Cloud services as a backup tool. Automatic backup to Yandex.Disk. Data backup to the cloud Backup cloud storage

26.10.2023 -

Review of popular solutions, part 2

SkyDrive

SkyDrive is a cloud storage designed for storing documents, multimedia information (presentations, photos) and other files. The service is provided with a Microsoft account, offering convenient integration with Windows Live products.

The user receives 7 GB of disk space for free. This is 2 times less than that issued by Google Drive, but significantly more than in the case of Dropbox. In addition, there is a free expansion of space up to 25 GB as the space fills up. The size of one file cannot exceed 2 GB. An additional 100 GB will cost $50/year.

Of course, this service is aimed at Windows users: the proprietary SkyDrive application is included in the OS or is available with updates starting from Windows Vista. It will also be attractive that the cloud encourages collaboration with documents. It is convenient to work in conjunction with MS Office and access documents through Office Web Apps, which can be created directly from the Skydrive menu.

The web interface is optimized for desktop and mobile devices at the same time; one cannot fail to note the “tiled” design. Group operations with files and drag and drop are conveniently implemented. Operations such as setting up sharing and publishing are also available for downloaded data. Previews and enhanced presentation capabilities are available for videos and images. SkyDrive can also be used to back up files from your camera and other sources.

Among the additional options regarding backup, there is a file history, making it easy to restore one or another version through the timeline. However, the location of archive files is configured separately; version accounting is not assumed during synchronization.

Of course, installing the SkyDrive application (for Windows 8 this is the SkyDrive app) includes integration with Explorer and file synchronization. The necessary set of actions is supported: dragging and dropping, adding files and folders.

A distinctive feature of mobile support, in addition to the interface features, is support for Windows Phone. As you know, many other services (including Dropbox and Google Drive) did not pay due attention to this device.

SpiderOak

The SpiderOak service focuses not only on full-featured backup, but also accessibility from various devices and minimally limited tariffs. External, network, and removable drives are supported; files are stored in the cloud without restrictions on size, type, or number of devices connected to the server.

2 GB of disk space is provided free of charge, an additional 100 GB will cost $10/month - which is significantly more expensive compared to SkyDrive. For registering using a referral link and answering tests on the SpiderOak blog, bonuses are awarded, so you can “increase” another 10 GB for free.

To log into your account on the server, you must complete the installation using the desktop application. This is an inconvenience, but not a formality: for security purposes, cryptographic keys are generated at this stage. Generally speaking, SpiderOak uses a multi-layer encryption approach, a combination of 2048-bit RSA and 256-bit AES, as well as two-step authentication.

The web interface did not perform well - access errors constantly occurred or there was no ability to manage data. The SpiderOak desktop app does a much better job. The widget displays the status of backup, synchronization, publishing, and connection quality. In the adjacent subsections, information about current tasks and actions performed in the account, a log and statistics is available. Reservations can also be made manually by defining a list of categories.

SpiderOak has an option such as , which allows you to save on disk space when backing up. The desktop application also provides version control for files and folders.

Ubuntu One

The Ubuntu One service combines file storage on the base and a service for listening to music. 5 GB of storage is free, plus a special offer of 20 GB of bonus storage and access to Music Streaming for 6 months. 100 GB of additional storage costs $14.95/month (prices may vary based on promotions). Also, through invitations via a referral link, you can increase your space up to 20 GB for free (500 MB for each referred user).

Ubuntu One has a simple and low-interactive web interface, which is objectively not suitable for regular operations with files. To upload files, there is a panel with the ability to drag and drop and view the progress status. Ubuntu One does not provide any user access rights, but it is possible to publish a link to a file or folder. Other important options include file recovery; however, this function is not at all intuitive for the user.

In addition to the general section for files, there are Music and Photos sections. Accordingly, preview and other specialized operations related to media management are available to them.

Through the desktop widget, you can manage connected devices, view published files, synchronize your home directory - with the ability to pause and resume transfers. Again, when compared to Dropbox or other close analogs, adding a new source seems difficult, not to mention selective synchronization within a directory.

