Tag: data center
Zapala Free Zone to Offer New Opportunities to Bitcoin Miners in Argentina
The Zapala Free Zone, an area located in Neuquen, Argentina that has the objective of incentivizing various productive activities, will receive its first bitcoin mining-related investment this year. The company that will create the power infrastructure for the mining farm aims to generate more than 114 MW of power for mining operations in the first […] The best Windows backup software
We need backup software for our PCs because our storage drives won't last forever. Backup software covers our butts when our primary drive finally up and dies.
It would be nice if Microsoft itself provided Windows users with something like Apple's Time Machine: an effective, set-it-and-forget-it, total system recovery and backup solution that requires little interaction or thought on the user's part.
Instead, Microsoft delivers a mishmash of restore points, recovery discs, file backup, and even the un-retired System Backup (Windows 7), which was probably originally put out to pasture for its propensity to choke on dissimilar hardware. Online backup services are another option, but desktop clients tend to offer far more flexibility.
Plenty of vendors have stepped in with worthy alternatives, and while none are quite as slick or transparent as Time Machine, some come darn close—and many are free. Read on for our top picks.
Updated March 11, 2022 to include our review of Retrospect Solo, an extremely versatile backup program that takes extra measures to guard against ransomware.
1. R-Drive Image 7 – Best overall
R-Drive Image has always been a favorite of ours—a low-resource-consuming product that was ultra-reliable in creating backup images of partitions and disks. But it didn't have as much polish as Acronis's backup program (below) and wasn't as feature rich. That has changed with this latest version, which now has a more modern, user-friendly interface and more versatility in the types of backups you can perform.
2. Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office – Best overall runner-up
There's a reason Acronis is renowned in the world of backup software. Cyber Protect Home Office (previously named Acronis True Image) is capable, flexible, and rock-solid reliable. Indeed, it's easily the most comprehensive data safety package on the planet.
Besides offering unparalleled backup functionality that's both robust and easy to navigate, it integrates security apps as well, which protect against malware, malicious websites, and other threats using real-time monitoring.
3. Retrospect Solo
The latest version (18.5) of this stalwart Windows backup program is every bit as feature-packed at we'd expect. It even adds an interesting pre-backup file scanning to root out anomalies before overwriting your previous backup—a nod to emergence of ransomware as a concern. It's got a bit of a learning curve, but once familiar, Retrospect Solo delivers the goods.
4. Cobian Backup 11
If you can overlook its very old-school aesthetic, Cobian Backup is freebie that capably takes care of file backups, and can even run the same backup task to multiple destinations. It doesn't offer any system imagining functionality, so you'll need another solution for that.
5. Iperius Backup
There is a lot to like about Iperius Backup. It offers an impressive degree of versatility and performance, even if its UX is a bit befuddling at times. A single license is a modest $32 per year; and the free version is worth using for lighter PDF duties.
6. Backupper 6 Standard – Best free option
Among the free programs we tested, Backupper Standard wins primarily because it has the most features, including imaging, file backup, disk cloning, and plain file syncing, plus multiple scheduling options. This was the case with Backupper 4, and the latest version has only added more options, making it a surprisingly well-rounded free offering. We hit a few performance snags with less-conventional system setups, but for the average user, it should perform as expected.
7. CloudBerry Backup Desktop
CloudBerry is a good solution for a mixed storage scenario—i.e., you want to back up data from various sources to various destinations. It's also highly configurable. But it's not as user friendly as some of the other popular solutions. Luckily there's a free version you can try out before plunking down any cash.
8. IvyBackup
IvyBackup sports a clean look, and saves in common Zip and VHD formats. However, it didn't check if there was enough space for its image backups, which caused some unlogged failures.
What to look for in backup software
As with most things—don't over-buy. Features you don't need add complexity and may slow down your system. Additionally, if you intend to back up to a newly purchased external hard drive, check out the software that ships with it. Seagate, WD, and others provide backup utilities that are adequate for the average user.
File backup: If you want to back up only your data (operating systems and programs can be reinstalled, though it's mildly time- and effort-consuming), a program that backs up just the files you select is a major time-saver. Some programs automatically select the appropriate files if you use the Windows library folders (Documents, Photos, Videos, etc.).
Image backup/Imaging: Images are byte-for-byte snapshots of your entire hard drive (normally without the empty sectors) or partition, and can be used to restore both the operating system and data. Imaging is the most convenient to restore in case of a system crash, and also ensures you don't miss anything important.
Boot media: Should your system crash completely, you need an alternate way to boot and run the recovery software. Any backup program should be able to create a bootable optical disc or USB thumb drive. Some will also create a restore partition on your hard drive, which can be used instead if the hard drive is still operational.
Scheduling: If you're going to back up effectively, you need to do it on a regular basis. Any backup program worth its salt allows you to schedule backups.
