FAQ

Who are SafetyNet Backup Solutions?

SafetyNet Backup Solutions is a business dedicated to providing a secure monitored online backup service to small and medium sized businesses. Its staff have worked for many years in the IT sector in a corporate environment and are very aware of the need of a reliable backup system. The value of the business has been recognised by being shortlisted as one of the finalists for the 2006 Impact Media Elevate award for entrepreneurs.

How secure is the software?

The software and backup process is extremely secure. The data stored on the offsite server is encrypted with an AES 256 bit encryption key on your computer before any transfer begins. The data transfer between your computer and the offsite server is done using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) with up to 256 bit encryption. This is the technology used in online banking or when completing payments on the internet.

Additionally only you hold the decryption key necessary to access the data. We cannot view your data nor can anyone else.

What’s the difference between onsite and offsite? 

With onsite backup you will be responsible for the daily backup, changing tapes or whatever media is used and making sure that the data is accessible on these media. Even with that unless the media is stored securely offsite it is possible that a fire or flood could destroy all your computers plus all your backup tapes that you have diligently looked after.

With the offsite solution we provide an automated solution that both takes care of the daily backup and secure transfer of data offsite to a state of the art hosting centre used by the Irish Stock Exchange and dept of Social Affairs to name but a few.

All disaster recovery plans necessitate the need to have your backups stored securely offsite. 

But what if I already have a tape backup system in place?

Combining a tape backup system with an online backup system gives you the best of both worlds. The online system is suited to the backing up of critical files, such as invoices, customer details and databases on a daily basis. The tape backup can be used to do a full system backup once or twice a month that will reduce the amount of time and maintenance spent on the manual backups in the office. The online backup system will provide a quick and easy way to retrieve your critical files when you need them without the worry or hassle of looking through tapes and hoping the data you want is there. 

Do I need much technical expertise to use the software?

No, you just need to be able to search for files and know where your critical files and directories are located. The software is very easy to install and once the initial install is completed with your files selected for backup and a schedule put in place then the backups will run automatically every night. If there are any issues there is 24/7 support to help you. 

How will I be sure that the backups are running OK?

The backups are monitored offsite so that if backups are missed then a representative from the company will contact you to resolve the issue.

Additionally an email will be sent whenever a backup is completed, changes are made to the backup setting or schedule, or whenever a scheduled backup is missed so you will know what exactly is happening with your backups by just spending a few seconds each day checking this email report. 

Is it cost effective?

Yes, it is extremely cost effective. Take an example of setting up a tape drive rotation at the low end of the price scale, an initial setup could cost you approx €1500 including tapes and tape drives. Tape drive is approx €500 and the need for 20 tapes (4 daily, 4 weekly & 12 monthly-standard rotation) at approx €50 each. Additional costs may include the purchase of software to schedule the backups and the cost of hiring someone to set the tape drive and initial schedule.

Added to this is the day-to-day cost of someone looking after the backups, let's assume that at minimum it takes 15 mins a day on average. This equates to 1.25hrs per week so for an employee on €16/hr this will cost €20 per week or €1,040 per year. Also there will inevitably be an issue with either the software or the hardware. The tapes will need replacing which will incur more costs.

Even after all these costs there is no guarantee that when you go to restore a file that you will be able to do so as tape backups fail to restore the data required approx 50% of the time.. In the event of fire or flood these backups may well be destroyed along with your computers if they have not been stored safely offsite. So even after all this expense it is possible that your data may still be unrecoverable.

With SafetyNet Backup Solutions you will be 100% guaranteed that your data is securely stored and accessible at all times, this peace of mind alone is priceless.