Stop Buying Servers » backup http://stopbuyingservers.com Cloud Computing for Small Business Tue, 20 Apr 2010 21:31:11 +0000 en hourly 1 Symform: A cloudy backup option? http://stopbuyingservers.com/2010/01/symform-a-cloudy-backup-option/ http://stopbuyingservers.com/2010/01/symform-a-cloudy-backup-option/#comments Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:33:20 +0000 David Schrag http://stopbuyingservers.com/2010/01/symform-a-cloudy-backup-option/ I got an e-mail yesterday about Symform, a new online backup storage service. The description of the service reminded me of SETI@Home, which leveraged the Internet to let thousands of personal computers around the world mine extraterrestrial signals in their spare time. Rather than using extra CPU cycles, Symform seeks to take advantage of unused storage space. You lend your extra space to Symform, and in return other Symform users lend their space to you. Everyone wins (at least in theory) because the data is stored off-site, protecting you in case of complete on-site facility failure. The cost per GB of using Symform would be much less than that of other online backup providers, because Symform doesn’t have to buy disk drives or pay for the electricity to keep them running. All Symform has to do is manage the traffic between machines.

I don’t know why I’m so much more skeptical of having backup data stored in this fashion than I am in having it stored within a large data center, but for some reason this notion just gives me the creeps. It’s just too easy for me to imagine scenarios in which I discover, just as it’s time for me to restore from backup, that the Symform subscribers who are housing my data have decided they no longer want to participate.

Am I reacting too negatively? Is this actually a brilliant idea that small businesses should strongly consider? I invite your comments.

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