On the server, files are stored in unencrypted form. To transfer data to the server, the SSL protocol is used in conjunction with certificates, and OAuth is used for authorization.

Wuala

Wuala is a secure cloud storage with backup, synchronization, collaboration, access rights distribution and other standard features.

The free plan includes 5 GB of storage space. Through referrals, you can increase your space by 10 GB, 1 GB for each referred user. An additional 100 GB will cost €9.99/month, expandable up to 1 TB.

Despite the presence of a Web Access section on the Wuala website, there is no shell as such. Therefore, similar to SpiderOak, you have to use the desktop application. Fortunately, it pleases with good functionality.

The application allows you to create backups, synchronize on different devices, thanks to the backup and synchronization wizard, respectively. Wuala also allows you to recover deleted files or their versions, share files, invite users and manage groups. The appearance and notifications of the widget are customizable in detail, and there is selective integration with the file system.

On the user's computer, files are stored in encrypted form. When transferring data to the Wuala server, AES-256 encryption is used, RSA 2048 for signatures and keys, and SHA-256 for integrity checking.

Syncplicity

Syncplicity is a cloud solution for collaboration and convenient access to data from mobile and desktop platforms.

2 GB of space provided for free is not the best option for backup. However, through referrals you can increase it by another 3 GB. 50 GB of this plan costs $15/month. In the Business and Enterprise editions there are no restrictions on disk space, but the price is appropriate - it starts at $45/month.

The desktop application allows you to quickly set up directories for synchronization using a simple file manager. There is selective synchronization - you can include or exclude a subdirectory. Version control is provided for synchronized data, making it easy to recover lost data. It is possible to open access, but it is not possible to provide access to directories, only to individual files. For published files, there is a Shared links section, where you can, in particular, track the number of downloads.

The web interface is minimalistic and fast. In addition to viewing data on the server, I was pleased with the convenient editing mode, uploading files, and previewing images. In your account settings, you can manage subscriptions, devices, and connected services.

Data transmitted or stored on Syncplicity is encrypted using AES 256bit technology, and encryption is also applied during authorization.

[email protected]

According to information from the start page of the cloud.mail.ru service, the most attractive thing is 100 GB, provided free of charge, without any conditions for receipt. In fact, there are no restrictions, but any reference information or choice of tariff plan is not available. All this can be attributed to the “youth” of the service, which appeared later than its competitors, being in beta status.

Having studied the Cloud web shell, we can say that it is clearly unfinished. Drag and drop is not supported; when uploading folders, files are copied without maintaining the structure. As has become customary to note, you cannot upload files larger than 2 GB via the web interface. However, there are no alternative methods available. On the other hand, you can preview videos, images, presentations, and listen to music. There are data display modes to choose from, quick publication of a link (Russian-language services are included in the list). Users of mail.ru services may benefit from integration of the cloud with mail.

The desktop application is intended only to synchronize the specified directory in the cloud. There are no settings: you can’t not only set up a backup, but even limit the upload or download speed. Integration with the file system is not provided.

Yandex.Disk

When registering, you are allocated 3 GB of free disk space (with a maximum file size of 10 GB), which can be increased to 10 GB and 20 GB by inviting friends using a referral link. The cost of 100 GB is 150 rubles/month.

The web interface is visually pleasing and easy to use. There is a complaint about the loader - it does not allow you to place files while maintaining the structure. Let's say if you drag a folder into it, the result will be a 4 KB file downloaded. Otherwise, there are no complaints about the interface. There is search, sorting, file operations, preview, music playback and publishing, collaboration are available. There is a separate section for the camera that allows you to backup information from the device, similar to SkyDrive. There is no version control, so important backup functions are not fully implemented.

The desktop widget will be useful for sharing data and synchronizing. True, there are not so many settings: for example, you cannot exclude or include a subdirectory in the cloud. The speed of data exchange is also uncontrollable.

Yandex.Disk supports encryption, all cloud data is scanned for viruses. “The safety of files is ensured by the most modern technologies” - no other details.

