Enterprises Gain Low-Cost Online Backup Option

Newcomer Berkeley Data Systems' MozyPro provides unlimited data backup plus multitenant administrative console with reporting and configuration tools.

Following a highly successful word-of-mouth entrance into the market, online data backup provider Berkeley Data Systems officially launched April 3 a business-oriented version of Mozy, its hosted storage service.

The MozyPro remote backup service, which Berkeley DS founder and CEO Josh Coates said already has signed up more than 2,500 businesses, is similar to its consumer online backup service, Mozy, but adds enterprise features and support.

Coates last December introduced Mozy Unlimited Backup, which individuals can use to back up an unlimited amount of digital files—documents, photos, video—to a secure, multipetabyte outside server.

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The small, American Fork, Utah-based company offers the first 2GB of storage for no fee, and the unlimited backup—which includes an unlimited number of restores—costs $4.95 per month. Users may select month-to-month or annual payment plans.

Coates told eWEEK that the basic Mozy service has grown to about 160,000 subscribers in 15 months. MozyPro appears to be headed along the same trajectory.

"Weve changed the economics and usability of enterprise backup with our proprietary software technology," Coates said. "Until now, businesses have had no other option except to use local backup methods including tape, disk, DVD or external hard drives."

Traditional enterprise-class disaster-recovery solutions are expensive and complex, Coates said. "Today, more businesses are looking for a secure off-site backup solution because of government regulations, such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)."

MozyPro offers easy-to-use enterprise-quality features at dramatically reduced prices compared with conventional server storage, Coates said. The service provides a "very sophisticated" multitenant administrative console that includes reporting and configuration tools to simplify deployment and centralize management, he said.

Bandwidth throttling and near-continuous data protection allow backups to take place quietly in the background. "Military-grade encryption ensures the data is protected before it is sent to Berkeley Datas world-class data center," Coates said.

MozyPros pricing is simple: $3.95 per month per PC or server backed up, plus 50 cents per gigabyte of storage used per month.

Resellers and service providers can contact Berkeley Data directly for information on its reseller and business development opportunities, Coates said.

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