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Overview and History Acronis were setup in 2001. In the beginning they focused on hard drive partitioning programs, then widened their scope into the archiving and disaster recovery arena and now include the whole arena of PC protection. Their flagship program: Acronis True Image is intended to archive hard drives, network drives and external drives. In 2010 they released Acronis Backup and Recovery 10 for corporate clients. The Acronis Online backup solution was released in 2010 and can be configured as a standalone application or as part of the Acronis True Image Suite. This is Acronis' first attempt in the web backup world and marks a giant step in securing your data. Security Security is government grade: Data is secured with 256 AES encryption both during transfer and when kept in their data centers. You can use an encryption password which keeps your files even more safe . A note of warning: if you forget your encryption key you will lose all the information you have archived. So keep it safe! Backup Features Acronis Online Backup offers a simple backup scheduling program. After you have setup the client utility, just choose the information you need to archive and then either set a schedule for them to be backed up or click the 'Back Up Now' button. The client can back up open / in use files but appears not to use 'block level incremental backups' which means that whole files will be backed up not just the sections of the files that have been changed. This will mean that backups take longer than some other Online Backup providers. File versioning is available and an unlimited amount of editiond can be kept for up to 45 days. It is possible to set a specific amount of editions to retain. Restore Features Restores can be initiated from either the client software or from the internet site. In either case, you have the ability to pick which copy of a file you wish to retrieve. Once selected, the file is returned to you as a zip (compressed) file that can be saved anywhere you want. If you have backed up files more than once in a day, then a scrollbar at the bottom of the client and internet portal interfaces display the times of each successful backup and lets you to click on these times to restore files from that specific backup. Control and Analysis If you use Acronis Online Backup via another Acronis Product such as Acronis True Image then Online Backup effortlessly combines with the parent product and you have access to all the reporting, logging and controls from the parent program. If you use Acronis Online Backup in standalone mode, then there is no reporting or logging. Processor throttling can be set to Low, Medium or High and internet usage can be set to any limit you like. Proxy servers are also supported. Backup alerts can be sent to any number of email addresses and you can set up the client to perform pre- and post jobs, which can be very useful if lets say you want to backup a database to the local drive to allow it to be included in the online backup. Interface The client interface on the standalone edition is really easy to use and displays how much of your storage allowance you have used on each of up to five PCs at a glance. It also shows you when the next scheduled backup will take place. The internet portal interface is almost identical to the client interface with the exception of the backup options. Device Support Currently only supports Windows client machines. Limitations No support for MAC, mobile devices or server platforms. No way to extend past the 250Gb allowance. No way to add more than 5 PCs to an account. File Sharing and Collaboration: None. Synchronization: Synchronization to the web portal but not between PCs. Web 2.0 Integration: None. Customer Support Customer Support options include: - LiveChat - Knowledgebase - Forums - Email a question from a web form - Self-help options are: User Guides, FAQs, Demo, Tutorials and Testimonials - Phone support can be bought on a per incident basic for $11.84. Ease of Use The client is simple to install and really easy to run. The interface makes managing up to 5 computers straightforward and provides an instant snapshot of how much data has been archived for each PC and how much you have left. The interface is clean and clear with no learning curve needed to get up and running. Cost - Initial setup is free - Monthly Fee: $3.95 / mth - Yearly Charge: $39.95 / year - Initial storage allowance: 250Gb - Amount of computers allowed: Up to 5 PCs can share the 250Gb allowance. - Charge for additional storage: n/a - Cost of extra devices / PCs / users: n/a - E-billing facility: Yes - Free Edition / Free Trial: There is a 2 month free trial which gives 2Gb of archive space. - Hidden costs: Telephone support can be bought on a single incident basis for $11.84. Conclusion This is Acronis' first go at an internet backup solution and in my opinion they have done rather well. The fact that the utility can be standalone or integrated into the existing desktop software is a clever touch and provides flexibility for users. There are a some items absent from the standalone version, such as reporting and centralized admin of all computers within one account. But these will probably become available with time. The only plan provides an ample 250Gb of storage for a very reasonable cost and the client can be configured to utilize as much or as little resource and bandwidth as you wish. The interface is clean and straightforward to use and restores are quick and reliable. To sum up Acronis have produced a solid, simple and very reliable online backup solution at a great price which is underpinned by the Acronis name: A global leader in backup technology. A great option from a great name. If you want even more peace of mind, then buy one of their suite programs, such as Acronis True Image Home and get total computer protection.
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