Frequently Asked Questions

An Off-site data 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 save 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.

Simple data backup can be done by saving your data to multiple locations, copying the data from its original location to removable media, another hard drive, or another computer’s hard drive on the network.

To make this task easier, specialised programs known as Backup Software exist to aid users in regularly making a backup copy of their data. Since some users are not interested in managing the tasks necessary for maintaining their own backups, a new breed of backup software was created, known as Off-site data Backup Software.

Off-site data Backup software is designed to routinely copy your important files to a private, secure location on the Internet or direct dial by securely transmitting your data over your existing Internet or dial-up connection.

If you have a working Internet connection on your computer, you can use Backup & Running's Off-site data Backup Service to keep your important files safe from disaster on a daily basis. Check the pricing of our Off-site data Backup Service. If you want to manage your own backups, we encourage you to pick the solution that best meets your needs, so take a look at our other Backup Software to determine which backup solution is ideal for you.

2: I have a slow Dial-up connection, does it make sense for me to use Off-site data Backup?

Depending on the speed of your connection and the size of your backup, your initial foundation backup over the Internet may take several hours or even days. Many people with large backup sizes and slower Internet connections will often run their first backup over the weekend. Once the first foundation backup is completed, each subsequent backup is usually a small amount of data that can be backed up in just minutes over a slower dialup connection.

Our software can also resume a cancelled backup, so you can start the backup during your slow times and cancel it during your busy times. The next time you start the backup, it will pick up from where it was cancelled until the entire backup is complete.

3: 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 like your "My Documents" folder and data files of your important programs like accounting, income tax, contact management, etc. Your off-site data backup software comes with predefined filters, which allow you to automatically select categories of files without knowing where all the files are located. Check the off-site data help for Filters to learn how they can be used.

4: How much data can I download?

In all cases, your account will allow you to download as much data as you want to onto the backup server. If you exceed your usual charge band for storage, you will be notified 14 days before we request payment that you have exceeded your normal charge band and you are likely to incur an additional charge for the additional storage used. Check your pricing plan to determine the costs for additional storage. Currently, additional storage costs approx £2.50 per month for each additional 250 Mb over your base plan.

Remember: You are only billed for the compressed size of data storage.

5: How do I delete files from the Backup server?

In order to control how much data is stored on the off-site data backup server, your off-site data 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 off-site data backup software and click on the folder tab labelled "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.

6: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 total 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@backupandrunning.co.uk ) technical support to request additional computers on your account.

7: Should I also have a local backup in addition to my off-site data backup?

It's up to you. We encourage people to do both local and remote backup initially.

Users that want an added level of protection will perform local backups in addition to their off-site data backup.

Local backups can allow you to backup ALL of your files, while the off-site data 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, Backup & Running sells a wide variety of backup software and services to help you find the one that best fits your needs. Visit www.backupandrunning.co.uk to view all of our products.

8: What is a 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.

9: How do you calculate my billing?

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 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: £15.00 per month (£10.00 License plus £5.00 data storage) for up to

100 Mb of compressed storage:

Additional Storage: As per price list on our web site – First 250Mb costs £2.50 per month

Scenario 1 - Actual Storage Usage = 95 Mb

(Cost £15.00; 95 Mb is less than the allowed 100 Mb for the base plan)

Scenario 2 - Actual Storage Usage = 895 Mb

(Cost £25.00; £15.00 for 1 Gb, 1 x £10.00 for single user license)

Each month, your storage usage is compared to the storage previously calculated. 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 calculated – deletions will also result in a decrease of storage required

10: Do I get a receipt for the services billed to my account?

Every month, we review the storage space used and apply the charge band appropriate. We then generate you an invoice detailing your license charge plus the data storage charge.

After 14 days, we apply for payment by Direct Debit.

11: How do I change my billing information?

You can email us with any amendments to your information – changes will be applied the month following.

12: How do I cancel my off-site backup service?

We never like to see anyone cancel their off-site backup service, but in the event you must cancel your service, please call us +44 (0)8700 111305 to speak with someone regarding the cancellation of your off-site backup service. Once an account is cancelled, 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 www.backupandrunning.co.uk and please provide your complete contact information including address, phone & E-mail along with your Username and Password for the off-site backup service

13: What do I do if I have trouble connecting to the server or performing a backup?

During normal business hours (9am - 5pm GMT) 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 us on www.backupandrunning.co.uk

14: Can I backup open and locked files with the off-site backup software?

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, Backup & Running's Off-site Backup can be used with the optional Backup & Running Open File Manager program to make sure that these open and locked files get backed up successfully.

15: What is a FastBit™ backup?

The FastBit™ patching process is the core technology behind our speedy backup service. The binary patching process involves the comparison of two different versions of the same file and extracting the binary 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 or Binary Patch. The Patch file is often 85% to 99.9% smaller than the file that the patch was extracted from originally.

In order to perform a FastBit™ backup, the software has to backup the files 3 times: the first or foundation backup is a full backup, the next backup will perform an incremental backup, and the third performs the first FastBit™ backup.

For more information about Backup & Running's FastBit™ patching process - see FAQ 36

FastBit™ Technology is designed to only work with Windows™ based operating systems (Windows 95 onwards).

16: Do you have a chart for Bandwidth Requirements?

