How to Choose an Online Data Backup Solution

There are a number of online data backup solutions on the market today, many of them offering completely automated protection for your precious files. They're a great way to get some peace of mind and feel secure from hard drive crashes because it's a "set it and forget it" situation, with new and changed files automatically protected and backed up to the cloud. But how do you choose one? We've outlined the key factors that you should consider in your decision making process.
Storage Space - Basic plans of data backup solutions typically offer around 50-75GB, with more space available for an upgrade. Some solutions, like Carbonite, advertise "unlimited" storage, but throttle upload speeds way down after 200GB of data. So what's the best solution for you? This depends on the size of your backup. If you're in the 50GB range, you may want to choose based on the other criteria below. For 75GB - 200GB backups, Carbonite is the obvious choice. Larger than that, we'd suggest investing in a premium plan.

Speed - Data upload speed is critically important, especially for large backups. Before choosing a data backup solution, check the upload speeds for those on your list (usually listed as Mbps or Kbps). Remember, 1MB = 1,000KB, so choose appropriately. We found SOS Online backup to provide the fastest speeds in the industry, but feel free to do your own research and choose wisely.
Devices covered - Consider how many household devices you'd like covered under this subscription and choose a data backup accordingly. Many solutions will only protect one PC at a time, but some, like SOS Online backup for example, cover up to five household devices at once. That's a great value, if you can take advantage of it.
Automation - Never choose a data backup solution that doesn't offer fully automated protection. You want to be able to set up your initial backup, and then never have to think about it again. New files and changed files should both be backed up automatically, without question. Data sync services like Skydrive and Dropbox are great for working on files remotely, but the lack of automation makes them a poor choice for data backup.
Encryption - When choosing an online data backup solution, make sure that you research the level of encryption done both during uploads and while in storage. We prefer a triple level, military grade level of encryption which encrypts files once while still on the PC, again during transfer, and then a third time in the cloud.
Support - Before making a final decision, take a look at the support options. We prefer a full line of options, including chat, phone, and email support. You may never need it, but having someone available to walk you through recovering your data should the worst of the worst happen, will be a life saver.