This is a guest post by Nick Reese. Nick is a fellow internet marketer and blogger. Follow Nick on Twitter.

Following Markus’ post on Top 5 Online Data Backup Services, he asked me to do a review of both SugarSync and Dropbox knowing that I have used both for over 9 months now.

Markus’ request couldn’t have come at a better time. Just a few weeks ago, my hard crashed wiping out all my entire desktop. Fortunately, I had installed both SugarSync and Dropbox so retrieving most of my data wasn’t an issue, I can’t imagine if I hadn’t.

Being Proactive to Protect your Files:

Lets remember during this review, data backup and multiple computer syncing is the goal. Both products work well, however they differ in their features and thus their uses. Both products allow the consumer to use a passive backup approach, as compared to manually backing up files on a external hard drive.

Passive Data Backup and Syncing:

Passive Data Backup is not something that should be overlooked, when you buy an external hard drive it is all to easy to say “I’ll remember to back things up.” Lets face it, its too easy to forget. By having software that uploads your files in the background you can go about your daily business worry free.

Comparison:

• Free One Month Trial
• 30GB for $4.99/mo
• 60GB for $9.99/mo
• 100GB for $14.99/mo
• 250GB for $24.99/mo

• 2GB Free
• 50 GB for $9.99/mo
• 100 GB for 19.99/mo

Operating Systems:

• PC
• Mac (Beta)
• iPhone
• BlackBerry – Top 20 Most Downloaded Apps
• Windows Mobile (Beta)
• (access via m.sugarsync.com is also available)

Opperating Systems:

• PC
• Mac
• Lunix

Resources:

• ~90k of RAM*.

Resources:

• ~60k of RAM*

Pros:

• Online Photo Gallery
• Stream MP3s Online
• Folder Controls
• Mobile Phone Access
• Sync Any Folder on your computer
• Easy Folder Management Across Computers
• Send any file via email quickly
• Upload Photos Directly to Facebook
• File Versioning
• Magic Briefcase

Pros:

• Great for sharing 1 folder with 1 other individual. Rinse and Repeat.
• Smart Uploader
• Online Photo Gallery
• Send any file via download link quickly.
• Clean Interace
• File Versioning

Cons:

• Locks files during uploading, causing permission errors.
• Sometimes the upload task can hog bandwidth

Cons:

• All files must be in the same “Dropbox” folder.
• Anyone who has access to a folder can edit it

Areas for improvement:

• Gallery Feature Sometimes Grabs Photos for unrelated stuff. Say web icons.
• Large file uploads take substantially longer than expected. (FTP is a lot faster)

Areas for improvement:

• Large file uploads are super slow. However they are slightly quicker than SugarSyncs
• Mobile Interface

*Both applications where run a Quad Core desktop with 6GB of RAM running Windows XP 64bit. The memory useage may differ from computer to computer.

Dropbox – Bottom Line:

Dropbox is best used as a digital flash drive that can be accessed from anywhere. Try Dropbox

SugarSync – Bottom Line:

SugarSync is more of a comprehensive backup and syncing solution (and a flash drive if you want to). Try SugarSync

Closing:

Over the 9 months I have used both products, SugarSync’s ability to backup any folder has been a real game changer. This feature allows you to backup and sync some very important things such as application data, which will allow your configurations of specific programs to carry over from one computer to another.

Furthermore SugarSync’s mobile support is another major plus. The ability to access your files on your phone is really useful for users who live a very mobile lifestyle.

Give SugarSync or Dropbox a try today! Whichever product you decided fits your needs best try the free trial, you will be glad you decided to start backing up your files.

No related posts.

Checkout the follow up post, comparing Dropbox vs SugarSync.

Millions of people lose personal and sensitive data every year due to hardware failure, viruses, and simple negligence. The easiest way to protect your data is to develop a backup system.

Backing up your own data can prove to be complicated for novice and experienced computer users alike. Even if you implement a backup service, you’re still at risk if your backup and source are in the same physical location. The easiest way to make a secure backup of your data is to use an online backup service. Your data will be encrypted and uploaded to a server that is maintained by professionals, and you will be able to restore your data to your computer at any time.

When you choose an online backup service, there is a lot to consider. The average computer user may not have an enormous amount of data, so the basic free offering from any backup service may be enough. Some users may need vast amounts of storage to backup their multimedia files and applications, which will result in enormous backups that could cost a lot. Not every backup service offers software for multiple operating systems. Some backup services can also backup items from other web services you use including Facebook and Google Docs. Before you start shopping for a backup service, make a list of your requirements, so that you don’t choose a service that is insufficient. It would also be advantageous to try out the free offerings before making a financial commitment to any particular service.

There are dozens of online backup services around, but a few of them have risen to the top for various reasons including ease of use, software quality, cost, and storage. Here is a list of a few of the online backup providers that are recognized for providing quality services.

