Iozeta vs Dropbox

October 20 2011 by admin in Online Backup |No Comments

Both Iozeta and Dropbox are services that allow users to back up important files online, helping them to be less likely to lose important data. These two services offer a lot of similarities beside the fact that they are both forms of a similar service. They also have some features that differ, as well.

Iozeta and Dropbox both start with a simple download. Dropbox offers a free account (with up to 2GB of storage), along with two other basic accounts that offer up to 50GB and 100GB and a “team” account that allows multiple users. The team account is the closest thing they have to Iozeta’s premium account, which is named LiveDrive. The main difference here, however, is that Iozeta’s data space is unlimited. While you are limited to 2GB, 50GB, or 100GB on Dropbox, no such limits exist on Iozeta’s backup service.

Both services support Windows, Mac, iPad and iPhone. Dropbox also has software to make it work with Linux, Android, and Blackberry. Both offer free apps for iPad and iPhone.

Within this space, you can keep anything you like. Your files are encrypted with military grade AES encryption , and your files are available to you from anywhere. Both services will update the files you have uploaded by uploading the changes, making the upload much faster than if you had to re-upload the entire file.  Both services keep multiple versions of your files. Iozeta keeps up to 30 versions, allowing you to roll back to a previous version easily if you need to. Dropbox keeps a one-month history, allowing you to undo changes and undelete files.

While Dropbox’s basic 2GB account is free, their other accounts are not. The 50GB account will cost a user $9.99 monthly, and the 100GB account costs $19.99 monthly. The team account is only accessible after you already have an account with Dropbox, and it starts at $795 yearly ($66.25 monthly) for up to 5 users and up to 350GB. Iozeta, on the other hand, does not offer a free account, but the accounts are so inexpensive that it does not matter much. The basic unlimited account with Iozeta starts at $3.88 monthly, and the premium LiveDrive unlimited account starts at only $6.88 monthly.

Dropbox allows you to upload files through their software. Iozeta allows an upload through their software, but they also allow uploading via email and FTP.

Both services allow users to edit their files online. With Dropbox, your files are saved both on your computer and on your Dropbox, and can be available to others. Changes are saved quickly, allowing you to share editing with others. Iozeta takes this one step farther, by allowing you access to your files not only for editing and sharing documents, but also other files, such as music and videos, can be accessed for streaming with the built in music player on Iozeta’s web portal page, allowing you to play it on any device or computer. LiveDrive also allows users to sync files between up to five of your own computers.

Iozeta Vs SOS Backup

October 20 2011 by admin in Online Backup |No Comments

Iozeta and SOS Online Backup are both companies that offer an online solution to backing up all of your important files: documents, music, videos, pictures, and so on. Iozeta’s backup is compatible with both Windows and Mac machines as well as iPads and iPhones, while SOS works with Windows and iPhone or iPad, but does not support Mac. Both services encrypt your data both during transfer and storage with military-grade AES encryption and neither of them limits your bandwidth when transferring files to or from their respective data centers. Both offer a free app for iPhone and iPad units to facilitate backup and retrieval. Both offer continuous backup to be sure that you have the most recent versions of your files backed up so you will be much less likely to lose important data, even when you are working on it.

Both services offer basic and premium options, so you can choose what will work best for you and your data. Iozeta’s basic option starts at $3.88 monthly, and includes such features as auto detecting changes, unlimited online backup, and external drive support. SOS Online Backup has several basic plans. The two least expensive are the one offering 50GB for $4.99 a month (paid yearly), and the one offering 250GB for $8.33 a month (paid yearly). SOS does not offer an unlimited backup plan.

Both services keep multiple versions of your files that are backed up on their servers. Iozeta keeps up to 30 versions of each file, while SOS keeps an unlimited number of versions (up to your data limit, of course). Both keep a version history, allowing you to easily find the version you require with just a few clicks of your mouse.

Iozeta’s basic plan also includes the ability to view and edit files online, as well as the ability to stream videos and music directly from your online backup, with no need to download to your computer or any other device (although you can still download if you prefer). This feature is unique to Iozeta and is available with all of their plans – even the one that costs the least.

