MediumWeb

If your computer gets stolen or destroyed, what will you do without your data? Of course, if you have a backup drive, all is good, right? Sure, unless your backup drive is located in the same place as your computer, so it too ends up destroyed in a fire or stolen. That’s why large companies use off-site storage, sending their critical data every night, or even every few hours, to a safe data center far away. As you can probably guess, off-site backup services can be very expensive – some services charge hundreds of dollars per month for secure data storage.

Well, we’ve found a free program that can totally automate your backups, automatically synching your computer to a remote version of your files. The backup can be encrypted for privacy, and you can easily set the backup schedule and which directories and types of files to back up – as well as what type of encryption to use, from basic password privacy to unbreakable military-grade data scrambling.

Cobian Backup version 10 is a free piece of software that can save your skin if anything goes wrong with your desktop or laptop. You’ll need an FTP account (such as Tri-Star’s Innohost, which also includes web access and included free blog hosting). If you don’t have access to an FTP server, and you can’t shell out the dough for a Tri-Star account (it’s less than $5 a month), the software can be used to make local encrypted backups to a USB key or a backup drive on your local network.

The full version is a free download; it isn’t a scaled-down trialware or crippled in any way. We thought this was a great idea; you can choose to support the developers by donation if you find the program useful.

If you value your data, and want the cheapest way to keep it safe, why not give Cobian Backup a try. Did we mention it’s free?!

Cobian Backup encrypts your files and stores them off-site on any FTP server

Pros: Free, easy remote backups for Windows XP, Vista, 7.

Cons: None

Rating: 10/10

Link: http://www.educ.umu.se/~cobian/cobianbackup.htm