Online Backup FAQ

Questions about sign up

• Can I try Datagard before I buy it?
• How do I know which size plan I need?
• What payment methods do you accept?
• Is it easy to set up?
• Does it cost extra to restore my data?
• Do I have to order online?
• What happens after I sign up?
  

Technical questions

• What can I do in User Tools?
  
• What is an online backup service?
• Should I also have a local backup?
• What is FastBIT backup?
• Why is FastBIT important?
• How does the licensing work?
• What platforms does Datagard support?
• Can I backup open and locked files?
• How do I backup my emails?
• What files should I select?
• What happens if I exceed my quota?
• Can I upgrade the amount of users using my original license?
• Can I remotely manage our Spheritec server administration?
• How do you delete files from the backup server?
• What do I do if there is trouble connecting to the server or performing a backup?
• What is the personal recovery CD?
• What is the Restoration Period?
• How do I cancel my Datagard service?

Can I try Datagard before I buy it?

• Yes.  The Datagard 14 day free trial will give you full use of the service and 100MB of backup space.  You can upgrade at any point during your trial although you are not obligated to.  Remember to only select 100MB or less in files for your trial.

How do I know which size plan I need?

• It is difficult to be exact but you can browse your documents and select the files/folders you would like to include in your backups.  Right click over the group of selected files/folders and choose the properties option.  This should display the size in KB, MB or GB.  Datagard compresses your files in backup, sometimes by as much as 75%; it depends on the type of file.  Spreadsheets for example compress very well, photos do not.  It is best to estimate the amount of backup space you will need and allow your first backup to run.  You will soon see how much space you actually need and can upgrade or downgrade as necessary. 

What payment methods do you accept?

• Datagard can accept either credit card or direct debit.  Both able monthly payments for your service.

Is it easy to set up?

• Datagard is simple to set up in just minutes, on either your pc, laptop or server.  However if you have little to do with your computer system, it might be easier for you to hand over to your I.T. administrator to do it for you.  Datagard has a network of associates across Australia if you don't have anyone to call on.

Does it cost extra to restore my data?

• There are no Datagard costs associated with restoring your data.  Regardless of how many times each day or month you backup or restore, the price stays the same.

Do I have to order online?

• No, if you prefer, download our manual order form and fax it to us.  We will set up your account in the system and email you the set up details.

What happens after I sign up?

• Once you press the submit button on our online form, your account will be automatically created in our system.  Your account details will be emailed to the contact you entered into the form.  The email will include a link to install the program and your username and password.

Questions about Datagard

What can I do in User Tools?

• In User Tools you can update your personal and contact details, change your credit card details, change your Datagard password, upgrade or cancel your backup service, view past invoices, download the software to a new system and access the web restore site.  If you are a client, use your Datagard username and password to log in at any time.  Log in here.
  

What is an online backup service? 

• An Online Backup Service is an Internet-based service that allows computer users to routinely backup and recover their important data using a secure and trusted server on the Internet.If you use your computer to create and store valuable data for business or personal reasons, you should make some type of backup of your important data to prevent a total loss in the event of any kind of system failure or human error.  Online Backup software is designed to routinely copy your important files to a private, secure location on the Internet by encryting and transmitting your data over your existing Internet connection.  If you have a working Internet connection on your computer, you can use Datagard's Online Backup Service to keep your important files safe from disaster on a daily basis, or you can find one of our many certified partners around the world.

• It's up to you. We encourage people to do both local and remote backup for absolute protection. Users that want an added level of protection will perform local backups in addition to their online backup. Local backups can allow you to backup ALL of your files, while the online backup is a great way to automatically store your most critical files and store them offsite. When it comes to your important data, you can never be too safe and an offsite solution is absolutely necessary in data security.

What is FastBIT backup?

• The FastBIT patching process is the core technology behind our speedy backup service. The patching process involves the comparison of two different versions of the same file and extracting the differences between the files. When the differences are extracted from the two files, they are saved into a new file and compressed into what is known as a Patch. The patch file is often 85% to 99.9% smaller than the file which the patch was extracted from originally. In order to perform a FastBIT backup, the software has to backup the files 3 times: the first backup is a full, the next backup will perform an incremental, and the third performs the first FastBIT backup.

Why is FastBIT important?

• If you are an end-user, the efficiency of FastBIT will dramatically reduce the time required to backup your data from any network location, include slow dialup connections.  If you are the server administrator, FastBIT will minimize your overall bandwidth utilization for a large installed base. FastBIT will also provide the most cost-effective method of storing ongoing file histories for every user. FastBIT backups can be 15 times smaller than the nearest competitor. That means Datagard will only need 10 Gigabytes for user data that would need up to 150 Gigabytes of storage using competitive software for the same amount of user data.

How does the licensing work?

• Licensing is managed on a "per computer" basis. This means a 10-user Spheritec license will allow 10 computers to backup to the Datagard Server. These 10 licenses can be used in any combination, such as 10 users, each backing up only their local system or 2 users backing up 5 computers each, etc.

What platforms does Datagard support?