Both services offer telephone assistance, if needed. Both have a Knowledge Base and tutorials available to assist you, and both offer a support ticket option for contacting them for further support. SOS additionally offers live chat.

Premium plans for both services include up to five computers, but the similarity pretty much ends there. Iozeta’s premium plan, which they have dubbed LiveDrive, will synchronize files between computers and offers 2TB storage (that’s about 2,000GB!). LiveDrive gives you the ability to edit your files online, share them with a single click, upload via email or FTP as well as through the web, and it also offers webDAV access. Their base price for all of this functionality is $6.88 monthly. SOS, on the other hand, allows you to share files through email, and has varying prices based on how much space you want, with the least expensive plan offering 100GB for $9.95 monthly.

 

Iozeta Vs Mozy

October 20 2011 by admin in Online Backup |No Comments

While both Iozeta and Mozy are online backup services that are made for Windows or Mac users and share some similarities, they differ in many areas. Some of the similarities they share include encryption, external hard drive support, automated backup and a choice of plans. However, even these differ when you look at the details.

Iozeta’s encryption is military grade 256-bit AES, and your data is stored in secure data centers. Mozy encrypts files as well, using SSL during transfers and AES or Blowfish  for storage – you choose which of the two.

Both Mozy and Iozeta detect changes, and also automatically update or re-backup the files you have backed up that have changed. Mozy deduplicates the files (this is a process in which the same file saved multiple times exactly the same on your hard drive are only written once on the backup drive, but with pointers so it will restore properly in all the original locations), while Iozeta does not. This is probably at least in part because Mozy’s basic Home plan offers 50GB starting at $5.99 monthly, while Iozeta’s base plan is as low as $3.88 monthly for unlimited backup. Since Iozeta does not limit your space, there is no need to deduplicate.

Both services save several versions of your files. Iozeta keeps up to 30 different versions. Mozy, on the other hand, keeps up to 30 days of version changes. This allows you to restore whichever version of your file is the one you need most. Iozeta has external drive support, while it is unclear if Mozy can handle external drives according to what they have listed.

Restoring files is handled differently depending on which service you choose. Mozy allows restoration via their proprietary client, internet, or a DVD, as well as their Virtual Drive. Iozeta’s options for restoring include access to individual files on their server as well as complete restore with their software.

When you are backing up with Mozy, your data must be uploaded from your computer to their servers through the internet. They offer the option to set a lower bandwidth for their program so the upload will not interfere with the regular usage of your computer. Iozeta’s LiveDrive option allows you to upload through the internet also, as well as offering the options of using email or FTP to add files to your online backup. Iozeta does not limit your bandwidth, allowing your files to upload as quickly as possible, ensuring a speedy backup.

One thing that sets Iozeta apart from all other online backup services is the ability to access your backed-up files on their server – for restoration, sharing, editing, and even streaming. Other backup services allow you to access files for restoring, and some may allow online viewing of documents, but Iozeta stands alone in allowing users to stream videos and music that is backed up onto their servers. Iozeta also integrates with such online sites as Facebook and Tumblr, allowing you to send files directly to them from your backup.

 

Why it’s a good idea to use more than one online backup service

October 20 2011 by admin in Information |No Comments

Technology has made rapid advancement over the past 10 years. Today not only do we have computers, but we also have a host of other devices that record information digitally. We have smartphones, iPads, e-readers, digital cameras, and digital video recorders and MP3 players. All of these new devices create and save huge amounts of data on a daily basis. Many of us seem to have a digital record of just about every waking moment and all that data is important to us. If you are saving all of these files to your local computer, what would you do you if your computer has a complete meltdown tomorrow?

That thought sent a shudder through you, didn’t it? No one wants to lose all their precious files, videos, photos, and all the other data that we accumulate. Despite the fact that no one wants to lose their files, far too many people are not backing up your files on a regular basis or when they are, they are doing it incorrectly. A lot of people are still committing their backups to external hard drives and then keep in those hard drives in the same place as their computer.

