Q: Can I trust Databax services?
A: All of our services are based on IBM Tivoli Storage Manager Ô software, the most widely used software of its type in the world, and used by extensively by many of the Fortune 100 companies in the USA.
Q: How much will Databax services cost me?
A: As much as you want them to cost! You can back up a few files or, more sensibly, all of your business data. Other than some small up-front server/PC licenses, you pay only for the amount of COMPRESSED storage you use, on a monthly basis – no more. And the monthly charge could be as little as £9.99 per month.
Q: Where is my data stored?
A: At the Manchester Techno Park (part of National Computing Centre). With their concentric security and high levels of fire and bomb protection, these sites are amongst the most secure I.T. data centres in the UK.
Q: How secure is my data?
A: It is clear that data held and processed on PCs is of fundamental importance to its user/owner. The security in place to protect it that data should therefore be commensurate with that reality. To achieve this, Databax applies a number of security measures to contain a diverse range of threats. One measure is to protect the data from unauthorised disclosure using 128-bit AES level encryption - the practice of encrypting/decrypting data using a secret password. In addition, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager uses different compression rates for different files, providing a further level of security. To complete the picture, we use dedicated LINUX hardware firewalls to protect our servers, both at the Manchester Techno Park (part of National Computing Centre) and at our offices in Cheshire.
Q: Can Databax access my data?
A: No! Only you can view your data – EVER. You choose an encryption key at the outset, which we have no knowledge of. All data is encrypted to 128-bit AES level. If necessary we are able to move data in encrypted form for Data Recovery purposes.
Q: Do backups take a long time to complete?
A: No. Once the initial backup has taken place, our software collates and sends only the INCREMENTAL changes to your files, and any new files, and transfers this data to our servers, where the files are updated.
Q: How do I know it works?
A: Quite simply, we will inform you every day. Every day our technicians review all of the previous days backup activity. You will receive e-mail confirmation of successful backup activities, or in the rare event of a backup failure, we will email you to advise any issues that need addressing.
Q: How much can Databax save me?
A: If you currently back up to tape, you should be renewing each tape after a certain number of ‘usage cycles’. After this time the tape will start to suffer from degradation, you risk tape breakage, and therefore subsequent data loss. If you back up every night you will have 5 tapes, typically costing anything up to £50 each, which should therefore be replaced periodically, in rotation, to maintain the integrity of backups. And all this is before tape drive hardware and maintenance costs, and planned staff costs (as well as unplanned when the backup doesn’t work!) have been accounted for. So the potential savings can be major.
Q: How often can I do my backups?
A: As often as you want to! If you currently do daily backups, you may have some files which are particularly crucial, i.e. should the day’s input be lost at, say, 16:00, the repercussions are something you would rather avoid. With Databax, you can back up twice a day, every hour, or even every minute if you want to, at no additional cost!
Q: How many copies can I keep?
A: As many as you want. Clients only pay for the volume occupied by one copy of their data, although the system stores three copies by default. If you wanted to keep, say, a monthly snapshot of an accounts file for five years, then this can be done, no problem.
Q: I am not based in the UK. Can I still use Databax?
A: Yes! As long as you have Internet access, you can use Databax.
Q: Do I need any special equipment or skills to use Databax?
A: No! Our software is downloadable from our website, in a matter of minutes. Once loaded, it is simplicity itself to use, with a straightforward tree structure where you just click on the files and folders you wish to back up and restore. Easy as that!
Q: I have a lot of data on my machine. Will I need a lot of storage space?
A: Probably not. All data that we back up is compressed before transmission, so it will take a lot less space than it occupies on your hard drive. The amount of compression can vary according to the type of data you have, e.g. JPEGS do not compress but Word documents may compress by as much as 85%.
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