Mozy

Mozy has been around for a few years, and it is one of the more well-known online backup services. When you sign up for Mozy Home, you will automatically receive 2GB of free backup space. The software, which is available for Windows and OS X, is extremely easy to configure with the wizard, and you can start backing up your files immediately. If you have a lot of large files, it doesn’t cost much for additional space. For $4.95/mo you can get unlimited backup storage, and it is even cheaper if you pay annually or biannually. Mozy is a good solution for anyone who wants a simple backup system.

If you require additional functionality, you might want to check out the Mozy Pro accounts. The pricing is still relatively cheap at $3.50 + $0.50/GB per month, but you get all of the features of Mozy Home along with incremental backups, additional operating system support (Windows and Mac Server OSs). You also get the ability to backup files from mounted drives and network storage.

iDrive

iDrive is another popular online backup solution that has a relatively large user base. Like Mozy, iDrive offers a basic account with 2GB of space for free. iDrive offers a much more advanced list of features to their basic users on Windows or OS X. The backups/synchronizations are incremental and done over time. iDrive also keeps up to 30 versions of a file which allows you to restore a previous version if necessary, but they only charge you to store the current version of the file, while the previous versions are stored for free. The iDrive Explorer allows you to browse through files and folders individually, to either download them or to drag and drop additional files to the folders, which will be synchronized to your computer(s) automatically. iDrive also allows you to backup files from mounted and network drives without upgrading to the a Pro account.

The Pro account pricing is very reasonable. For $4.95/mo or $49.50/yr you can get up to 150GB of storage for personal use. The pricing tiers for business customers are higher, but still very reasonable. If you don’t have more than 150GB of information to backup, iDrive is a very solid solution, and provides more than enough features to accommodate even the pickiest of users. This service is definitely worth checking out if you need granular control over your backups.

Syncplicity

Syncplicity offers a very unique backup service for Windows and OS X. In addition to the normal types of backup functionality, Syncplicity allows you to back up files and data from Facebook, Google Docs, Zoho, Picnik, and Scribd. Once you allow Syncplicity to access each of these services, it will backup your photos, documents, and various other files. If you upload a lot of photos to Facebook, this is an excellent way to archive them automatically. Syncplicity also allows you to view all of your files online, so you can access them anywhere, and share them with friends, family, or coworkers. Like many of the other services, a basic account comes with 2GB of storage, but you can upgrade to 50GB for $9.99/mo or 100GB for $99/year (limited time offer). This is a very good service to run (for free) in addition to a more traditional backup service, because it will save you the time and trouble of backing up files other online services.

Carbonite

Carbonite has received quite a bit of media buzz lately. Their business strategy is very simple. They offer unlimited backup storage for $54.95 a year, and the pricing is slightly lower when you purchase multiple years of service. Unfortunately, you are only allowed a 15 day free trial. Carbonite may be the most unobtrusive to your normal working patterns. Once you install the Carbonite software, which is available for both Windows and OS X, and configure it to back up your files, it will backup your files in the background while your computer is idle. This is great for people who have a difficult time remembering to manually perform backups, and it takes advantage of the time when you are not actively working on your computer. If you want a simple solution that doesn’t get in the way, Carbonite is the way to go. If you need additional control of your backups, or if you need to backup files on network shares or mounted drives, this is not the solution for you.

iBackup

iBackup is a backup service that seems to cater to slightly more advanced users. It lacks the simplicity of Carbonite and Mozy, but includes an advanced list of features for people who need more control. It bears more than a passing resemblance to iDrive, but the web site is less user friendly, and the pricing is significantly higher. iBackup gives you a 15 day trial with 5GB of storage, but limits your ability to share, your bandwidth usage, and your number of logins per day. The pricing is not as attractive as some of the previously discussed services, but they allow you to create sub-accounts, while other services do not. The lowest pricing tier is $9.99/mo for 10GB of storage, but this includes backing up Exchange Servers and MySQL servers as well as providing services to Linux users in addition to Windows and OS X users.

On a personal note, I’ve only used Mozy and have had a mixed experience. For more, check out my mozy review and a follow up here.

No related posts.

Earlier this evening when I tried to login to Facebook to view my existing flyers, it threw me back to the home page. I just logged in a few minutes ago, and it started showing me someone else’s Facebook Flyers ads and stats.

Here’s a screenshot:

uhm, those ads are not mine.

Although it looks like someone in the UK has been busy testing this system for affiliate offers. Curiously enough the CTR rates are never above .05%.

I wonder how widespread this problem is. Also, I hope no one is accessing my account in turn, (and charging my credit card for their own ads).

Uhm, Facebook? This is sort of a big deal!

