Say you have 20 GB of data you want to protect with daily backups using CloudBerry. You’ll pay Amazon about $2 ($0.10 x 20GB) initially to transfer data into S3. Storage will cost $3 ($0.15 x 20GB) per month. Add 30 cents ($0.01 x 30 days) a month for daily backups.
Total, including the cost of the software, transfers of incremental backups and occasional recovery of files: less than $100 a year.
Features: The Good and The Missing
CloudBerry Online Backup includes some good features that not all competing solutions offer. You can filter backups, by specifying types of files to include or exclude so you don’t backup unneeded files.
And while some backup systems over-write files at the destination when the source changes, CloudBerry retains multiple versions so you can revert to an earlier one if needed. It even lets you choose how many previous versions and how long they’re kept.
But the CloudBerry software also lacks a few features – at least for now. Most importantly, it cannot backup open files.
This means you must remember to close important files before a backup starts. In the case of some, such as Outlook database files (.PSTs), you have to shut down the program itself and any other programs using the file.
This is inconvenient if you’re doing manual backups. If you schedule unattended backups, there is also the potential for data loss. Most people leave Outlook running all the time and will likely forget to close it. Result: vital data not backed up.
Open-file backup is one of several features on the company’s to-add list. Another is “virtual disk drive” – so your S3 “bucket” appears as a disk drive in Windows, and you can use Windows Explorer to access and retrieve files.
Simple Setup
Our out-of-the-box experience with CloudBerry Online Backup was a long way from perfect. But remember: this is a beta product, meaning it’s a work in progress, possibly with unresolved problems.
Signing up for Amazon S3 is simple enough. If you’re already an Amazon customer, simply log in to your account, choose a billing address and credit card to bill charges to and click the button to complete the transaction. If you’re not a customer, you’ll have to choose a password and enter address and credit card information.
Amazon sends you an e-mail with a link to a page where you retrieve your “AWS Access Key ID” and “Secret Access Key,” two long strings of characters that you’ll need to access your S3 space from CloudBerry (or any S3-based application).
Downloading and installing the CloudBerry software is uneventful. And the interface is simple and intuitive, with four tabs across the top: Welcome Page, Backup Plans, Online Backups and History.
The first step is setting up a first Backup Plan, using a wizard launched from the Welcome Page.
The wizard includes a Windows Explorer-like interface for selecting folders and files to back up. The default option is backing up all files in selected folders. Or you can enter types of file you want included (e.g. *.doc to back up only Word documents), or excluded (e.g. *.tmp to prevent it backing up temporary files).
CloudBerry offers the option to compress files for backup or not. Compressed files take up less space but compressing and decompressing slows transfers. And you can choose to encrypt files – to prevent prying eyes seeing them – or not.
The Backup Plan wizard also lets you customize version retention options, specifying how many previous versions of a file you want to retain and for how long.