Online Backup - How to choose the right supplier - part 6

Moving on now from the financials to the backup software installed on your PC, laptop or server. This small intelligent piece of software can determine whether you continue using the service or not so it's quite important.

Let's specifically look at file selection today.

File selection should be simple and straight forward and is one of the most important aspects of the service. Users should be able to select a whole folder without having to select each individual file. This is very important as some of the cheaper services don’t offer this. When a folder is fully selected, all subsequent files placed in the folder should automatically be included in the backup set. Conversely it is extremely useful to be able to select a whole folder and then de-select certain files.

Imagine the hassle of having to select all new files individually before backing up? This would be far more hassle than using a CD or Tape backup. Due to human error users are more likely to miss files and be mal informed about which files are backed up. Individual file only selection providers are not suitable for backing up servers.

Finally it should be possible to select multiple groups of files (backup sets) and set a different schedule for each of them if need be. For example, group files that don't change much into file set A and those that change each day into set B. Run an automatic daily schedule for group A and a weekly schedule for group B.

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