What happens if have a flood or fire and your backups are stored on the premises? You might as well have not bothered to back up at all. If you plan on backing up physical storage, you absolutely must store those copies at another location. Even if you do this, however, it really is not enough. Experts recommend that you have at least three backup copies of all of your important files and at least two of those copies must be stored offsite.

Today there are a host of online data backup services that are available for inexpensive, easy, offsite storage. A copy of your files is stored either at the service’s own servers or in the cloud. Even if you do a physical copy that you store nearby, as most of us do, your other two needed copies should be through two different online backup providers. The main reason for using two different providers is protection against something happening to one of those providers.

Online data backup services are not immune to suffering from server crashes or hardware failures that could result in a loss of your valuable data. That is the main reason why we recommend that you use at least two different services for your remote backups. Another good reason is if you have multiple computers as often only one computer will be backed up per account. Even if you can back up more than one computer to your account, it is probably not a wise choice to make. It will get very confusing when the time comes that you need to restore your computer using your online backup.

Using multiple online data backup services may sound like it would take a lot of extra time but that is not the case. For one thing, only the first initial full backup will take more than a few minutes. Once there has been a complete system backup, incremental changes are the only ones that will have to be regularly stored. This means that only files that changed since the last backup will be recorded and added to your backup in storage.

Data Deduplication

July 23 2011 by admin in Information |No Comments

What is “data deduplication”?  Why is it done?  How is it done?  What are the primary methods of doing it? Are there pros and cons of each method of doing it?  These are the fundamental issues related to getting a basic understanding of data deduplication.
Data deduplication is a specialized method of compressing data.  It is generally employed in situations where very large quantities of data need to be stored.  The process involves a complex analysis to identify data byte patterns in the initial and subsequent new data sets.  As data is updated, added to, stored and backed up, all new data is compared against previously identified byte patterns.  The segments that match these byte patterns are not put into the data base again, but instead are marked with a reference to the original byte pattern.

Data deduplication is done to reduce redundancy of data within a data storage system.  Reducing data redundancy within a data storage system has a significant positive “domino effect”.  When the sheer amount of bytes being stored can be significantly reduced, the total amount of storage space required can also be reduced.   Subsequently, the hardware, bandwidth and infrastructure requirements can all be reduced as well.  Ultimately, the costs as well as the carbon footprint associated with data storage can be significantly reduced.

A cursory look at the back up of a typical e-mail system will illustrate the point.  A typical e-mail system might contain 100 instances of the exact same 1MB attached file.  Without data deduplication, each time the system is backed up, the same 1MG file attachment would be saved, which would require 100MB of storage space instead of just 1MG of storage space.   Over time, this creates a very negative and counter-productive “domino effect”.

There are two basic approaches to data deduplication.  The first approach is “in-line” data deduplication while the second approach is called “post-process” data deduplication.  The in-line approach compresses the data before the data goes to its ultimate storage point.  This means the data is deduplicated at its creation point before it is ever stored.  Conversely, the post-process deduplication approach involves first storing new data and then later analyzing it at the storage point.

There are basic pros and cons for each approach.  In-line data deduplication requires less upfront storage space and infrastructure than the post-process approach does.  This is because the data is deduplicated before it is ever written to disk.  On the down side, the time to complete the storage can be lengthened some since the required deduplication calculations have to be done before the data is stored.  There is some concern that doing the calculations at the creation point can slightly degrade the performance of the system at the data creation point as well.  Post-process deduplication, on the other hand, can require significantly more upfront data storage space but does not degrade performance of the system at the data creation point.  The choice as to method depends to some extent on the level of data integrity and the disaster recovery time requirements involved.

Companies with deduplication technology:

www.backblaze.com
www.carbonite.com
www.iozeta.com
www.dropbox.com
www.livedrive.com

iCloud vs Iozeta

July 20 2011 by admin in Online Backup |2 Comments

With the advent of “cloud computing” more and more changes are being made to the way we use our computers every day. Some of the changes involve how we manage our data, how we store files, and how we access them later. New technology is being released to aid these pursuits regularly, by different companies, and each has their strengths and weaknesses (though some seem to have more strengths than others).