LiveDrive

LiveDrive doesn't offer free storage, but a trial version is available for each plan. The inconvenience is that without entering payment information you will have to constantly be distracted by the notification in the control panel. For each user invitation via a referral link, 3 months of free use of the service are provided. 1 TB of additional space will cost $8 per month - which, by the way, is much cheaper than competitors.

Online data management is available starting with the Briefcase plan. The interface cannot be characterized as responsive: delays are noticeable to the eye, problematic dialog for downloading files (although a flash or java loader is available to choose from). It is possible to publish files or provide access to other users; a special section has been created to control open access resources. The music collection is managed through a separate manager and player - this is, perhaps, all that concerns working with multimedia.

The desktop application provides scheduled backup options. You can exclude certain types of data from the list of files to be copied. The widget informs you about the copying status and allows you to pause or limit the transfer speed. The app for Windows 8 is available in the store.

You can enable encryption during transfer in the LiveDrive widget settings, as well as when logging in to the server.

OziBox

The OziBox service evokes associations with [email protected]. These are the same free 100 GB and the absence of any information on tariffs. It’s surprising that there are no advertisements on the pages: apparently, the developers are thinking about a way to monetize. With all the uncertainty, distrust arises: how reliable is the storage of data on a service where there are no prices or other specifics, not to mention such an important aspect as security.

OziBox is met with a rather outdated interface, with periodic errors, lack of preview, and a not very convenient download window (when uploading folders, the same problem as on Yandex Disk). Although some minimal means for providing access to data are available. As a result, file management here is possible, but very difficult, but there is no need to talk about normal backup tools.

The desktop widget does not help the situation much, providing options for synchronizing the home directory and adjusting the transfer speed.

FilesAnywhere

FilesAnywhere is not one of those services that lures you with free features. 1 GB is given as a gift, 100 GB will cost $24.99/month (we are talking about the single-user Personal plan). The Professional edition has no traffic limits, user management and other features are available. However, backup functions are also provided in the free version.

The web interface is notable for the fact that, in addition to sorting, searching and file operations, it displays data in the form of graphs and charts, grouped by date, size, type and other properties. To add files to the server, there is not only a downloader, but also 6 alternative methods to choose from. If you select the Silverlight or Java Upload option, the 2 GB file limit for uploading disappears.

Also on FilesAnywhere there are many options for providing access to data: sending a link by email, direct file transfer, group access, and even sending a fax. In the History section, a history of file changes is available, with convenient search and filtering.

Important tools are collected in the Tools section. Reporting, grouping by tags and virtual folders are available here. Additional tools include file recovery, download time estimation, and document conversion.

FilesAnywhere uses 128/256-bit SSL and AES 256-bit encryption before uploading to the server.

Not long ago, the 1C: Cloud Archive service became available to 1C users, allowing them to store 1C backups in the cloud. Many have already appreciated all the advantages of this solution:

automatic operation without human intervention;
storing copies on secure servers accessible anywhere there is Internet access;
standard service included in 1C:Enterprise version 8.2 and higher;
Pay only for a subscription, without having to buy hardware and software.

A 1C backup in the cloud costs about 8,000 rubles per year. However, in this article we will help you set up a similar service absolutely free of charge. At the same time, our system will be deprived of some limitations of a regular cloud archiver, for example:

it is possible to work with both file and client-server versions;
automatic disconnection of users before 1C backup to the cloud.

1C backup to the cloud. Step 1 - create a disk

To implement a free 1C backup to the cloud, we need the cloud storage itself and a program that supports data exchange with this storage.

We suggest using Yandex.Disk as a disk, which provides as much as 10GB of space when creating a mailbox. Although this volume is half the size of the paid service from 1C, I can say from experience that it is quite enough to store 30 medium-sized 1C backups in the cloud.

An example of a working script can be downloaded from our website. Remember that you must use CP866 encoding when saving. The file is commented, so we will only focus on some constants that require editing:
EXEC_PATH - after the equal sign, indicate the path to the 1cv8.exe file
BACKUP_PATH - path to the local folder with backup copies LOGIN and PASSWORD - respectively login and password of the 1C user who is allowed to upload information security
BASE - path to the 1C database (for the file version the format will be /F"C:\Path to IB\", and for the client-server /S"Cluster_1C\DB_Name").

