Internet Backups

Today the Internet has become more and more important. So it is obvious, that you can also use this medium for your backups. Many backup applications support Internet backups, although many users have doubts concerning Internet and security. In the following we present the advantages of Internet backups and try to allay all the existing doubts.

Advantages of Internet backups

Backups to an FTP server have the following advantages:

• No additional hardware is required.
• Guaranteed off-site backups, which protect your files against fire, burglary or natural disaster.
• Integrated backup strategy for businesses with off-site employees.
• Access to your encrypted backups from everywhere (especially useful to heavy travellers).

Prejudices against Internet backups

Many people decide against Internet backups, as they do not consider the Internet to be safe enough. They are afraid that their confidential data is not protected. This fear, however, is without any reason when working with AceBackup, as this program uses modern encryption algorithms like BlowFish and Rijndael. These encryption algorithms are said to be uncrackable, as the key size can be up to 256 bit.

Another issue is the accessability of the FTP server. Many users are afraid that their Internet connection might crash down or that there might occur other problems when connection to the Internet, resulting in losing the backed up data. However, as problems concerning Internet connection are only temporary, there is not much of a risk. To especially concerned users we recommend to additionally back up their data on CD or DVD, so that the data is protected twice.

Speed is another issue, which plays an important role when it comes to backing up to an FTP server. Many users think that Internet backups take to much time which results in slow Internet connections. This can also be solved with the use of AceBackup: Files can be transferred in compressed form which enhances the transfer speed. In addition, you can schedule your backups using the AceBackup Task Scheduler. For example, if you schedule your backups for the night you can be sure that nobody is affected by a slow connection.

This demonstrates that Internet backups have more advantages than disadvantages. However, each single user should find his/her own backup strategy (for further information, please refer to our article The Right Backup Strategy). Decide for yourself which media to use for your backups, AceBackup leaves the decision completely up to you!