• Datagard Online Backup includes client and server software. The client software can be installed on any Windows 98SE, Me, NT, 2000, 2003 (.NET) Vista or XP computer. The Datagard Backup Client software communicates to the Datagard Server using the TCP/IP protocol. The Datagard Server software must be installed on a Windows 2000 or Windows 2003 (.NET) Server, and it must be accessible by the Clients.

Can I backup open and locked files?

• In the case of many backup software programs, files and databases that are in use during the backup may not get backed up successfully because they are locked to prevent any other program from altering the data. To solve this problem, Datagard Online Backup can be used with the optional Open File Manager program to make sure that these open and locked files get backed up successfully.

How do I backup my emails?

• To backup the emails you have saved in Microsoft Outlook, you will need to follow a few steps.

1. Create a directory in which to keep your Outlook Backups, c:backupsoutlook is a good file path.

2. Visit the Outlook 2003 Add-in: Personal Folders Backup page of the Microsoft website, and download and install the program as per the instructions.

3. Create a backup set within Datagard, calling it Outlook Backup.

4. Select the c:backupsoutlook directory to be included in your Outlook Backup set and create a schedule of when you want the backup to run.

What files should I select?

• Since your entire hard drive is likely to be much larger than the amount of storage you have purchased on the backup server, you should be selective in the files that you choose for backup. In general, you can avoid backing up any programs that you can reinstall from a purchased CD, such as Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, etc.). Why pay for storage for "stuff" you can easily re-install? Try to focus your selection on things within your "My Documents" folder and data files of your important programs like accounting, income tax, contact management, etc. Your online backup software comes with predefined filters, which allow you to automatically select categories of files without knowing where all the files are located. Ask us how to work with this feature.

What happens if I exceed my quota?

• In most cases, your account will not allow you to exceed your paid storage quota on the backup server. You will be notified when you approach and reach your limit with the option to upgrade or deselect some files you have in your backup set.  If you choose not to upgrade to a larger plan, make sure you deselect those files, as well as delete them from our server.  This will take you back within your quota.  After you sign up as a Datagard customer, login to the User Tools system. Here you can upgrade your account, add additional services, as well as update your contact and billing information.

Can I upgrade the amount of users using my original license?

• Yes. You can increase the number of allowable users on your backup service by upgrading your Datagard license.  After you sign up as a Datagard customer, login to the User Tools system. Here you can additional services, as well as update your contact and billing information.

Can we remotely manage our Spheritec server administration?

• Yes. With Datagard’s new Remote Manager you can manage all of your Datagard Backup Servers from any central location. As an extension to Datagard Backup Server Configuration Manager, you can remotely manage and communicate with more than one backup server to create centralized management from anywhere in the world. Configure user access, display server status, search for account, review server logs and more.
  

How do you delete files from the Backup server?

• In order to control how much data is stored on the online backup server, your online backup software allows you to view all of the data stored on the server and selectively remove files from the server. To view the data stored under your account, run your online backup software and click on the folder tab labeled "Restore". In the left windowpane, Right-Click on the Desktop icon and select "Get Volume List from Server". This will show you each computer that has been backed up to your account. Now you can navigate the folders to see what data is stored on the server. To delete files, click on the button with the Red "X" to enable the Delete Files mode. Mark any files you wish to delete by clicking your mouse in the empty box next to the file(s) you wish to delete. Click the "Delete Files Now" to issue the command to delete the selected files from the server. WARNING: Once a file is deleted from the server, it can no longer be restored.

What do you do if there is trouble connecting to the server or performing a backup?

• Contact our support department. If you are utilizing Datagard Online Backup, email our technical support group for assistance.  We will get back to you as soon as possible to help with your request.

What is the personal recovery CD?

• The Personal Recovery CD is a service that offers copies of all your data from our servers onto CD(s). This allows you to restore the archive of your data from a CD without requiring an Internet connection. This is great for keeping long-term archives of your data or restoring large amounts of data without connecting over a slow Internet connection.  This service costs $100 per restoration.

What is the Restoration period?

• Restoration period refers to the number of versions each file backup is stored in the Datagard vault. Standard in all Datagard plans is 30 versions. This means that any version of a data file can be restored by the user, back to a history of 30 previous versions.  Although each incremental backup only contains the small changed portions of the file, the server software has the capability of recovering any version of a file from the initial backup to the last incremental backup and EVERY version in between  Example One: You may have cleaned up your desktop and deleted files that you thought you no longer needed. 3 weeks later you suddenly realize that you do need something from those files.  Provided the version you require is no more than 30 revisions old, you can use Datagard to restore that specific file. If the file was more than 30 revisions ago, the file would no longer be available to restore.  Example Two: You are writing the annual business plan and are continually making changes to it.  After a while you change your mind about some of the changes you have made and want to go back to a previous version of the document. Because this file is backed up by Datagard, you can choose which file version you would like to restore, going back as far as 30 versions prior. Datagard restoration can be upgraded to 60 or 90 versions. Log in to User Tools to upgrade your restoration period.

How do I cancel my Datagard service? 

• We never like to see anyone cancel their online service, but in the event you must cancel your service, please log in to User Tools where you can easily cancel.  Otherwise, you can email us with your request.