Remote Backup

[AZ-Tax]

Do any of you use remote back up and if so which one do you use and what type of fees are involved?

[Gretel]

Mozy has a free online backup for personal use up to 2GB.

[equinecpa]

I use carbonite...I believe it's $50.00 a year but I usually find a coupon for a huge saving or cashback...unlimited storage but caveat...it won't automatically do video files (not an issue for me but could be for some).

[tilt53]

I use Carbonite also. Their price is $54.95 for 1 year, $99.95 for 2 years, or $129.95 for 3 years. If you use the offer code "Kim," after your free trial you'll receive an additional 2 months free added to your subscription.

[PIGLEE]

I also use carbonite, but also make my own local backups.

Glad to hear someone else listens to Kim, I don't get to hear her all the time, but love her show. Have you become a member on her web site? Has it be worth it for you?

[tilt53]

She's not broadcast where we live so I can only catch her from time to time when traveling. I haven't joined the website, but do get all of her daily newsletters. She's pretty incredible and I love the access to all the free downloads.

For those who don't know who Piglee and I are referring to:

http://www.komando.com/

[natiro]

Back up

I use Iron Mountain. It's more expensive than Carbonite which I just heard of for the first time last week. I'm not sure what features each have that would make one better than the other.

[Lion]

Vms

I use the good folks at VMS who are the former ATX techies in Caribou, ME, from when CCH combined ATX support with TaxWise in Rome, GA. They back up whatever I say whenever I say. Right now, I have them back up a variety of tax, bookkeeping, and general files, every night at 3 a.m. I can make changes myself. But, they just called me to do a tune up before tax season. I also use their same software to automatically backup to my external hard drive which I swap out periodically. During tax season at least, VMS is available 24/7. I also use them as virtual techs whenever I have a problem; their subscription covers an entire year of calls. VMSUS.com or (877) 867-8790 (Toll Free).

[AuditorTurnedGood]

I use

SOS Online backup. The price is based on the amount of space used (I have 10GB for 18.00/mo). Works seemlessly, and the selective restore feature saved me from having to re-do a substantial amount of work when a client's Quickbooks file corrupted. They also have a "blind" option, where no one at the data facility can retrieve your password, effectivly allowing only you to get your data. If you remember you password, which I am terrible at.

ATG

[GTS1101]

Backup Drive

I use "I" drive. It works very well. Never had any problems. I pay about $50 a year. I get a 150GB. The only thing I don't like about these online backups is that when you need to restore they take forever to download. I also have another external hard drive that I back up to and I use the remote backup as a last resort option. The local backup restores much faster and easier.

GTS1101

[fliszt]

I wonder why

persons use an off site backup when separate desktop hard drives are so cheap now. I have a Maxtor HD and a flash drive along with an old Iomega I use for backups. The work fine and are easy to use.
Larry

[David1980]

persons use an off site backup when separate desktop hard drives are so cheap now. I have a Maxtor HD and a flash drive along with an old Iomega I use for backups. The work fine and are easy to use.
Larry

Needs to be off-site to protect against things like fire, theft, etc... The backup does no good if both the original & backed up data are destroyed. You could of course just take a hard drive home and then you have two physical locations. But some of the automated backup systems are, well, automated. There is something to be said for a backup being automatic. It is easy to forget about it for a few days and let the backup get out of date until you need it.

[fliszt]

David,

how well I agree with you. I lost a HD on April 2 with about 30 un-efiled returns and found I had not backed up for about 2 weeks. Oh, how I cussed and cussed myself and swore I'd back up every day. Which I do now. The fire issue is relevant, but I take my chances on that since the probability of fire is so small.
Larry

[AuditorTurnedGood]

I use off site

not only in case my house burns down, but also because my laptop isn't always connected to my external drive at night when the backup runs, plus the offsite backup gives me access to the files anywhere with an internet connection.

During the season, I backup hourly during work hours to the external, then to a nightly data load to the offsite server. Whenever we travel, my laptop and external drive are in the safe bolted to the floor. Call me paranoid.

ATG

[equinecpa]

I like the remote because it backs up continuously. I've had instances when I've messed up and saved over a file and been able to go to my remote backup, restore it and continue on happily.

Another benefit of remote services is that you can access your remote backups when you're away from home. I can't tell you how many times I've been traveling wanting to do some work and found I forgot to back up a file I needed. I now can grab it off of the remote backup.

Also besides fire...theft is probably a huge concern when it comes to computer equipment.

For the pittance it costs me...it's remote all the way for me.