Update: I tried to create a flyer to see what account it would charge, and it showed me my own credit card details (last 4 digits), which makes me think this is a reporting error, and hopefully not a “someone else can charge your credit card” error.

(Bonus fun fact: you can’t create ads that go to the myspace domain – it’s disallowed)

No related posts.

Maybe I’ve been reading too much of what Graywolf has been writing, but I noticed something about Google Chat that worries me this morning.

Has anyone else noticed this?

Whenever you’re chatting with someone via Gmail’s built-in chat client, there’s a choice under options to “Go off the record”.

Wow. Does anyone else think that’s kind of … I don’t know, strange? Like I have to explicitly tell Google “this part of my life is not to be indexed or archived for future use, for or against me”. Eeek.

Last week I deleted a few gigabytes worth of data that was still stored on my computer even after I had removed Google desktop.  I only found this large chunk of data after I used a program to hunt down large unnecessary files. It just seems that Google is really intent on indexing our lives and is not very concerned about what happens to that trail. The big “T” in our Brave New World might really turn out to be the big “G”.

No related posts.

Mozy Logo

Hardware has always been prone to failure, especially at inopportune moments. Viruses attack when least expected. Hackers break into unsecured systems just for fun and have their way with files just for grins. This is why keeping backups is so absolutely vital, but not everyone knows how to use backup hardware or wants to invest in endless DVDs or external drives. In some cases, they just cannot be bothered to remember to handle the backup tasks on a routine basis with no threat in site. To paraphrase an old saying, the price of recovering from a data disaster is eternal vigilance, and Mozy offers that diligence in the form of an easy to use, multi-platform online backup package.

Start Backing Up with Mozy. Don’t Lose Your Important Data »

What Mozy Offers

Mozy offers support for both OS X (10.4 and up) and Windows (2000 and up) operating systems, which makes it ideal for homes and businesses regardless of their choice in OS. Signing up for Mozy is very simple and only take a few minutes. Installing the Mozy software is also very easy, and a step-by-step installation wizard makes the entire installation process a real breeze even for novice computer users. Simply install the easy to use Mozy software, select the files that need to be protected, and a convenient time for the files to be backed up. Remember, the computer will need to be on for the files to be backed up, but there is no need to worry about files that are being used as Mozy can back them up as well.

So, how does Mozy work?

Mozy uses an existing internet connection in a house or business to securely and safely transmit files to Mozy’s secure servers. The files are heavily encrypted before transmission to avoid exposing sensitive data to hackers, and are secured even more thoroughly once stored on Mozy’s server to prevent loss due to hacking. In fact, Mozy’s state of the art servers and network have expensive infrastructure in place to prevent data loss. Purchasing comparable equipment for a home or small office could easily cost more than a thousand dollars and require extensive networking and security expertise that would command a very lucrative salary in the IT industry.

The best part about all of this security, and Mozy in general, is that is completely transparent. Once Mozy has been set up, it simply works without needing to be monitored or told what to do. There are few solutions more ideal than automatic when it comes to backing up, as nobody really wants to take time out of their busy day to ensure that their data stays safe and secure. Never having to experience sleepless nights due to concerns about data loss, and never having to feel those painful moments of agonizing regret when disaster strikes are a peace of mind that few would pass up, and that is why data backups are so important.

The Bottom Line

There are certainly alternatives to using Mozy. One can purchase expensive hardware and remember to handle their backups by themselves, which may not be proof against a disaster or theft. Alternatively, one can setup a complex multi-site backup system, but that takes a great deal of knowledge and programming experience. Finally, one might consider iDrive or Carbonite, but neither of those options are nearly as affordable as Mozy and lack Mozy’s intuitive interface.

Mozy is extremely affordable compared to its would-be competition, costing $4.95 per month per computer for unlimited backups. Sign up for a year and get a month for free, or sign up for three years and get three months for free! Peace of mind has never been so affordable, reliable, or easy to use.

No related posts.

Earlier this evening Duane (my biz partner) noticed something strange about an eBay results page.

He went to this Ebay Results Page for a 2006 Seadoo Sportster and clicked on the second link:

The click on the listing was redirected through http://webskin.iscd.it/icons/wsmotors/kebay/redirect.html?varianta=8

and ended up at

http://cgisignin.ebay.com.selectarh.com.br/%20/ws1/ebaymotors/

kebay/ViewItem.php?item=330132876757&price=6,999.00

which is a near-exact reproduction of the eBay auction page, but on a phishing domain. Of course if you try to buy the item you have just given up your eBay username and password and possibly your payment information. The low cost of the item is what caught Duane’s attention initially.

Even turning off meta redirect and javascript causes the ebay listing to jump to the phishing domain. It looks like the exploit is done through embedded flash on the listing page without anyone even noticing the redirect.

There seems to be a pretty serious flash exploit out there – this could affect a lot more websites than eBay.

No related posts.