For example, Apple has recently released iCloud – their way to allow users to synchronize music, video, documents and other Apple-application files from device to device for the ease of the user.  The application automatically pushes these files out to all of your internet-connected devices (as long as they run the Apple iOS 5) and many Apple applications – though there are still some applications that are not yet compatible. iCloud’s default storage capacity is 5GB, but that can be upgraded (for a fee). It also limits photo storage to the most recent 1000 photos. iTunes via iCloud allows manual downloading of previously purchased iTunes, and new purchases are automatically pushed to the user’s devices. Music that has been purchased must be downloaded in order to listen to it, limiting the user to whatever storage capacity the device(s) contain. iCloud will also only back up certain files, which must be created by Apple programs; other files will not be backed up or synchronized.

A better online storage option – especially for your music – is Iozeta’s Livedrive, which is compatible with PC and Mac, and supports all file types – no need for specific files created by specific applications. There is no monthly transfer limit, and no individual file size limits with Livedrive. Transfer speeds are as fast as your connection allows; Livedrive will not limit speeds. Livedrive’s default backup space starts at 2TB, which is over 200 times the default starting storage capacity offered by iCloud. You can download your files, view them online, or even stream your music! This last is one feature that Livedrive offers that most other online backup systems do not. Instead of having to have enough space on a device to download all your music and video files, you can connect with your iPod or iPad or PC or other connected device, and watch or listen without downloading, making more files readily available to you whether you have room on your device or not. This is especially handy for iPhones and other connected phones, which rarely have enough storage space for quantities of music, but with Livedrive, they do not have to for you to be able to have access to your entire collection.

While both iCloud and Livedrive offer online backups for your data, Livedrive has easy access to live files that are usable from Livedrive, while iCloud requires you to have the files on your devices to be able to access them for viewing or listening. Why not try out a free trial of Iozeta’s Livedrive and see for yourself how simple it is and how useful?

The New Cloud

July 20 2011 by admin in Online Backup |No Comments

As time goes on, new buzzwords develop and become common household words. The newest term in that category is the “cloud.” The cloud refers to the internet, as It relates to data storage and access. Google, for instance, has a whole operating system based on this concept, and most of its data is stored on the cloud.

Apple is also capitalizing on the concept, with an automatic iCloud application, that will allow users to store certain files – music, photos, applications, calendars, documents, and other files created on Apple programs and applications – and automatically synchronize them to all other connected Apple devices. It is currently in beta in the US, and will be shipping automatically with iOS 5. Its music storage is limited to 25,000 songs (not counting iTunes purchases) and some services are limited to 10 devices.  When you take pictures with an i-device, it will automatically push it to all your other connected devices; this is limited to the most recent 1000 photos.  Documents, personal data, books – if they are compatible, it will automatically ‘share’ it among your connected devices.

Similarly, but much less limited, Iozeta powered by Livedrive will keep all your files safe. Its unlimited online backup is automatic and hassle-free, backing up your files as soon as you finish with them so you do not have to remember to do it manually. Unlike iCloud, Livedrive offers unlimited online backup storage. Regardless how many files you have, you can back them up on LiveDrive – including up to 30 versions of your files so that you can restore older versions if necessary at any time.  Restoring files is easy, too – even deleted files! Iozeta keeps your data secure and private using military grade encryption, and it doesn’t matter if your preference is Windows or Mac, Iozeta works the same on either one. Besides being unlimited in many areas, Livedrive also offers streaming of your movies and music to your iPhone or iPad, using a free application. Your whole collection is available wherever you go, and synchronizing with iTunes becomes a thing of the past. You can even view and edit your documents through Livedrive’s web interface.

Livedrive’s backup works as an additional drive on your computer. This allows you to view and access files easily regardless what computer or mobile device you are using. No matter where you are, your files are “there!” Along with the extra-drive access, you also have the ability to access your data on Livedrive through FTP if you prefer.  Either way, your files are readily accessible, whether they are only on Livedrive or on both Livedrive and your computer.

Since everybody ought to have a backup, it makes sense to use one that is easily accessed and secure. It also makes sense to use one that is not on the same computer or in the same location as the computer you use regularly. Why not give Iozeta try?