recommendations for common used folders to simplify the folder selections.

NetCDP's new features make it even more competitive.

NetCDP online backup 3.0.16 is released with compression and other major enhancements that make NetCDP much more competitive in backup speed and time, cost.

Online Backup. Why NetCDP is better.

There are many online backup solutions available and everyone claims to be the best. We want to claim to be the best too, but we realize there is no single “The Best” in this world. You just have to find one that fits your needs the best. So let’s be realistic. But we are going to make a case that we are BETTER than most of the available online backup solutions based on a few important criteria.

· Ease of Use.
· Security.
· Restore Capability (can we call this restorability?)
· Cost, the "unlimited" storage myth. Backup vs. Synchronization or Online storage.
· It matters where your data is stored.

1. Ease of use.
"Ease of use" is one of the top design goals of NetCDP. An online backup application is not your word processor that you use all the time. It should be easy and simple. It should not distract you from your daily work. When you need it, it should be handy and you should not "forget" how to use it. Fancy GUI and excessive options don't belong to a backup application in our view. NetCDP is designed to be "set it up and forget about it" type of application. And when you need it, you use it as you use your computer every day. All functionalities are one click away.

If you use Amazon S3, the major part of the setup process is to sign up for Amazon S3 service and obtain the access key and secret key, which we believe everyone can do. But still, it is what we dislike most and we hope this will be improved from Amazon side in the future.

We know everybody claims "ease of use" these days. You just have to try it so find out. We believe NetCDP is the easiest once you pass the Amazon S3 account sign up process. Even if we are not the "easiest", we are certainly among the easiest to use in the market. Click here to see how easy it is.

2. Security.
When you back up your data to an online storage service, one of the biggest concerns is the security of your data. Most online backup services offer encryption. No one can beat anyone in terms of encryption algorithms since they are all in public domain. But there are a few reasons why NetCDP is more secure than most other online services.

When you back up your data using some online services such as Mozy and Carbonite, you use their software to back up to their storage. They have access to your data, the algorithm and the encryption key used for encryption. So if they want (we are not suggesting that they will), they can decrypt your files, which they claim they can and may do it for different purposes.

NetCDP is a software application you use to back up to a 3rd party online storage provider or your in-house NAS appliance. We own the software, but we don't own your data. Amazon owns your data, but it doesn't own the software and encryption key. We don't own the encryption key either since it is generated dynamically when you install NetCDP. Without your giving us certain information, there is no way for us to decrypt your files or even having access to them. Amazon cannot decrypt your files either because they don't know how it is encrypted. Hope you got the point why your data is more secure by using NetCDP to back up to S3. Our view is shared by some other analysts, check out the last paragraph of this review:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13554_3-9752350-33.html

Some online services provide you a way to use your own passwords for encryption. Some people seem to like it. But think about it, do you really want to worry about your key management? Are you sure you will still have your key 5 or 10 years later? If you lose your keys, you will never be able to restore your data. Key management is a big headache which bothers the industry for a long time. If the online services stores the keys for you, then it really doesn't offer you more security because the keys still have to be stored on the server and your file still can be decrypted when they want to.

Now you got the point?

3. Restore Capability (can we call this restorability?)
Why do you do backup? Because you want to restore your data one day. You probably already read it on our home page that most online backup services take care of the backup well, but not the restore. When people start to use or evaluate an online backup service or application, I bet most don't test the restore part.

There are lots of complaints against some leading online backup services; we are not going to give out names here. You have to be aware what it takes for you to get your data back when you need it.We can tell you it is not a pleasant experience. Most of them are lengthy and frustrating processes. It could take hours even days before you can access your first file and there are extra costs associated with it sometimes.

NetCDP's restore process is very convenient and fast. If your computer crashes completely and everything is lost. You re-install you OS (Windows). All you need to do with NetCDP is re-installing it and set it up with your account information and SAME NetCDP license key. NetCDP detects your backup data and prompts you to restore. The initial restore only restores the metadata or catalog data, which only takes a few minutes. Once that is done, your files are available for you to use in NetCDP virtual folder. You can open them, view them, copy/paste, and drag/drop them just like local files. You can start to restore your files from NetCDP virtual folder back to where they were by just clicking on the files or folders. You can selectively restore the files you want most first and restore others later.

4. Cost, the "unlimited" storage myth. Backup vs. Synchronization or Online storage.
One of the biggest myths about online backup is "unlimited" storage. Let's take a close look here. Is it really "unlimited"? Firstly, you pay on per PC base; your storage usage is capped by your disk drive capacity on your PC. Secondly, you use a software application from the service provider, which controls what to back up. For example, the system files are not backed up by most of them. The bigger problem is the version support. Version support is necessary for a backup application. But many online service companies cannot afford to support version with "unlimited" storage space, they would go bankrupt if they do. That's why they have to delete your files from their server once you delete the files from your local machine. Does that make "unlimited" limited? We would argue it is not a "backup" solution if it does not support version. It is "synchronization". If you ask them why they delete the files after they are deleted from local drive, they will tell you they are "backup" services instead of "online storage" services. Wrong! A backup application should allow you to have multiple versions of backup files and protect you from accidental file deletions. Imagine your kids accidentally delete your tax files and you found out on 4/15 that the files you need are not there and you cannot find it on your online backup either! Hm.... Same thing if you are working on an important doc but you messed it up and you want to go back to an older good version.

Now let's talk about the cost. Hope you understand why we talk about the cost after our little talk about "unlimited" and "versions". When you look for an online backup solution, it is better for you to have a rough idea how much data you actually need to back up online. For most people, the actual data backed up is probably less than 10 GB. If your actual data to back up is less than 30GB or even 40 GB, Amazon S3 is cheaper than most "unlimited" online storage services. Amazon S3 costs you 15 cents per GB a month plus transfer fee. Let’s assume your average monthly usage is 30GB, initially, it would take $3 to transfer the data to S3. NetCDP will only do incremental backup after the initial backup. Assume you change 10% of those data each month, you average monthly cost is about $4.8, which is pretty competitive. If you use 20GB, or even 10GB, 5GB, then NetCDP+S3 would handily beat most "unlimited" services. Yes, NetCDP license fee is extra cost, but it's a one time cost and could be easily absorbed if you do not backup over 30 GB by average. If you do a lot more than 30GB, we would recommend NetCDP back up to a NAS appliance. No online backup services handle large amount of data well at this time. It will be a big headache when you need to restore your data.

5. It matters where your data is stored.
Your data should always be stored somewhere safe and the company owns the data storage should be able to stay there for long enough. Amazon is a well trusted consumer brand name and your data should be very safe with Amazon. Why would you trust your data with those less well known companies which may disappear tomorrow? Yes, we are a small company too, but your data is in Amazon's hand, as long as you have a copy of NetCDP, you can get your data back from Amazon.

Check NetCDP Online Backup for more information.