It's very difficult to analyse those requirements because of all the variables added by FastBit™. However, the basic formula is fairly simple:

Take the expected size, in Mb's, of the data you might see in a working day, divide it by the amount of seconds in that working 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 Backup & Running Centre).

Then the formula is as follows:

600Mb * 500Users = 300000Mb (300Gb) / 30days (per month) = 10000Mb Per Day (10Gb) / 86400seconds (1 full 24hr 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 noon 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).

17: ISA Server Protocol Setup

If you are having problems with getting the client software for the Off-site backup Backup Service working when it's running behind a Microsoft ISA (Internet Security & Acceleration) Server, the most likely cause is that the ISA protocol definition is not set up correctly.

You need to set the TCP/IP Outgoing port to 308.

Please note, you do not need to configure the secondary connection.

To create a protocol and rule for the client software, follow the instructions given here:

http://www.isaserver.org/pages/articles.asp?art=168

For more information on protocol rules:

http://www.isaserver.org/pages/articles.asp?art=79

18: Error: not able to validate username or password

Some Off-site Backup Service users are getting an error such as "Error: not able to validate username or password" when trying to authenticate their accounts.

If you are receiving this error, it is most likely due to a changed default setting in the Backup and Running™ client software.

To correct this error, run Backup and Running™ and click "View" - "Options" - "General". On the lower half of the screen (shown at right) that you opened is a section called "Backup Server Authentication".

Select the radio button that reads "Specify credentials for authentication" and add your username and password.

The option to "Use current credentials" will not authenticate the account.

19: Using Off-site Backup Services with AOL

There are special considerations when using the Off-site data Backup Service with American Off-site data (AOL). The following information addresses two problems identified when using AOL as your dial-up connection:

The first problem most people experience is the inability to dial an AOL connection directly from the Backup & Running software. The second is problem that results in the AOL connection being dropped because of the inactivity timeout function built into AOL.

Since AOL uses a proprietary dialling scheme, you will NOT be able to utilise the standard dial-up "Connection" options in the Backup & Running software. For that matter, many applications that would typically dial directly to an ISP will experience the same problem, so the following workaround may also be appropriate for those applications as well.

First, you must configure a default dial-up connection that launches AOL anytime an Internet connection is required. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open Control Panel (Start->Settings->Control Panel), and launch the "Internet Options" dialog.

2. Select the "Connection" tab.

3. Highlight the AOL connection in the "Dial-up settings" list

4. Click the bullet next to "Always dial my default connection" to select it

5. Click the "Set Default" button

6. Click "OK" to save the changes and close the dialog.

You must next configure the software to NOT dial AOL directly. Steps as follows:

1. Launch the Backup & Running Client Software

2. From the menu, select "View->Options->General"

3. Click on the "Connection" tab to select

4. Uncheck "Connect to the server using Dial-up Networking"

5. Click "OK" to save the changes and close the dialog

This should now run either manually (Backup Now), or from the scheduler, and use AOL as the connection to the Internet.

The "inactivity timeout" problem occurs because AOL does not recognise any Internet "activity" that occurs outside of the normal AOL application. Again, many applications share this same problem, so this workaround would be appropriate for them as well.

In order to "trick" AOL into "thinking" that there is activity occurring, you must download and install a 3rd party utility. There are a number of such utilities available over the Internet. However, be aware that NOT all work with every version of AOL. Many, for example, will work with version 4 and 5, but NOT version 6. Further, while some of these utilities are free (freeware) other vendors charge for enhanced functionality that may be desirable.

That said, for the basic requirement of maintaining an AOL connection, you may want to use the freeware utility called "Momo's AOL Anti-idle". The latest version can be downloaded at: http://www.cosmicat.com/software/antiidle/

Note: Backup & Running Corporation makes no claims or guarantees as to the appropriateness, usability or functionality of this utility, and presents it here solely for the benefit of its customers. Further, Backup & Running will NOT provide technical support in any way for this utility including setup, configuration or problems using the utility. You must contact the developer for ALL related support.

20: Backup & Running™ - Installation Guide

Follow these simple steps to get your new off-site backup service working immediately.

When the "File Download" window appears, select the "Run this program from its current location" option and click OK.

The next screen will prompt you with a "Security Warning". Click "Yes" to proceed with the download of your new backup solution.

The software is then downloaded on to your computer for final installation. The download time will depend on the speed of your internet connection. On most high-speed networks, this will take less than one minute. Slower dial-up connections my take up to 30 minutes.

Once the download is complete, the software installation will begin. Select your preferred language from the list that appears and then continue installing the software. We recommend that you accept all the default settings unless you require a change to the installation path. Once the installation is done, you should notice a new icon on your desktop and in your system tray.

Desktop

Icon

System Tray

Icon

HINT:Resting your mouse over the tray icon will display the time of the next scheduled backup.

21: Congratulations!

Your new backup solution is ready to start protecting your valuable data. Although no further configuration is required, you may wish to run the backup program (by double-clicking the icon) and making sure your important documents are selected for backup.

22: Performing a Backup

You can set up a schedule to automatically backup your critical data at any time you choose.

Alternatively, you can open up the Backup & Running icon and click on ‘backup now’ tab to make certain that your work is saved when you have finished a project.

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