Why do I need to backup my data?

Businesses of all sizes are witnessing an explosion in the volume of data they hold. Whether it is the result of the Internet, email, or increasingly heavy and media-rich application software, there is a massive growth in the volume of data all around. Conservative estimates from IDC in October, 2002, place data growth at approximately 80% per year. Data is increasingly being recognized as one of the real assets of a company and losing this data would cause severe damage to any organization.

Data loss can be costly, particularly for organizations in the small and medium business (SMB) sector where the difference between survival and closure can rest on the ability to recover from a disaster. At the very least, critical data loss will have a financial impact on companies of all sizes. At worst, critical data loss can result in business collapse. Studies by the National Archives and Records Administration showed that 80% of companies without well-conceived data protection and recovery strategies go out of business within two years of a major disaster.

Having a well prepared data recovery plan along with backing up your data consistently and reliably is your best defense against data loss. At Critizal, we are data protection specialists. Let us help you design your data recovery plan an help you execute it. Protect your crucial data with Critizal.
 

How does online backup work?

Online backup works very similar to the way traditional tape or CD backup functions with one major difference. With online backup, your data is encrypted and stored at multiple high security data centers, making it an effective choice for data protection and disaster prevention. With traditional backups, tapes can get lost, damaged or stolen. With online backup, your data is always online and ready should you ever require it.

Critizal DPM (Data Protection Manager) securely backs up your system over the internet on a regular basis. Your data is first encrypted using our 256Bit AES encryption algorithm and then the data is transferred to the data center via 1024 Bit encrypted SSL connection. Once your data has been received at the primary data center, it is automatically replicated to a secondary data center for redundancy and better data protection.

If you ever need to restore your data, your data is always online and ready. Simply open the Critizal DPM software and select the files you need to restore. Critizal DPM will take care of the rest. It will automatically decrypt the file and transfer it back to your computer so you are back up and running quickly and effectively.
 

How much data can I backup?

Critizal’s robust infrastructure is fully capable of handling multi-terabyte backups. Our backup solutions can be custom-tailored to backup large enterprise customers just as easily as small business customers. For Critizal, size is not an issue. How much data you can backup really depends on how much storage space you have purchased, and if you ever need more storage, we can easily scale to meet your needs.
 

What is the difference between Critizal Managed and Self-Managed backup?

Critizal Managed Backup: Many small to medium sized businesses do not have the necessary in-house technical staff to implement and manage an effective online backup solution. Our Critizal Managed Online Backup solution provides your business with experienced and capable technicians whose main purpose is ensuring your data is routinely backed up, error free, and available when needed.

Self-Managed Backup: We give you all the tools needed to perform reliable routine backups. You are responsible for managing your own backups. We give you the software required to perform your backups along with secure redundant data storage at our data centers. You are responsible for ensuring your data is routinely backed up and error free.
 

What platforms are supported?

The following Operating System Platforms are supported:

Windows 95 / 98 / ME / NT
Windows Desktop 2000 / XP / Vista-32/64Bit
Windows Server 2000 / 2003-32/64Bit / 2007-32/64Bit
Linux Kernel 2.4 or above
Solaris 2.x or above
AIX
HP-UX
FreeBSD
MAC OSX 10.2 or higher
 

How long does it take to backup my data?

The speed of data backups is going to be determined in large part by your Internet connection upload speed. You may experience faster or slower speeds depending on your connection. Depending on the data load, the initial backup can take anywhere from 15 minutes to a few days.

Typically, if your backup set is very large (30+GB), we would initially use a seed-load utility to take a full copy of your data and store it on a portable hard drive in encrypted format. We would then physically transfer your data to our data center and load the data onto our data array. Once the initial data has been stored on our data arrays, the backup software will then only back up changed data and / or delta packets.
 

If I lose a file, can I restore the file myself, or do I need to contact Critizal support to have the file restored?

You can either perform the restore yourself if you feel you are capable or you may contact our support desk and we will be happy to assist you in performing the restore.
 

What is a disaster recovery plan?

Disaster Recovery is the process, policies and procedures of restoring operations critical to the resumption of business, including regaining access to data (records, hardware, software, etc.), communications, workspace, and other business processes after a natural or human-induced disaster.
 

Is Critizal's online data backup service secure?

Yes! – See Next Question for a more detailed answer.
 

What steps does Critizal take to secure my data?

At Critizal, we protect your data using just about every security feature available. Below is a brief overview of how your data is protected:

1. Before transferring your data through the internet to our data center, you data is encrypted using 256BIT AES encryption. After your data has been encrypted, it is transferred to our data center using RSA 1024bit SSL encryption.

2. Once your data is received on the primary data array at the primary data center, it is automatically securely replicated to a secondary data array located within the primary data center. Simultaneously, your data is replicated to the secondary data center using a private encrypted fiber connection.

Throughout this process, your data is always fully encrypted and shielded from prying eyes.
 

How secure are your data centers?

Both our primary and secondary data centers are state-of-the-art, high security data centers, and are monitored 24/7. Data center access is strictly limited to certified and background screened technicians. A combination of security features are employed to ensure your data is always secure and use a combination of keys, key-fobs, biometrics, access Codes, and highly secure passwords to ensure your data is always safe.