FAQ - Preguntas frecuentes:

Qué es un Servicio de Backup Online?
Es un servicio basado en Internet que permite a su computadora resguardar y recuperar rutinariamente información sensible en un servidor seguro sobre la Internet.
Si utiliza su computadora para crear y guardar información valiosa de su empresa o personal siempre debería efectuar backups para prevenir posibles pérdidas en el caso de una falla del sistema o un error. Simples backups pueden efectuarse guardando la información en múltiples locaciones, copiandola en discos removibles, otro disco rígido u otras computadoras en su red internet.
Para hacer esta tarea más fácil, existen softwares especiales que automatizan esta tarea, agregandole valor agregado, como almacenar la información en servidores seguros en la internet, accesible desde cualquier conexión a internet.

Por qué querría guardar mis archivos online?
No solo es incómodo llevar la información consigo en inseguros medios removibles, o mantener costosos equipos de backup en su oficina. Almacenando esos archivos en nuestros servidores remueve ese obstáculo a la productividad. El almacenamiento online es también una solución segura y económica. Nuestra red y servidores, ubicados en nuestro propio centro de datos y en datacenters.

Pero no es masa fácil usar un floppy disk, o un sistema como discos Zip drive o CD-ROM?
Utilizando nuestro "Web-based File Manager" es tan fácil como usar un floppy disk. Y si desea bajar los archivos en otra computadora todo lo que necesita es una conexión a internet y un navegador.

Necesito banda ancha para utilizar el sistema?
Es recomendable que utiliza una conexión de banda ancha como cablemodem o ADSL si fuera posible, pero el sistema de backup online funcionará igualmente bajo conexiones dialup.

Es seguro guardar mi información, o de mi empresa, online?
La aplicación transmite los datos encriptados a los servidores centrales. Estos servidores poseen firewalls que protejen la información mejor que cualquier sistema operativo para PCs.

Poseen alguna garantía?
Si no está satisfecho por el servicio siempre puede pedir un reembolso en los primeros 14 días desde la contratación. Garantizamos un uptime de los servidores del 99,5%.

Poseo una conexión lenta, vale la pena utilizar OutBackup?
Dependiendo de la rapidez de su conexión y del tamaño de su backup, el resguardo inicial pude demorar algunas horas. Una vez que el primer resguardo/backup se completó cada resguardo subsiguiente generalmente es de menor tamaño, ya que el software solo resguardará aquellos archivos que hayan tenido modificaciones.
El software también es capaz de resumir un proceso de resguardo cortado o cancelado, por lo que puede comenzar su backup en tiempos de poca utilización de internet en su oficina y pausarlo en horas pico.

Qué archivos debo seleccionar?

Como seguramente su disco rígido es mas grande que el espacio disponible en el servidor de backup debe seleccionar objetivamente los archivos a resguardar. En general debe evitar resguardar programas que puede reinstalar facilmente desde CD, como Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, etc.). Por qué pagar por espacio para software que puede reinstalar? Trate de centrarse en, por ejemplo, la carpeta "My Documents" y en archivos individuales de sus programas de contabilidad y adminstración. Su software de backup viene cargado de filtros predefinidos, que automáticamente le permiten seleccionar categorias de archivos sin conocer donde están ubicados. Chequee la ayuda online por 'Filters' para mas detalles.

Qué pasa si excedo mi cuota?

En la mayoría de los casos su cuenta le permitirá excederse de la capacidad contratada en el servidor remoto de backup. Si excede su espacio un mensaje tipo popup le aparecerá en su escritorio notificando que si excede el espacio por más de 5 días será posible un sobrecargo en el precio de su plan.

Cómo elimino archivos del servidor de Backup?

Para controlar cuanta información/archivos se encuentra resguardada en la cuenta de backup su software OutBackup le permitirá ver todos los archivos almacenados en el servidor y remover archivos seleccionados. Para ver los archivos debe ejecutar el software y hacer, luego, click derecho sobre la etiqueta que dice 'Restore'. En la ventana izquierda haga click derecho en el ícono de escritorio y seleccione 'Get Volume List from Server'. Esto le mostrará cada computadora de la que ha sido resguardada información en su cuenta. Para borrar archivos, click en el botón con la letra, en rojo, 'X' para habilitar el modo borrado. Marque los archivos deseados y luego haga click en 'Delete Files Now' para ejecutar el comando de borrado ADVERTENCIA: Una vez que un archivo es borrado del servidor no puede ser recuperado.

Can I backup more than one computer to my account?

