MiiVault Data Security

Got questions? Not clear on some points?

Have a read through the Frequently Asked Questions to find the answer.

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• How secure is it?

  Your data is encrypted with your Password before it leaves your PC and is stored encrypted on our servers. We won't know your Password unless you tell us and your password will NEVER be uploaded to our servers.

• What is a 'Quota'

  Your quota is the size of all of your backup files. This is what you pay for. Unlike some other online backup providers there are no bandwidth charges with Miivault.

• What is a 'Seed' backup?

  The first time you use our backup service there may be a significant amount of data to be backed up. When we come to install the software, we take a backup onto a removable drive and load it on to our servers. The next time a backup takes place, only the files that have changed will be sent over your internet connection, saving you bandwidth and time.

• How does Miivault save my bandwidth and storage costs?

  In addition to compressing and encrypting your data, only the changed portions of files are sent over the internet. So if you have a 5GB file, only the changed portion of the file is backed up.

• What is the 'Retention Period'?

  When you delete a file on your PC, the server detects that this file has been removed. Rather than deleting it immediately from the server, it is put into a Retention area for a period of time. This can be anything from one to hundreds of days. Remeber though, that these files still count against your quota.

• What is the difference between an 'Online Backup' and an 'Off-site Backup'?

  An Online Backup takes place automatically at the period that you specify to the Miivault servers. An Off-site Backup is when we take a full, 'image' backup (see below) on a removable drive and store it in our fire safe remotely.

• I've got a laptop - what happens if I'm not connected at backup time?

  No problem. We can set the system up such that if your laptop etc. is off, or cannot connect to the internet, when you next connect it will start an online backup immediately.

• What's an 'Image' backup?

  An Image backup copies your hard disk(s) byte by byte onto a removable drive. This means it stores the Operating System e.g. Windows and all your applications e.g. Word, Outlook, Dungeons and Dragons etc. In the event that your PC is stolen, destroyed in a fire or suffered a complete hard drive failure, the Image would be restored onto another PC or drive and you would be up and working. This service is optional and may be purchased seperately.

• Can I backup more frequently than once a day?

  Yes - Continuous Data Protection (CDP) is a feature which can be set to capture every version of the data of a file that has been saved to your hard drive. With CDP, whenever you have made changes to the files in the backup set, it will automatically backup the changes. Thus, it provides a highly dependable means of real-time, continuous data protection for file servers, desktops, and laptops effortlessly and transparently, without any human intervention.

• Can it backup open files?

  Yes - the software is integrated with Microsoft's latest Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) framework. It allows you to back up files that are open without any additional applications or plug-ins. VSS is only available on Windows XP / 2003 / Vista / Win 7, and you must have administrative privileges to start the VSS service on a computer. Also, VSS will only work if at least one of your partitions is formatted using NTFS.

• Can I get to my files if I'm away from the PC that is being backed up?

  Miivault has a web interface that you can access from anywhere that you have internet access using your username and password. This is great when you need information when out of the office, for example.

• Where are my files?

  Your backups are sent over the Internet using your internet connection to servers hosted and managed by R&D Software located in Coolum - but accessed from anywhere where you can get an internet connection. In addition, these servers are themselve backed up to servers located in a geographically seperate site!
  
  Only users with the required username and password can access your data. It's up to you if you wish to share the password with us. But remember - if you forget your password it will be impossible to recover!
  
  In addition, if you would like extra security, there is no restriction on encrypting your data before backing it up.