Help setting up a backup?

Before setting up the program that performs 1C cloud backup, you need to configure this script so that when it is launched, a .dt file is generated in the C:\1c_base\_backup folder.

Installing the downloaded Handy Backup should not create any difficulties, everything is standard for Windows applications.

We set up and test free 1C cloud backup

Everything is ready to set up a free 1C cloud backup. First of all, let's set up a mailing list about the operation of the backup system - this will allow you to monitor the operation of the system simply by viewing mail.

And so, let's fill it out
SMTP server: smtp.yandex.ru,
port 465,
From: your email on yandex, for example [email protected]
To: your mailbox, where you should receive updates about the operation of our free 1C cloud backup, for example host@site
Subject: any email subject convenient for you
The Yandex mail server requires authentication when sending, so check the "Use SMTP authentication" checkbox and enter the email address in the User field, for example [email protected] and the mail password in the Password field.

We complete the settings by sending a test letter by clicking on the Send test message button. If everything is done correctly, a window will appear indicating that the test was successfully completed, and an email will be sent to you from our future free 1C cloud backup.

Now is the time to create a backup job. To do this, click File - New Task and select Create Backup. Creation will take place in wizard mode, which breaks the entire process into several steps. To continue, click Next and go to step 2, where we select the data source.

Select Local or Network Drive as the data source and check the same folder C:\1c_base\_backup in the drop-down list. After confirming the selection with the OK button, File filters become available, in which it makes sense to include *.dt file masks so as not to copy unnecessary items.

At this point, step 2 is completed, and you can move on to choosing a storage location for a free 1C cloud backup. Here we select Yandex Disk and in the right window double-click on New Configuration. The system will display a window with an invitation Connect to Yandex Disk, clicking on which in the browser window will open a request for Handy Backup access to your cloud disk. And if you provide access, a window indicating a successful connection will appear.

In the current configuration, all that remains is to specify the backup folder _backup created at the very beginning. This will change the "Where" field. You should get something like Yandex Disk config.hbl\_backup.

Next, you can proceed to step 4 and select the number of copies of 1C to be stored in our cloud backup. Copy mode - Full only, because we will always save only 1 .dt file and check the box "Store multiple backups", select "Save old versions" and the desired period. I chose 1 month.

At the 6th step of setting up a free 1C cloud backup, we turn on the scheduler. This will allow you to automatically complete tasks. When setting the start time in the "Start" field, try to choose a period when the load on the network and 1C database is low, for example, after the end of the working day. Because my computer runs 24 hours a day, i chose 2:00 am and the days of the week are monday to friday.

It is very important to disconnect all users before unloading the 1C database, otherwise the entire task may end in error. Therefore, in the next step we will need the script that we wrote earlier. Select "Run program before copying" and indicate the path to our script. Check the box “Wait until the program finishes”, because The process of shutting down 1C users takes some time. And don’t forget to tell the program that we want to receive reports on the operation of the free 1C cloud backup.

At the last step, we can give a meaningful name to our task and check the “Run this task immediately” checkbox.

During the work process, 1C should start and unload simultaneously with all currently working users, create a .dt archive in the C:\1c_base\_backup folder, and receive a letter with a report on the status of copying this file to Yandex Disk.

It is also worth installing a backup service so that the program works autonomously.

Restoring from a 1C backup in the cloud

You can restore 1C from a backup copy in the cloud on any computer with access to the Internet and access codes to Yandex services.

To begin recovery, you will also need to have the Handy Backup program installed, in which you need to create a new “Recover Data” task. The task also runs as a wizard consisting of several steps.

At the first step of restoring 1C, a cloud service is selected from a backup copy - in our case, Yandex Disk. You will need to go through the connection process in the same way as you did during the backup process. After this, it will be possible to expand the _backup folder and select the backup.hbi index file located in one of the folders numbered from 0. The most recent copy will have a higher number.

