Business Technology backing up to google Drive

Discussion in 'Starting & Running a Business' started by abbyfresh, 6th Sep, 2016.

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  1. abbyfresh

    abbyfresh Well-Known Member

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    Has anyone looked at automated backups to google Drive in terms of software offerings?

    It should be encrypted before it goes up to protect your data.

    Googlesynch is too risky as it replicates everything both-ways and not encrypted.

    Ideally a tool which doesn't need the master software to restore would be the way to go.

    I have narrowed down:

    syndocs
    fbackup (or backup4all)
    synrecovery

    Many other options, but you must have same backup software to restore at all which is too locked in.

    Anyone used any of these?
     
    abbyfresh, 6th Sep, 2016
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  2. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Founder Staff Member

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    Backup to Google Drive? Not what it's designed for. Google Drive is for file sync / sharing, not for backup.

    I use Crashplan for automated local+cloud file backup and Macrium Reflect for bare-metal backup (scheduled daily backups to my local file server).
     
    Simon Hampel, 6th Sep, 2016
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  3. abbyfresh

    abbyfresh Well-Known Member

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    Not designed for it, but now there are third party backup programs that allow you choose where the backup goes and most of the popular ones are supported.

    Crashplan seems to be almost industry standard, but there are a few horror stories due to size of company etc. For Crashplan are your files going to a USA or Australian server? How is your upload speed and performance of your computer while its running? And have you ever needed to restore large chunks of data.

    It all comes down to being able to restore fast and easily if you need to. That's the bottom line.
     
    abbyfresh, 7th Sep, 2016
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  4. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Founder Staff Member

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    Crashplan have Australian servers - I can upload as fast as my link allows.

    I also have a file server which I run Crashplan on (any PC will do - doesn't have to be a server), so all files are backed up to both my file server and to the cloud. So for large data restores, I can pull information from my local Crashplan at LAN speeds.

    The cloud is only there as a last resort - in case I lose everything locally.

    That's the main reason I love Crashplan - it's flexibility in allowing multiple backup destinations.

    I even have my sister, my parents and my inlaws all backing up to my Crashplan server over the internet, so in a worst case scenario where they lose all their data, I can just restore their files to a USB HDD and send it to them.
     
    Simon Hampel, 7th Sep, 2016
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  5. abbyfresh

    abbyfresh Well-Known Member

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    Sounds like you have all bases covered well - great feedback & strategy :D
     
    abbyfresh, 7th Sep, 2016
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  6. RPI

    RPI SDA Provider, Town Planner, Former Property Lawyer

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    We use box.com. Like drop box in a lot of ways but better control on sharing for people.
     
    RPI, 7th Sep, 2016
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  7. moyjos

    moyjos Well-Known Member

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    I use BackBlaze It does not seem to slow the computer down at all.
    I have recovered files from it a couple of times and it is super simple to use.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: 11th Oct, 2016
    moyjos, 27th Sep, 2016
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  8. abbyfresh

    abbyfresh Well-Known Member

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    I did find an excellent tool:

    File sync & backup software | Syncovery -

    You can synchronize your data in realtime and perform daily backups to google drive. Old versions and deletions from your computer are also stored on google drive.

    If security / privacy is an issue, you can encrypt each file as a password zip prior to sending it the cloud.

    You can send the files where-ever you want. Not just google drive.

    This gives you more control over your backup and allows you to use existing cloud space rather than having to deal with third party companies to do the same. Thats what I like about it.
     
    abbyfresh, 27th Sep, 2016
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  9. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Founder Staff Member

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    If security/privacy is an issue, you wouldn't be using password protected zip files.
     
    Simon Hampel, 27th Sep, 2016
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  10. abbyfresh

    abbyfresh Well-Known Member

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    Are you suggesting Zip files encrypted with AES (256 bit) are easily hack-able? You do know what type of file is being zipped - granted that.
     
    abbyfresh, 28th Sep, 2016
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  11. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Founder Staff Member

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    Not if you're using long random passwords.

    You also have to explicitly choose to use AES encryption (and a tool that supports it), so just saying "you can encrypt each file as a password zip" can be misleading to others who may think that the default ZipCrypto encryption is sufficiently secure, when it's very much not.

    So, to be clear to other people reading this - if you are going to rely on zip file encryption to protect your data online, make sure you are using the AES encryption option and a sufficiently long and random password.

    Or better still, use a tool or service that's actually designed with security in mind - zip wasn't intended as a secure file storage format.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: 28th Sep, 2016
    Simon Hampel, 28th Sep, 2016
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