Methodology
This is a descripton of the areas of analysis we performed when reviewing each Online File Backup, Online File Sharing or Online Collaboration offering. When reviewing the categories and features / indicators below, you will also see how we define them.
As the industry continues to mature, we may update and revise our methodology for evaulating solution providers and products. If you have any feedback, we would love to hear from you. Please visit our Contact Us page to let us know your thoughts.
Quick Summary: If you only have a few minutes, please read this section for each company
We provide some information at a glance about the company, the service they provide, how long they have been providing it, high level service description, basic plan information. We also mention if they offer a free plan / free trial so that you can determine for yourself if they are the best solution to meet your needs.
Great service if you need: If you only have 30 seconds, read this part of the entry for each company. We describes their services at the highest levels and help you determine if the service is a potential fit for what you need to accomplish.
Information obtained from: Company website, month and year of the most recent research we have performed
Website: Lists the company website address
Contact: Provides contact information from the company website. This can be e-mail or phone number.
Company: Name of the reviewed company
Location: Address information – Most of the solutions we review are located in the United States, but some may be abroad.
Telephone: Main or Sales related telephone number
Operating since: Earliest date/year reported on website of operations
Service Summary, account types, file size limits, free trial, platform support, client software:
Summary: Overview of capabilities
Details: Deeper list of features that service provider offers
Free account available: Yes or No, describes if service provider offers a free account.
Paid account available: Yes or No and provides some plan details to help you determine which plan may be right for you.
Single file size limit: If the service puts a limit on a single file size, that information is reported here.
Free Trial: Yes or No and describes some information about the options available.
Platforms supported: Service providers are now supporting mostly PC, Mac, Linux as well as Web Browsers, iPhone, Blackberry & Windows Mobile devices. Details will be found here.
Client software download required for use: Yes, No or Optional. Many service providers leverage custom applications that their subscribers can download and use and also provide services over standard web browsers.
Online File Backup Details – This section addresses primarily those things that are important to consider with selecting an online file backup service provider
Designed for easy online file backups: Yes or No – If you are looking for EASY, this needs to be Yes
Completely automatic backups: Yes or No – If making a backup requires user interaction, this is a No
User defined backups: Yes or No – If you want to be able to customize what is backed up, this is a Yes
User defined bandwidth option for backups and restore process: Yes or No – Most people would want this to be a Yes answer. There are times when you want to be able to ensure that you have the bandwidth you need to accomplish what you need to do. Sometimes, that may mean that you would want to take a moment to slow down the amount of bandwidth your Internet Backup is taking up. Some applications do this with a simple slider control, others claim that it works automatically from their software and others don’t mention any control of it at all.
Can data be sent to service provider to seed the initial backup: Yes or No – This is NOT a common service. What this refers to is that you send the company your data on a hard drive (if you have a large volume of data or just a slower connection) and they can upload your data to their system locally instead of you having to upload all your files across the Internet connection.
Support for backup of attached USB drives: Yes or No – Many of us have external USB hard drives today. They are invaluable as a local backup device or they extend the amount of data we can store from day to day. Some companies currently allow these drives to be backed up, others do not. If you use an external USB drive, please pay special attention to this section. This is not the same as Networked Drive support, which most home users won’t have to bother with. Networked drive support is usually seen on Server based backups. Most online backup software does not support this unless the user is paying for it, because it would be very easy for someone to mount many hard drives or NAS (Network Attached Storage) to a server and have that server backup across the Internet. This would consume more of the service providers’ resources and they would lose money, putting their longevity at risk. That’s not good for them, you, or your data if you are a subscriber. The service providers take precautions to guard against this type of use.
Support for open and locked files: Yes or No – ideally, you would want all of your files available for backup, but sometimes they are in use or locked and normal backup software can’t make a good copy of these files. This is something that should be a requirement for everyone; you want this to be a Yes.
Tracking and storage of multiple versions of files: Yes or No –You really want to see a Yes in the answer for this. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve modified the same file, and wanted to review a previous version of the file later. I save files with different names now to make that easier. What’s great though is that many of the service providers keep multiple versions of your data files, which makes it great for you because you will be able to restore a particular version of a file if you need to. Another benefit is that it takes less time to do backups because not only does the backup software generally only backup the changed files, meaning that only the files that have changed since the last backup are backed up in the most current backup, but the newer software only backs up the parts of the file that changed. For example, if you have a 5 MB Microsoft PowerPoint file to backup, and you have already backed it up once, you don’t have to backup the “whole” file again. The backup software will just backup what changed, so it that means you changed the date on the title page of the presentation, the backup software will only backup the actual words that changed, which will save the backup time and space. That’s to your advantage as well as the online backup service provider.