At the next step of restoring 1C from a backup in the cloud, you should select a recovery location. By default, this will be the same folder from which the backup was made - in our case C:\1c_base\_backup. If such a folder structure does not exist on the computer, the system itself will try to create it. If desired, you can change the destination by clicking the Change Location button.

In the 4th step, select Full recovery, then enter the password for our encrypted backup. In the sixth step, you do not need to enable the scheduler, unless you are not going to synchronize the databases. And in the last 7th step, you can name the task and complete it.

While the task is running in the specified location, a backup copy of the 1C database in .dt format will be restored from the cloud, which can later be deployed on any system in any version (file or client-server).

Results of creating a 1C cloud backup system

Using the described method, you can set up a 1C cloud backup system absolutely free of charge and save from 8,000 rubles per year. For those who found such setup complicated or encountered difficulties, but would like to protect their data and are not ready to spend extra money, our team is ready to implement this or similar or more complex projects on a paid basis.

How to make backup automatic, understandable and, most importantly, free? Read about an unusual option in this article.

Hello everyone, it's time to talk about free backup. Not the boring stuff that is offered as usual, but the unusual stuff that I practice as an Internet user. Just read the article carefully, without immediately scrolling to the end, okay?

You know that most people don't even think about it until something happens to their computer. So I, just like you, am not very interested in diving into the details of this lesson. But on the contrary, I want to find a simple solution on how to make backups easily and simply.

Backing up files to the cloud

I came up with the idea, why not use cloud data storage not only for file synchronization, which I have already written about more than once, but also for backup storage of important files. Why cloud storage? They have several advantages that outweigh their disadvantages compared to flash drives and external hard drives.

The main advantage application of cloud technologies, in my humble opinion, is automatic backup. You do not need to constantly monitor the relevance of your backups; they will always be fresh.

Second advantage– this is the availability of your data from anywhere where there is Internet. But this can also become a major disadvantage if there is no Internet.

The third advantage for me there will be almost maximum data protection from loss. Most likely, viruses will not reach my cloud drive and corrupt the files on it. And if they suddenly get there, you can always look at the previous version of the file and roll back the changes.

I hope I have convinced you a little that backing up and restoring data from cloud storage can be simple and convenient. Although, if you have an external hard drive, then some long-term copies of data (photo archive) can be stored on it.

What will we reserve?

Just think, among all the many files that you have on your computer, only two types are truly important: photos and documents. Of course, each of you will add something else related to your professional activities. Everything else can be downloaded online, right? You can easily find music, videos, films, programs on the World Wide Web. But if important documents or photographs of relatives and friends disappear, then you are unlikely to download them from somewhere, because more often than not they are all stored only on your computer.

Let's now see which cloud storage services are suitable for backing up files. Of course, there are specialized paid cloud storage for backups, but I think you are more interested in free options, like me. But the free offers have one drawback - little cloud space. Typically, the average volume of a free cloud disk is around 5-10 GB. This is not enough for a full backup, but if you think carefully, we don’t need much.

When choosing cloud storage for file backup, I was guided by three characteristics: speed file transfer, volume storage and convenience use. I have identified three categories for the most common file types among ordinary users - photos, documents and music.

Nomination “For photos”. Winner -SkyDrive

I can offer you two options:Yandex Disk And 4Sync. Yandex Disk provides 10 GB of cloud storage and has a built-in music player. files and the maximum data transfer speed among all the cloud drives that I wrote about, you can read his review . 4sync gives 15 Gate,The speed is also great. Although this service is foreign, it has a Russian-language interface and is easy to use. It can play not only music, but also video, which I really like. Both of these services are good for storing photos, but what if you need more?

In this case, I suggest you take a look at. It has such an interface that it is suitable for photography. I recommend reading his review. Its file transfer speed is average; for new users they provide 7 GB, which is also not bad. It is very convenient to view photos in SkyDrive; the work speed is very high, even with large photos. If you have less than seven gigabytes of photos, then SkyDrive will be an excellent solution for you. Alternatively, old photos can be stored on Yandex Disk or 4Sync, and newer ones on SkyDrive.

