NuNet's Online Backup Service FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is NuNet's Online Backup Service?
2. I have a dial up internet connection, can I use online backup?
3. What should I back up?
4. What happens if I exceed my quota?
5. How do I delete files from the backup server?
6. Can I back up more than one computer under my account?
7. Should I also have a local backup in addition to my online copy?
8. What is a Personal Recovery CD?
9. How do you calculate my bill?
10. I can't connect to the backup service. What should I do?
11. Can I back up open or locked files with the online backup software?
12. What is FastBit Backup?
13. Can I back up my Macintosh computers?
14. How can I cancel my online backup service?

1. What is NuNet's Online Backup Service?

An Online Backup Service is an Internet-based service that allows computer users to routinely backup and recover their important data using a secure and trusted server on the Internet.

If you use your computer to create and save valuable data for business or personal reasons, you should make some type of backup of your important data to prevent a total loss in the event of any kind of system failure or human error. Simple data backup can be done by saving your data to multiple locations, copying the data from its original location to removable media, another hard drive, or another computers hard drive on the network.

To make this task easier, specialized programs known as Backup Software exist to aid users in regularly making a backup copy of their data. Since some users are not interested in managing the tasks necessary for maintaining their own backups, a new breed of backup software was created, known as Online Backup Software. Online Backup software is designed to routinely copy your important files to a private, secure location on the Internet by securely transmitting your data over your existing Internet connection.

If you have a working Internet connection on your computer, you can use NuNet's Online Backup Service to keep your important files safe from disaster on a daily basis. Check the pricing of our Online Backup Service.
top^

2. I have a dial up Internet connection, can I use Online Backup?

Depending on the speed of your connection and the size of your backup, your initial backup over the Internet may take several hours or even days. Many people with large backup sizes and slower Internet connections will often run their first backup over the weekend. Once the first backup is completed, each subsequent backup is usually a small amount of data that can be backed up in just minutes over a slower dialup connection.

Our software can also resume a canceled backup, so you can start the backup during your slow times and cancel it during your busy times. The next time you start the backup, it will pick up from where it was canceled until the entire backup is complete.
top^

3. What should I back up?

Since your entire hard drive will be much larger than the amount of storage you have purchased on the backup server, you need to be selective in the files that you back up. Avoid backing up any programs that you would reinstall after a failure. Items such as Windows, Word, Excel, etc. can all be reinstalled from their CDs and in fact need to be in order for the system to be set up properly to run them. Rather, choose files that you created such as documents and spreadsheets. email boxes, etc. Generally this material can be found in the My Documents folder. In actuality, any data can be backed up from your computer. You need to choose what is important. The online backup software comes with predefined filters, which allow you to automatically select categories of files without knowing where all the files are located.
top^

4. What happens if I exceed my quota?

In most cases, your account will allow you to exceed your paid storage quota on the backup server. If you exceed your quota, it is likely that a message will POP3-up on your screen to notify you that you have exceeded your quota and you are likely to incur an additional charge for the additional storage used. Check your pricing plan to determine the costs for additional storage.
top^

5. How do I delete files from the Backup server?

In order to control how much data is stored on the backup server, the backup software allows you to view all of the backup sets stored on the server and selectively remove either sets or files from the server. To view the data stored under your account, start the online backup software and click on the folder tab labeled "Restore". In the left windowpane, Right-Click on the Desktop icon and select "Get Volume List from Server". This will show you each computer that has been backed up to your account. Now you can navigate the folders to see what data is stored on the server. To delete files, click on the button with the Red "X" to enable the Delete Files mode. Mark any files you wish to delete by clicking your mouse in the empty box next to the file(s) you wish to delete. Click the "Delete Files Now" to issue the command to delete the selected files from the server. WARNING: Once a file is deleted from the server, it can no longer be restored.
top^

