bruceb news

External USB hard drives are everywhere. All of you have one or two set up for backups of each computer, right? Many of you also use them for saving video and photo collections that are too big for the hard drive in your computer.

(If you’re shopping, you’ll find that hard drive prices are skyrocketing, almost double what they were a few months ago. Flooding took out factories in Thailand, causing product shortages and price increases. It will be like that for a few more months.)

Most external hard drives are built the same way: a completely normal, plain vanilla hard drive inside a plastic case. […] continued

We’re all busy. Life is full of choices about what deserves attention and what should be passed off to someone else.

The Bruceb Cloud Backup service is managed and monitored. When you sign up for Bruceb Cloud Backup, I watch your backups remotely. If there’s a problem, I fix it. You get to take an important chore off your mental checklist because you know it’s on mine.

There are cheaper backup services. Carbonite and Mozy are both promoting “business” backup plans that use all the right buzzwords – and who knows, they might work well enough to get you through a jam. […] continued

Bruceb Cloud Backup exists in part because I lost confidence in JungleDisk, the online backup service that I was using for myself and several clients.

At the beginning of 2010 I wrote several articles about JungleDisk, which was at that time the most attractive online backup service for small businesses. The software was not glamorous but it was functional, and new features were being added that had potential – the company had introduced a rudimentary system for syncing files among computers and setting up a mapped drive in the sky that could be accessed from multiple locations, and was working on centralized management for servers. […] continued

Western Digital is shipping the first device available in the US with Microsoft’s small business storage and backup software, Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials.

Microsoft has a gift for names, doesn’t it? It’s a little embarrassing to gush over a product that is brand new on the market and very appealing when it has a wince-inducing name like “Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials.” It is closely related to Microsoft’s other new small business server, the one named “Small Business Server 2011 Essentials.” Couldn’t this have been named “Storage Server 2011 Essentials”? That’s a nice name. Maybe it was taken. […] continued

Previously:
Redundancy, Backups, And Redundancy
Introducing Bruceb Cloud Backup

Subscribers to Bruceb Cloud Backup have the option to use it for onsite backups, in addition to storing backed up files in the cloud. It adds some interesting flexibility and can be a way to cut costs.

When you add the local option to your Bruceb Cloud Backup subscription, I’ll supply a 2Tb external hard drive to plug into the server or workstation that holds your business data. We’ll configure the Bruceb Cloud Backup software to back up all of your important data to the external hard drive, with no space limitations or per-gigabyte charges. […] continued

Previously:
Redundancy, Backups, And Redundancy

I am excited to be able to offer Bruceb Cloud Backup, a managed online backup solution designed for small businesses and individual users. It is secure, flexible, affordable, and adds an important level of protection for your files.

Unlike a backup to an external hard drive, Bruceb Cloud Backup securely transmits your files to state-of-the-art data centers, where they are safe from theft, fire, spills, power spikes, and all the other things that can happen in your office or home.

There is detailed information about the service at the Bruceb Cloud Backup web site. […] continued

You’re all doing backups. Good job!

(You’re not doing backups? Pfft. That’s just foolish. Call me – don’t put it off, just call me.)

Let’s go through the backup strategies that you have in place. I have some anecdotes that lead me to think that a single backup plan isn’t enough. Tomorrow I’ll tell you about the new online backup service that can – and should – be doing redundant backups for you.

(Want a peek? Shh. Take a look but don’t tell anybody.)

Here are some stereotypes. Tell me if you recognize yourself.

If you have a home office or very small business with a handful of workstations, you’re probably running the backup system included with Windows Vista and Windows 7 on the computer that you refer to as the “server” because it holds all the important files – but maybe not on the other computers. […] continued

Previously:
Sync Files With Dropbox
Dropbox For iPad, Android
Dropbox, Androids, And Security
Dropbox Updated To Version 1.0
Sharing Files With Dropbox

Dropbox is profiled in the cover story in this week’s issue of Forbes. Since many of you rely on Dropbox, you might find it interesting – and perhaps reassuring – to read the article and confirm that Dropbox is a well-capitalized, well-run company with elegantly simple technology and a profitable business plan.

[If you’re new to Dropbox, this article has some background. At its heart, Dropbox is a free program to sync files among each of your computers and mobile devices; files in the special “Dropbox” folder appear on all the computers and devices running the software linked to your account.

[…] continued

Previously:
Small Business Server 2011 Essentials, Part 1: Overview
Small Business Server 2011 Essentials, Part 2: Remote Access

Small Business Server 2011 Essentials has one overlooked feature that fills an important need in most small businesses. Every night, SBS 2011 Essentials backs up all of the workstations in their entirety.

Microsoft originally developed this backup technology for Windows Home Server. Microsoft did some of its best technical magic on the backup system to use the least possible space on the server hard drives and to make the backups quick (although they’re done in the middle of the night, so speed isn’t really an issue). […] continued

These are the rules for being safe using a Windows computer in 2011. Memorize them, tape them to your refrigerator, pass them on to your friends!

Install updates from Microsoft promptly. Look in the lower right corner for the gold shield (WinXP) or update icon (Win7/Vista).

Install updates to Acrobat, Adobe Reader, Flash, Java, and Quicktime promptly. Each will alert you from the lower right corner.

• The best way to keep up with updates: sign up for the Bruceb Consulting monitoring service.

Install antivirus software and keep it up to date.

Know the name of your antivirus software. […] continued