After trying online backup services from AOL, or later Mozy, then Box.net, 3 weeks ago I installed Windows Live Mesh on my PC, which until now seems to do a quite nice Job automatically synchronizing files from my PC to my live-mesh-account. Also a total of 5GB and no maximum file-size seems to me quite reasonable for a free service. As Wikipedia shows there is a growing market for online backup services, mainly because it is easier, safer, more secure and cheaper then using conventional backup methods like CD/DVD, Zip drive, tape unit or external hard disk. It also allows me to access latest files, independent wheather I am working at home or using another computer at work.
While I usually stopped using free services in past for its affect on system performance and other inconvenience, this time Microsoft seems to have done a good integration (I only tested on WindowsXP yet). Synchronization works smoothly in background, login automatically and I can have several folders to be synced.
As Daniel Jones and other experts quote, it is a good strategy using multiple Backup strategies to raise data available, due to the fact, that most user not start thinking about backups until a painful hard disc crash happened. Internet backups are a good way to start.
Regarding security of data one could see it as advance to trust big players, since the damage in reputation caused by security leaks would probably be bigger then damage at own company. Nevertheless before giving sensitive data to 3rd party provider a more detailed analysis about how Microsoft ensures security in comparison to own possibilities and costs should be taken into consideration.
No comments:
Post a Comment