6. Can I back up more than one computer to my account?

Yes. We allow you to backup any number of computers to your account. However, depending on your account there may be additional licensing fees.  If you have any problems backing up more computers to your account, simply call or E-mail (billing@nni.com) the billing department to request additional computers on your account.
top^

7. Should I also have a local backup in addition to my online backup?

It's up to you. Users that want an added level of protection may perform local backups in addition to their online backup. Local backups can allow you to backup ALL of your files, while the online backup is a great way to automatically store your critical files off-site. When it comes to your important data, you can never be too safe. Since everyone has different needs, you'll find a wide variety of backup software and services available to help you find the one that best fits your needs.
top^

8. What is a Personal Recovery CD?

The Personal Recovery CD is a service that we offer which copies all of your data from our servers onto CD(s). This allows you to restore the archive of your data from a CD without requiring an Internet connection. This is great for keeping long-term archives of your data or restoring large amounts of data without connecting over a slow Internet connection. When the Personal Recovery CD is ordered, it includes all of your account data. Each CD holds approximately 650 MB, so accounts with more that 650 MB of storage will require multiple CDs.
top^

9. How do you calculate my bill?

Monthly Billing Customers - On a monthly basis, we will compare your pricing plan to your actual storage usage and determine your costs for that month. If your storage usage is below that amount of storage provided in your base plan, no additional charges will be processed. If your storage usage is greater than your base plan amount, an additional charge is calculated based on the additional increments of storage space needed to accommodate for your storage usage for the month. A new calculation is performed every month to determine the billing total for that month.

Annual Billing Customers - When you purchase an annual plan, you purchase a certain amount of storage for an entire year. For instance, a customer that purchases a 500MB annual plan can store up to 500 MB on the backup server for an entire year. Each month, your storage usage is compared to the storage allowed by the annual plan that was purchased. If any additional storage is being used, a charge for the additional storage will be processed for that month. This additional charge only applies for months where the storage usage exceeds the amount allowed by the base plan that was purchased and will follow the normal monthly discounted fee.
top^

10. I can't connect to the backup system. What do I do?

During business hours (8:30am - 11:00pm EST) (weekends til 6:00pm) you can call our technical support group for assistance at 888-686-3863 and press 2. You can also view the technical support section of our web site for some helpful information.
top^

11. Can I back up open and locked files with the online backup software?

By default, no. In the case of many backup software programs, files and databases that are in use during the backup may not get backed up successfully because they are locked to prevent any other program from altering the data. To solve this problem, NuNet's Online Backup can be used with the optional Open File Manager program to make sure that these open and locked files get backed up successfully.
top^

12. What is a FastBIT backup?

The FastBIT patching process is the core technology behind NuNet's speedy backup program. The patching process involves the comparison of two different versions of the same file and extracting the differences between the files. When the differences are extracted from the two files, they are saved into a new file and compressed into what is known as a Patch. The patch file is often 85% to 99.9% smaller than the file which the patch was extracted from originally.
top^

13. Can I back up my Macintosh computer?

NovaNet-WEB Client software will only run natively on Windows 98SE, Me, NT 4.0, 2000, 2003 (.NET), XP and Vista. If you want to backup computers with other operating systems, it is possible. Here's how... Since NovaNet-WEB Client supports mapped network drives and the Network Neighborhood, it can backup data from any computer that is accessible via the network. A single NovaNet-WEB Client can backup the local computer and any number of local or remote network computers using NovaNet-WEB's powerful user interface.
top^

14. How can I cancel my online backup service?

We never like to see anyone cancel their online service, but in the event you must cancel your service, you may also call us at 888-686-3863 and press 3 to speak with someone regarding the cancellation of your online backup service. Once an account is canceled, the data may be permanently deleted, so if you want a copy of your backups, please consider a Personal Recovery CD prior to cancellation. If you wish to cancel your account via E-mail, send a message to cancel@nni.com and please provide your complete contact information including address, phone & E-mail along with your Username and Password for the online backup service
top^