Can multiple PCs files be backed up using one backup account: Yes or No – Most allow but there is an additional charge, either by computer, storage space used, or a combination of both.
Can servers be backed up: Yes or No – this points to commercial or Enterprise level use, whether Windows Server or other types of servers can be backed up
Designed for easy online file restore: Yes or No – If you can perform all of the file recovery process from a web browser, that’s great. If you can do it from the client application from the service provider, that’s good too. We are looking for simple and easy here. You want your files back when you need them back.
Designed that data be restored via web browser: Yes or No – Specific question with respect to whether or not you can perform file restores from a web browser – Ideally, this is a Yes.
Designed so that data can be sent to you on DVD, Hard Drive or other device: Yes or No – this is entirely dependent on how much data you are backing up to the online backup provider. If you are only backing up a few hundred megabytes, Some providers allow you to perform your full download across the web, while other providers measure the time it take to get your files to you via DVD or USB hard drive. A backup is only as good as four things – 1. The right files are backed up 2. The files were actually backed up 3. It is a current backup 4. You can restore from it (the files are not corrupted), when you need to. Waiting a week for your data may not be in your best interest. We would suggest that any recovery be able to be accomplished easily using either a web browser interface or the client backup software. If it is determined that the amount of time required to download your data would exceed the amount of time you can wait for it, the service provider should be able to send you media with your backup files quickly and for a reasonable cost (including media costs, shipping costs).
Online File Storage Details – This section deals with how easy it is to upload files to the service provider and can apply to online backup, online file sharing and online collaboration service providers
Designed for easy data storage: Yes or No – How easy is it to store files, whether for backup or file sharing. Can you just let the client backup software or file sharing software pick all the files to upload or can you select particular directories and files to upload to the service provider.
File transfer: Descriptive answer – usually file transfers are performed with a web browser interface or client application software, or a combination of both.
Online File Access Details – This section deals with how can you access the files once they have been uploaded - this can apply to online backup, online file sharing and online collaboration service providers
Online access to files from anywhere: Yes or No – Generally speaking this references that files are accessible via a web browser, either from the computer that files are backed up or shared from. It can also mean that you can access your files from any other computer connected to the Internet via a web browser. It’s also possible with some services to access your files via mobile devices, such as Blackberry, iPhone or Windows Mobile devices by using client specific software or web browsers. While in general this is a nice feature, it does carry some risk. If the files are sensitive in nature due to financial or business reasons, you may want to consider how you will manage the risk should you choose to view your files while mobile.
Search capability to help you locate specific files: Yes or No – How many times have you been looking for a specific file and could not find it? If you think that it would be helpful to have a search capability if you are trying to restore or find a particular file, you will want this answered with a Yes for sure.
Online File Sharing Details – This section describes whether the service is designed to share a specific file type not only with respect that it can be uploaded and accessed, but that the service may offer extended capabilities such as online players for audio, video, and photos.
Designed for easy file sharing: Yes or No
Designed for easy music sharing: Yes or No
Designed for easy photo sharing: Yes or No
Designed for easy video sharing: Yes or No
Online Team Collaboration Details – This section deals with mostly online file sharing services and online collaboration services. Online file sharing and online collaboration services will have many sharing and team oriented features represented.
Online team collaboration features beyond file sharing / folder sharing: Yes or No
Online & Offline File Synchronization Details – This section deals mostly with online file sharing services and online collaboration services. It speaks to the capability as to whether the service can synchronize files across computers (usually with special software as part of the service). It may also reference the ability to track file versions and allow files to be checked in and checked out of an online repository.
Online file sync across multiple computers or devices: Yes or No
Offline file sync across multiple computers or devices: Yes or No
Web 2.0 Support Details – This section speaks to whether or not the online service supports feeds from or to Web 2.0 properties such as Myspace, Facebook or Linkedin to name a few. In team collaboration, this can create an automatic notification to participants. Other ways team members or group members can be notified usually are via e-mail or SMS. Some vendors offer an API set that custom programs can be written for. Some service providers actually enable you to edit many file types online in a shared workspace. This can include Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint and even CAD drawings.
Support for integration with online editing of text data files: Yes or No
Support for integration with online editing of multiple document types: Yes or No
Support for integration with online communities such as Facebook, MySpace and others: Yes or No
Security & Encryption Details – This section applies to all service provider types and simply identifies that login, file transfers and file access are controlled and protected. Security of your data is critical and this section describes how your data is safeguarded.
