Data Assurance - Online Backup Service

Mobile Users

If your profession involves you being away from the main office on a regular basis, then Data-Assurance's Online Backup Service is for you. Can you imagine being away on business, before a major presentation and having your laptop stolen or your files damaged beyond repair? If you are using our backup service, you can have your critical files back in virtually no time at all!

Network Administrators
As the person responsible for the computer systems and network technical operations of your company, Business Continuity rests on your shoulders. Essentially you are responsible to make sure, that regardless of what happens, that your company or business continues to do business with little or no interruption.

You can save your company thousands, even millions of dollars and insure business continuity should your company suffer from data loss by taking proper actions to protect the company's assets that are stored on the company's desktops, laptops and servers.

Home Computer Users
Even personal computer users need a back up copy of their data. The "system recovery disk" that comes with your computer will not recover your personal files. What this means is that any work you have used your computer for since the day you bought it, is lost if disaster strikes. This inlcudes: your emails, favorite places, financial records, research, kids pictures, homework, or your home business files. All of this important data can be gone forever if disaster strikes.

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Online Backup Features

Provides secure, encrypted, off-site backup and restoration of your data.
Utilizes the easy-to-use Data-Assurance Client Software.
Easy "Getting Started Wizard" to help configure your backups.
Silent Mode runs backups invisibly in the background.
FastBIT binary incremental backups reduce backup times and bandwidth requirements up to 99%!
Supports Dial-Up Networking, Internet and TCP/IP Network Protocols.
Comprehensive, automatic backup scheduling for "hands-free" backups.
File selection filters so you can easily select only your most important and crucial files.
Encryption and compression for fast, totally secure backups.
E-mail notification so you know immediately if there is any trouble.

How does the Data-Assurance service work?

Configuration and Setup

Data-Assurance comes fully configured and ready to use. Once downloaded and installed, all you need to do is tell Data-Assurance which files and folders you want backed-up. File selection can be accomplished by utilizing the Windows Explorer-like client user interface, pre-built downloadable filters, or the easy to use Filter Wizard. Data-Assurance also utilizes a handy Getting Started Wizard which will automatically appear if any critical fields have been left blank during configuration and setup. Refer to the Quick-Start Installation Guide for more assistance.

Backup

Backups are configured to run automatically at any or multiple times each day or night. Several backup sets can be configured and customized to run on different schedules. Your initial backup will compress, securely encrypt and backup every selected file to a Data-Assurance secure data center via 448-bit Blowfish encryption. Subsequent backups are performed incrementally - meaning only the changes made to the files are sent to the Data-Assurance server. Incremental backups greatly reduce storage requirements and Internet bandwidth, thus optimizing backup times and server storage space. Data-Assurance maintains the last 30 days (extendable to 1 year) of file versions on the First Backup server. After 30 days, the oldest version automatically rolls its changes into the full file backup.

Special Backup Conditions

New Files: Newly created files (since the last backup) will automatically be sent to the Data-Assurance Server on the next backup operation - provided they are in a folder that is included in the backup set.

Changed Files: Updated files are backed-up using Incremental binary patching. These incremental files are compressed, encrypted via secure 448-bit encryption, transferred and archived for 30 days (user can define period) in the Data-Assurance secure data center. After the 30 day period, the changes are automatically rolled into the full backup file. Once selected for restore, the appropriate incremental backup versions are reconstituted with the full file backup and securely transferred to the requesting computer.

Deleted Files: When you delete a file on your computer, the file (and it's corresponding versions) remain available on the Data-Assurance for 30 days (optionally longer). To immediately delete a file from the Data-Assurance Server, the user must delete the file using the Data-Assurance Client user interface.

Moved Files: When you move a file to a different location on your computer, it is treated as a deleted file in its original location, and a new file in the new location.

Restore

Any of the archived file versions can be easily recovered from the Data-Assurance server through the subscriber's client interface. The file selection utility is the same for a file restore as it is for the backup operation. Simply navigate within your familiar directory structure, select the appropriate folder(s) and/or file(s) and click "Restore Now". Upon request, each file is reconstituted with all of the appropriate incremental backups and immediately and securely transported to your computer where it is decrypted, uncompressed and restored to its original (or optionally temporary) location. Our handy Restore Guide provides step-by-step assistance.

Restore to ANY Computer

First Backup allows you to access your files no matter where you are ... from any PC on the Internet by using the popular Internet Explorer or Netscape browsers. Files are easily and securely downloaded with a few mouse clicks by logging in to your account and following the simple First Restore menu instructions.

Out of the office and need that important document?
No Problem - It's always available online with Data-Assurance

Security

Your files are securely stored at multiple, redundant Data-Assurance secure data centers. Even if a fire, flood, or other disaster destroyed one of our data centers, your data is still protected and available, on-demand - 24x7x365.

Data Assurance Secure Data Centers

Secure firewalls
Diverse Internet backbone connections with fail-over
Server redundancy with built-in fail-over
Expandable fault-tolerant storage arrays mirrored in multiple locations
Monitored 24x7x365 with tight security
Environmental protection warning systems
Uninterruptible power supplies and emergency generators
Every transmission is via secure 448-bit Blowfish encryption and your data always remains encrypted until it is restored on your computer.

Ultra Secure Encryption

Data Assurance utilizes the industry's strongest and fastest encryption algorithm for the ultimate in data security and protection. Blowfish is a symmetric block cipher accepting a variable-length key up to 448 bits, making it ideal for both domestic and exportable use. Since it's initial release in 1993, the Blowfish code has never been cracked . In fact, a 448-bit Blowfish encryption key would take 2.1x1096 BILLION powerful computers, each capable of trying one BILLION keys per second to try every possible combination of bits in a 448-bit key. In other words, your data is ultra-secure with First Backup.

Secret Encryption Key (Optional)

You can maximize your data security by setting a Secret Encryption Key in your First Backup client. Your Secret Key will then be used to encrypt and decrypt your files. Your Secret Key is stored on your computer and you are the ONLY one who knows it. For security purposes, we do not store it on our servers, nor do we keep a record of it.

We Cannot Access Your Files. If your secret encryption key is ever lost, you will not be able to access or recover any of your backup files. Please write down your secret encryption key and keep it in a secure place.