Versioning: If you're overwriting previous files, that's not backup, it's one-way syncing or mirroring. Any backup program you use should allow you to retain several previous backups, or with file backup, previous versions of the file. The better software will retain and cull older backups according to criteria you establish.
Optical support: Every backup program supports hard drives, but as obsolescent as they may seem, DVDs and Blu-Ray discs are great archive media. If you're worried about optical media's reliability, M-Disc claims its discs are reliable for a thousand years, claims that are backed up by Department of Defense testing.
Online support: An offsite copy of your data is a hedge against physical disasters such as flood, fire, and power surges. Online storage services are a great way to maintain an offsite copy of your data. Backup to Dropbox and the like is a nice feature to have.
FTP and SMB/AFP: Backing up to other computers or NAS boxes on your network or in remote locations (say, your parent's house) is another way of physically safeguarding your data with an offsite, or at least physically discrete copy. FTP can be used for offsite, while SMB (Windows and most OS's) and AFP (Apple) are good for other PCs or NAS on your local network.
Real time: Real-time backup means that files are backed up whenever they change, usually upon creation or save. It's also called mirroring and is handy for keeping an immediately available copy of rapidly changing data sets. For less volatile data sets, the payoff doesn't compensate for the drain on system resources. Instead, scheduling should be used.
Continuous backup: In this case, ‘continuous' simply means backing up on a tight schedule, generally every 5 to 15 minutes , instead of every day or weekly. Use continuous backup for rapidly changing data sets where transfer rates are too slow, or computing power is too precious for real-time backup.
Performance: Most backups proceed in the background or during dead time, so performance isn't a huge issue in the consumer space. However, if you're backing up multiple machines or to multiple destinations, or dealing with very large data sets, speed is a consideration.
How we test
We run each program through the various types of backups it's capable of. This is largely to test reliability and hardware compatibility, but we time two: an approximately 115GB system image (two partitions), and a roughly 50GB image created from a set of smaller files and folders. We then mount the images and test their integrity via the program's restore functions. We also test the USB boot drives created by the programs.
SCSK and NEC Strengthen Collaboration to Accelerate Customers’ DX and Business Growth
Background and purpose of establishing a new company
Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic and the frequent occurrence of natural disasters, there is a need for the utilization of secure and safe data centers to further raise awareness of business continuity, and to ensure the safety of sensitive information such as personal information. Furthermore, due to the shift to remote work and the acceleration of digital transformation (DX), there is a growing need for using richly functional and highly flexible cloud services.
SCSK and NEC will jointly operate a data center in Inzai City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, scheduled for completion in April 2022, to accelerate DX for customers, and to attract ecosystem partners, including cloud providers. This will provide customers with significant benefits in terms of convenience and confidentiality in connecting to ecosystem partners when using jointly operated data centers.
Ecosystem partners will also install network connectivity points to jointly operated data centers in the future, giving both companies' customers the opportunity to leverage the services of the ecosystem partners.
To realize these environments, both companies will jointly own and operate data centers and establish a data center joint operating company with the aim of creating and providing new services with the ecosystem partners.
Role of the new company
The new company will hold the property of a data center in Inzai City, scheduled for completion in April 2022, and will provide data center services and network services to SCSK and NEC. In addition, the new company aims to operate an environmentally friendly data center by using renewable energy, and both companies will contribute to the achievement of virtually zero greenhouse gas emissions.
Future development
SCSK and NEC will continue to attract ecosystem partners to realize a high level of convenience and confidentiality in an environment that combines customer-specific systems within data centers and various cloud services. Going forward, both companies will continue to support the acceleration of customers' DX and business growth through collaboration in the data center and network business.
Profile of the new company
1. Company name: SCSK NEC Data Center Management, Ltd.
2. Business Activities: Provision of data center services and network services for SCSK and NEC from Inzai City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan
3. Date of Establishment: April 1, 2022
4. Representative: Hiroshi Ogasawara, Representative Director
5. Head Office: Toyosu, Koto-ku, Tokyo
6. Capital: 200 million yen (including capital reserve)
7. Ownership ratio: SCSK： 62.5%　NEC： 37.5%
8. Number of employees: 10
About SCSK Corporation
SCSK provides a full lineup of services to support any area of IT solution required for businesses from consulting to system integration, verification services, IT infrastructure implementation, IT management, IT hardware and software sales, and BPO (business process outsourcing).
SCSK at new windowhttps://www.scsk.jp/index_en.html
About NEC Corporation
NEC Corporation has established itself as a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies while promoting the brand statement of "Orchestrating a brighter world." NEC enables businesses and communities to adapt to rapid changes taking place in both society and the market as it provides for the social values of safety, security, fairness and efficiency to promote a more sustainable world where everyone has the chance to reach their full potential. For more information, visit NEC at https://www.nec.com.
Copyright 2022 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.jcnnewswire.comSCSK Corporation and NEC Corporation today announced that they will strengthen collaboration in the data center and network business to accelerate customers' DX and grow their businesses.
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