Nomination “For documents”. Winner –SkyDrive

SkyDrive again, you ask? Yes, that's it. Because I have never seen a more convenient solution for storing and working with documents online. You can create and edit documents in the browser, saving them in your preferred format (docx). Everything I talk about here I described in the SkyDrive review. If you haven't read it yet, please do so.

An alternative solution for working with documents is . Google Drive used to be called Google Docs, you may have heard of them. Here you can also create and edit documents, however, they are saved in a special format, which not everyone likes. So the winner will be SkyDrive.

Nomination “For Music” Winner – Yandex Disk

I have already described Yandex Disk a little in the first category, I invite you to read its review. Why him? Its main competitor will be 4Sync due to its faster data transfer speed and larger storage capacity. This may be decisive for you, but using 4Sync it is not very convenient to listen to music directly in the browser, unlike Yandex Disk. It has something like a music player. The songs will be played one by one if you open a song in any folder.

Backup setup

So, the essence of my information backup scheme is to use several cloud file storages. Above I described the advantages and disadvantages of the storage that is most suitable in my opinion, but you can choose any other if it is more convenient for you.

Most cloud storage creates folders on your hard drive in which you need to place files to upload them to the network. Therefore, you need to move your working folders inside the cloud service directories. You can also do the same with system folders, but this is not for everyone.

Let's say that you have chosen SkyDrive to store your photos and documents. In this case, you just need to move the files described above to a special SkyDrive directory and work only with it in the future. The same goes for music and other files.

But for users SugarSync you don’t need to do anything like that, since this service is not tied to one folder - you can select any one and don’t need to move anything. Although, it seems to me that because of such freedom there is confusion about what is synchronized and what is not.

As a result, it turns out that you will not only have backup files, but also synchronize them, which will not be superfluous. In any case, you can always set up synchronization of only some selected folders between computers. The rest will simply be stored in cloud storage.

One more thing. To make it easier to work with multiple cloud storages, use the Internet service, which allows you to combine all your cloud drives in one place. You can read the review.

In the previous two articles I configured LAMP on VPS And screwed nginx to it. The next thing you immediately start thinking about is how not to lose it all. That is, we are talking about backup.

Let's discuss in order: what, where and how to backup.

What

All the configs that you painstakingly edited ( /etc)
All user files ( /home, /root)
Databases (we'll mean MySQL)

Where

Nowadays everything goes into the “clouds”. I want to put backups there too.

Yandex.Disk turned out to be a very interesting option for storing backups. It has several advantages:

Free 10 GB
It is located in Russia, and files are uploaded to it very quickly
It can work using the WebDAV protocol, which allows you to download data from the console using the curl command

How

Here is the prescription. Login as root and create a script:

Chmod 0700 backup-now.sh

The script text will be something like this:

#!/bin/bash SERVER_NAME="server1" TIME=`date +%Y-%b` FS_FILE=/tmp/$SERVER_NAME-fs.$TIME.tar.gz MYSQL_FILE=/tmp/$SERVER_NAME-mysql.$TIME .sql.gz # Archiving filesystem tar -czf $FS_FILE /etc /root /home # Archiving databases mysqldump -u root --password=qwerty --all-databases | gzip > $MYSQL_FILE # Uploading to the cloud curl --user USER:PASSWORD -T "($FS_FILE,$MYSQL_FILE)" https://webdav.yandex.ru/ # Cleanup unlink $FS_FILE unlink $MYSQL_FILE

The first time it is better to run the commands one at a time, commenting out the rest. If everything goes well, two archives will appear in your Yandex.Disk.

Now for automation you need to add a symlink to backup-now.sh in /etc/cron.daily (or /etc/cron.weekly). Just keep in mind that on some systems (in particular, on Debian) the extension () must be removed from the symlink.

The $TIME variable is selected so that you will have backups from the last day of each month. If you don’t want to clutter up the cloud, you can remove this from the script, but practice shows that old copies can be useful. You will just need to periodically remove the old stuff.

What if I don’t want Yandex.Disk?

Obviously, you can upload to any resource that supports WebDAV. There are services that provide WebDAV access to Dropbox or Google Drive (for example, Otixo, SMEStorage, DropDAV). Rumor has it that SkyDrive works via WebDAV. There is also hope that support will appear in Dropbox out of the box.

