We know your wondering why would you use the Internet as a backup method. Well, there are a great deal of reasons. First, you can save alot of upfront costs by backing up to the Internet instead of buying specialized software or hardware. As long as you have Cable, DSL, etc., nothing else is needed.Second, your data is available for you anywhere you can use the Internet from.And with good security and encryption, nobody will get your data or even realize where it is.

The Internet provides a gateway to nearly unlimited amounts of data storage with quality provders that make online backup their business.  I pay around four bucks per month for my site and I’m backing up 30+ Gigs.Now I’m using 60% of my backup space which leaves plenty of room for my future updates at a very reasonable price.

The first step is to decide which service is best for you.Most of the “free trial” providers are way more expensive each month that the providers that use simple pricing.So you can do a little homework and get a better deal by discovering and joining a site with great features and no hidden expenses.It will (in the end) save you a fair amount of money. With all the product review sites, blogs, comparison sites, etc. it’s easy to make a good decision.

So now, you’ve decided which online backup provider you will use. Deciding which files you need to keep backed up due to their importance (financial), sentimental value (photos), difficulty in reconstructing (music, etc.). The best online backup sites have a program to select your backup files, frequency, rate limits, etc. and will seamlessly upload the backup files after they’ve been encrypted. As you can easily now see is that the best providers are also the easiest to use.  And the best will run on all common operating systems (online backup for Windows, MAC, and Linux is what I mean here).

The basic reason is that you’ll go somewhere else if they make it too hard for you to use. Just like any Internet service, there’s plenty of competition, and providers with few featurs or provide service for Windows only, OSX only, etc. generally arn’t very stable and may not even exist in a few months. Therefore, make sure they support Windoes, MAC, and Linux.They will if they’re a quality provider. 

So, let’s put this basic overview into perspective with some questions you need to answer when selecting a Internet backup provider.

Do they have software that makes it easy?

Does their software provide all features on Linux OSX, and Windows?

Can you back up all your computers with just one account?

What type of Internet data back up is it? How much control do they give you regarding the backup schedule?

How is your data encrypted? You must have encryption (preferably 256bit AES) for maximum security.

You have other issues that are important to you.But these questions will help you narrow down your selection to only the best providers in short order.