Questionnaire

Our industry is now sufficiently mature to have attracted a large number of would-be suppliers of Offsite backup. How can you tell if the company you are about to trust with your precious data will do a good job, and have your data intact when you need it? You can’t! But you can ask a few questions to minimise your risk!

  • Find out how long they have been in the business. Are they financially stable?
  • Will they communicate regularly with you? ie do they do monitoring on a daily basis?
  • Will they provide a monthly log showing backup activity on your system?
  • Do they have satisfied clients who will give them a reference? Ask for the names of any clients who have recovered data from them.
  • Are they accredited to any professional body?
If they cannot satisfy you on ALL of these points, take your vital data elsewhere. Don’t risk it!

Frequently Asked Questions

Please click on any question to see the answer.

Q1: How can I be sure that other people cannot read my data?

A1: Your data is encrypted on your computer and then transmitted and stored in an encrypted format on our server. You enter an encryption password at install, which not even The Data Vault technician knows, and this ensures that the only person who can access your data is you, at all times. The system is so secure that if you forget your password, you will lose access to your backed-up data. We cannot help you. We now provide a free service whereby we can store your password in a sealed envelope if required

Q2: What is encryption?

A2: Encryption is a way of jumbling up your files so they appear as meaningless information. The level of encryption that The Data Vault uses is higher than the banks use for your internet banking.

Q3: I only have Dial-up Internet. Can AutoBak utilise that?

A3: Yes. Since AutoBak only transmits the changes which have taken place to your files during that day, the amounts of data sent each night are not large. Having said that, if you are originating/editing pictorial matter, where large amounts of data are being created daily, we would not recommend Dial-up and Wideband Internet would be required

Q4: How is the operation of my computer going to be affected?

A4: The backup software is set to run in the background. This means that as a user you should not see any effect and can continue working on whatever you are doing when back-up commences.

Q5: How can I be sure that the backups are happening automatically at night when I am not in the office?

A5: The backup software saves a log file of every backup that occurs with important information such as time taken, files transferred and any errors that may have taken place. Back-ups are checked by Data Vault personnel each working morning, and any problems are resolved with clients' assistance.

Q6: How do I get my data back in I have a failure?

A6: The Data Vault will send you an Express Post CD or DVD with all of your data on it. For smaller numbers of files you can log on to our Storage Site and select online any of the previous 30 daily versions of any of your files or folders. In either case you will need your password to gain access.

Q7: Is the backup process complicated to learn?

A7: No, the software is very simple to operate and, as the service is designed to be automatic, the only intervention required by you is to add new files to the backup set as you require them to be included. You are not expected to learn this yourself, a fully trained representative will give you a training course at install. You will also be supplied with a User Manual.

Q8: My database is 5GB in size, can I back-up that file with The Data Vault?

A8: Yes, our back-up software compares your current file with yesterday's version, and extracts the changes only for transmission. This is called a patch and typically would only be around a few MB, making it easy to back-up large files each night.

Q9: I am required by my professional association to maintain a Disaster Recovery Plan in the event of serious data loss. Can The Data Vault service assist with that?

A9: Certainly. The Data Vault publishes a booklet called "The Data Protection Manual" which allows you to record vital information concerning the configuration and content of your computer system. It shows you what precautions to take to ensure that your data is preserved in the event of a disaster, and how to maintain your system information such that disruptions to your operation are minimised or eliminated. "The Data Protection Manual" can be used as the basis of any Data Disaster Recovery Plan.

Q10: If I take the Monthly DVD service, can I use the contents in any litigation I get involved in down the track?

A10: Yes the Data Vault encryption is such that these DVDs are fully compliant and an unalterable document.