P.S. Encrypting archives using GnuPG

Since backups contain a bunch of secret information (passwords, data), it makes sense to encrypt them:

GPG_COMMAND="gpg -c -z 0 --batch --passphrase XXXXXXXXXX" FS_FILE=/tmp/$SERVER_NAME-fs.$TIME.tar.gz.gpg MYSQL_FILE=/tmp/$SERVER_NAME-mysql.$TIME.sql. gz.gpg # Archiving filesystem tar -cz /etc /root /home | $GPG_COMMAND > $FS_FILE # Archiving databases mysqldump -u root --password=qwerty --all-databases | gzip | $GPG_COMMAND > $MYSQL_FILE . . .

Greetings, dear readers of my blog. You've probably heard about a program that allows you to store files on a Yandex server. If not, welcome to soft.yandex.ru - it is there.

So here it is. A few days ago, when I was browsing websites, I came across a blog where a script was published that allows you to save a backup copy of a website to Yandex disk. In this article I will talk about it in detail.

What do we need

1. Server, login, password and name of the mysql database, if, of course, your site works with this database;
2. Path from the root of the disk to your site (ask hosting support);
3. e-mail and password that you use to log into Yandex (this also includes data from the Yandex disk).

Working with a site backup file on Yandex disk

First you need to change the mysql server address. In most cases, this is localhost, so I left it there, but if it’s different, replace it with yours in the line

$dbhost = "localhost"; //MySQL server address.

In the line below, replace “database_user” with your value for the mysql database user name.

"database_name" - the name of the mysql database.

Instead of "site_dear_hear" we insert our path to the site from the root of the disk.

After this, we proceed to setting up Yandex disk:

1. “ “ replace with your email address in Yandex;
2. “yandex_password” for the password from Yandex mail;
3. Create a “backup” directory in the root folder of the Yandex disk (your backup copies will be saved there).

All. Save the file and upload it to the server.

I do not recommend uploading it to the root directory of the site, because all sorts of robots will constantly access it, which is why the Yandex disk will be filled with extra copies of backups. It's better to create a folder, for example "a3hd7siq8a7s9xeeewwwerw-0-032-_2" so that no one except you and cran knows where you have it.

Cran is a task scheduler: a special program with which you can schedule scripts to run, but I don’t know how to use it, so I can’t help here.

What to do if there are several sites

You probably already know that I have five websites. Naturally, you will get tired of running them separately, but it’s good that in the same article a second script was posted that launches all the other scripts in turn.

2. Replace site1.ru, site2.ru, etc. with the addresses of your sites. In addition, do not forget to write after it the folder in which this script is located;
3. Save the changes and upload to the server, placing it as far as possible from the site's root folder.

If you have less than five sites, simply remove the lines that look like:

Echo " "; $response = file_get_contents("http://site5.ru/beckup.php"); echo iconv("Windows-1251", "utf-8", $response);

If you have a website in zone.rf, before you register the address, you will have to translate it into Panycode

I hope that the article was useful to you.

I'm waiting for your comments.

A lot has been written about backup to external media in Windows 7 or 8.1. But what if you use multiple devices (for example, computer, tablet, Windows phone)? And you urgently need data, say, documents stored on a computer or some other device? In such a case, it is best to create a backup copy in the cloud. By the way, I would recommend placing your archives there too. For example, archives of the same documents. By the way, this is also very useful if you use an SSD solid-state drive in your laptop instead of a regular hard drive. In this article we will look at the main cloud storage systems - OneDrive from Microsoft, Google Drive, Dropbox and Yandex Drive.

Using OneDrive is quite beneficial if you are running Windows 8.1. In this case, the storage capacity can be 15 GB, and if you are also a happy owner of an Office 365 subscription, then the OneDrive storage capacity is not at all limited. New Google Drive users start with 15 GB. Dropbox starts out with only 2GB of free space, but most users quickly increase that to 5GB or more. A 1 TB subscription costs $10 per month or $100 annually.