Encryption for sign up and login: Yes or No – Most online service providers have SSL links for sign-up and sign in processes and others do not. Most people would want this as a Yes because if the sign up and login is not encrypted, neither is your username or password. File transfers without any protection would put your data at risk. At least with SSL, the web browser connection is as secure as it usually is while you might be doing online banking or buying something over the Internet with your credit card.
File transfer processes encrypted: Yes or No- file transfers without any protection would put your data at risk. At least with SSL, the web browser connection is as secure as it usually is while you might be doing online banking or buying something over the Internet with your credit card. If the service provider does not use web portal transfers, the file transfers are done using the client application software that the service provider supplies. Most providers do use a secure method of transferring data, but some do not.
Files encrypted on local computer as part of service: Yes or No – This is mostly seen with the online backup service providers. Some encrypt data while it resides on your local computer and then transfer the encrypted files to their systems. Others encrypt the data before it is transmitted and keep the encrypted version on their systems. This is a matter of your personal preference. Local encryption can protect your data should the computer or hard drive be stolen, but only if all the critical data is encrypted, you maintain the encryption key and you don’t store it with the computer (or on the hard drive as a file). If you did keep the unencrypted encryption key on the hard drive and the hard drive was stolen, whoever accessed the drive could find the key, and use it to unlock the data.
Files encrypted on service providers systems: Yes or No- Asks a simple but important question. Does the service provider keep your data on their systems encrypted or unencrypted? For those services that are mostly for backup in nature, you would want this to be answered with a Yes. Most of the online file sharing services answer this with a No, as it reduces the portability and accessibility of users to get to their files online for transfers, sharing and editing with either the computer that uploaded the files, other users computers or mobile team members who are accessing the files using mobile phones like Blackberry, Windows Mobile or iPhone type devices.
Encryption type for storage: None or a brief description of the type of encryption used to store files on remote servers. If you are interested in remote backup and not online file sharing, you will want to see encryption type or types used in this answer. If the answer is None, then it’s likely for a file sharing service, which, for reasons of file accessibility often does not encrypt files.
Encryption key management for storage: If the service provider offers or supports encryption, they often manage the encryption key for stored data. While this is easy, it also means that if someone at the company wanted to see the data you stored on their systems, they could. On the other hand, if you created and kept the key, and they did not have it, they would not be able to see your data. If for some reason, your data made its way into the hands of a third party, it would still be secure because it was encrypted and you held the key. There are benefits and some trade off if you keep the key yourself, but overall, I would prefer to maintain my own key for my data.
Datacenter Information: This is where all your data is backed up to, so we thought you might want to know something about the facility.
Datacenter/s location disclosed: Yes or No and possibly a description of where it’s located.
Datacenter/s facilities described: Yes or No and some information about the facilities. In general, the more information that is provided about the datacenter facilities, the better.
Telecommunication capability described: Yes or No and some information about the telecommunications servicing the company and coming into the building/data center. In general, the more telecommunications providers and lines they have connecting to the Internet, the easier and faster your connections should be to the company, as well as the ability of the company to sustain one or more access outages to the Internet because of a telecommunications company issue.
Datacenter/s security levels described: Yes or No – If the service provider talks about their security you will see some details here.
Customer Service & Support: We reviewed Service and Support from several perspectives and provided details as available.
Site Searchable: Yes or No – Does the site have the ability to be searched to make it easier to find what you are looking for?
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) and other “Self-Help” available: Yes or No
How Do You Request Assistance: Fill out an online form? E-mail? Call a phone number?
Live Support Chat Available: Yes or No
E-Mail Support: Yes or No
Remote Control Support Available: Yes or No – The ability for technical support (with your permission) to take remote control of your computer to help you resolve a problem if needed.
Telephone Based Support: Yes or No
Customer Feedback E-mail or Form Available: Yes or No – For customer feedback for enhancement requests, or general feedback to company.
Better Business Bureau Record Summary: Date we looked at the information and summary of what we saw.
Why did we look at the Better Business Bureau? The reason we looked there is because on the Internet, it’s easy to put up a website or post a story about how good or bad something is, and you’ll have a more comments than you can shake a stick at. How do you know if the comments are real or not? We don’t know, and there’s no easy way to tell. What we can do, is to look for validated endorsements (and each company has those on their website) and we can look for validated complaints against the company (and that’s why we went to the BBB). The last reason is because we wanted to see how the company handled problems. We suggest that you always do your own due diligence on anything you buy, whether across the Internet or not.
Federal Trade Commission Summary: Date we looked at the information and summary of what we saw.
Why did we look at the Federal Trade Commission? We looked there for the same reason that we looked at the Better Business Bureau. We wanted to see if there were any entries on the firms and if there were, what was being said. If there is nothing there, we’ll say “No matches” and list the date we looked.