Yes. We allow you to backup any number of computers to your account. You only pay for the storage space that you use. Your account should already be setup to allow you to backup several computers. If you have any problems backing up more computers to your account, simply call or E-mail (support@novastor.com) technical support to request additional computers on your account.
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Should I also have a local backup in addition to my online backup?

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 critical files off-site. When it comes to your important data, you can never be too safe. Since everyone has different needs, NovaStor sells a wide variety of backup software and services to help you find the one that best fits your needs. Visit www.novastor.com to view all of our products.
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What is the Personal Recovery CD?

The Personal Recovery CD is a service that we offer which copies all of 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. When the Personal Recovery CD is ordered, it includes all of your account data. Each CD holds approximately 650 MB, so accounts with more that 650 MB of storage will require multiple CDs.
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How do you calculate my billing?

Monthly Billing Customers - On a monthly basis, we will compare your pricing plan to your actual storage usage and determine your costs for that month. If your storage usage is below that amount of storage provided in your base plan, no additional charges will be processed. If your storage usage is greater than your base plan amount, an additional charge is calculated based on the additional increments of storage space needed to accommodate for your storage usage for the month. A new calculation is performed every month to determine the billing total for that month.
Monthly Billing Example:
Base Plan: $17.95 per month for up to 500 MB of storage;
Additional Storage: $9.95 per month for each additional 250 MB

Scenario 1 - Actual Storage Usage = 425 MB
(Cost=$17.95; 425 MB is less than the allowed 500 MB for the base plan)
Scenario 2 - Actual Storage Usage = 895 MB
(Cost=$37.85; $17.95 for 500 MB, 2 x $9.95 for each additional increment of 250 MB)

Annual Billing Customers - When you purchase an annual plan, you purchase a certain amount of storage for an entire year. For instance, a customer that purchases a 500MB annual plan can store up to 500 MB on the backup server for an entire year. Each month, your storage usage is compared to the storage allowed by the annual plan that was purchased. If any additional storage is being used, a charge for the additional storage will be processed for that month. This additional charge only applies for months where the storage usage exceeds the amount allowed by the base plan that was purchased.

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How can I get a receipt for the services billed to my credit card?

You can use your Username & Password to log-in at http://services.online-backup.com. You can then view your account history and print any receipts for charges to your credit card.
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How do I change my billing information?

You can use your Username & Password to log-in at http://services.online-backup.com. You can then change your credit card and other billing information on the site.
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How do I cancel my online backup service?

We never like to see anyone cancel their online service, but in the event you must cancel your service, please login in to your account then click on the "Account Status" link and follow the instructions to cancel your account. You may also call us at (805) 579 - 6700 and press 0 to speak with someone regarding the cancellation of your online backup service. Once an account is canceled, the data may be permanently deleted, so if you want a copy of your backups, please consider a Personal Recovery CD prior to cancellation. If you wish to cancel your account via E-mail, send a message to sales@novastor.com and please provide your complete contact information including address, phone & E-mail along with your Username and Password for the online backup service
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What do I do if I have trouble connecting to the server or performing a backup?

During business hours (6am - 7pm PST) you can call our technical support group for assistance. You can also view the technical support section of our web site for some helpful information. Visit http://services.online-backup.com/tech_supt/ols_support.html.
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Can I backup open and locked files with the online backup software?

A. 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, NovaStor's Online Backup can be used with the optional NovaStor Open File Manager program to make sure that these open and locked files get backed up successfully. For more information about NovaStor's Open File Manager, click here.
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What is a FastBIT backup?

A. 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. For more information about NovaStor's FastBIT™ patching process, click here.

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Do you have a chart for Bandwidth Requirements?

A. It's very difficult to analyze those requirements because of all the variables added by FastBIT. However, the basic formula is pretty simple:
Take the expected size, in MB's, of the data you might see in a day, divide it by the amount of seconds in the day and divide that number by 8 to obtain MB/Sec Bandwidth. This will result in the required bandwidth (MB/Sec) needed to sustain 100% load throughout the day.

Example: Let's say we have 500 users sending us an average of 600MB per month (this is about what we see at the NovaStor Online Center), then the formula follows:

600MB * 500Users = 300000MB (300GB) / 30days (per month) = 10000MB Per Day (10GB) / 86400seconds (1 day) = 115.74Kb/sec * 8 (to convert to MB/Sec) = .93MB/Sec or about 61% of a full T1.

Of course, this assumes that you have full saturation throughout the day, which isn't going to happen. It typically gets a bit peaky around noonish and around midnight, so to accommodate the mean, you should probably have a 30% overhead, which in the above case, would translate to just about a full T1 (1.5MB/Sec).