All services allow you to specify which files and folders you want to synchronize with the cloud. This means you can keep some files and folders in your cloud drive only and upload them as needed. Let's take a closer look at how this is done.

To get started with Dropbox, you need to go to www.dropbox.com, register and select the appropriate subscription plan for personal use (see Screen 1). You will then be prompted to download the appropriate package for installation (see Screen 2).

Screen 1: Dropbox

In fact, selective sync allows you to specify which folders you want to sync with Dropbox. This is certainly convenient if you have a netbook or computer with a small hard drive (and don’t have an external one with you). Please note that selective sync folders must be inside your Dropbox folder. Thus, for selective synchronization, you need to copy the files that you want to transfer (copy) to the Dropbox cloud storage to the appropriate folder on the disk.

If you unsync a shared folder through the Selective Sync menu in the Settings window, it will stop syncing only with your computer. In this case, the folder itself will remain in Dropbox and will be synchronized with the accounts of other users who have access to it. To stop using a shared folder, you can either leave it on the Dropbox website or (if you created it yourself) unshare it.

To download Google Disk, you'll need to sign in to your Google services account and then select the Google Disk service (see Figure 4).

You can configure the following settings.

Disable Account. Sync your Google Drive folder with another Google account (not recommended).
Expand storage space. Buy extra space.

Synchronization options

Sync only some folders with this computer. Check the boxes next to folders in My Drive to enable synchronization. Uncheck the boxes next to folders that you don't want to sync.
Synchronize objects that I have access to. If you're using the new Drive experience, move files and folders from the Available section to the My Drive folder to sync them with your computer. If you're using classic Drive, add the folders and files in the Shared with Me section to the My Drive folder.

Advanced

Launch Google Drive automatically when you turn on your computer. Google Drive will launch and sync the folder on your computer with the My Drive section.
Send crash reports and usage statistics to Google. Send information to Google so that the service can be improved.
Proxy server. Two functions are available to you: “Direct connection" and "Automatically detect proxy server settings."
Other. Display file synchronization status icons.

Select files and folders to synchronize with your computer. All Google documents, sheets, presentations, forms, pictures, and pivot tables sync to a Google Drive folder on your computer. To turn off synchronization, follow these steps:

1. Click on the Google Drive icon.

On Mac computers, you can usually find it in the Menu bar at the top right of the screen.

2. Select Settings.

3. Uncheck "Sync only some folders with this computer."

4. Click the Apply Changes button.

“My Disk” section (all files or individual folders). All files and folders in My Drive are synced to the Google Drive folder on your computer. To set up synchronization of individual folders, follow these steps:

1. Move the files to the folders you plan to sync.

2. Click the Google Drive icon on your desktop.

On Mac computers, you can find it in the Menu bar at the top right of the screen.
On Windows computers, the icon is located in the taskbar in the lower right corner of the screen.

3. Select Settings.

4. Select the "Sync only some folders with this computer" checkbox.

5. Select the folders you want to sync with your Google Drive folder.

6. Click the Apply Changes button.

Working with OneDrive

If you're using the Windows 8.1 operating system, One Drive storage is provided to you by default. OneDrive is free online storage that comes with a Microsoft account. Getting started with OneDrive is easy. You can add files already saved on your computer to OneDrive by copying or moving them. You can save new files to OneDrive so you can use them from any device and share them with others. And if your computer has a built-in camera, you can automatically save copies of your photos to OneDrive so you always have a backup. Unlike previous storage options, you can save files directly to One Drive without saving them to your computer.

Desktop app features built into Windows

OneDrive syncs files when you sign in with a Microsoft account. If you install the desktop app on a computer running Windows 8.1, the installer does not appear. A component will be installed that will allow you to use Office to work with OneDrive documents at the same time as other users, but other components will not be installed. If you're running Windows 7 or 8, you can download the classic OneDrive management app at onedrive.live.com/about/en-us/download/.

For Windows 8.1 users, just do the following (see Figure 6):

Open OneDrive in Windows Explorer.
Right-click on the file (folder) and select “Make available offline” or “Make available online only.”

As shown in Screen 8, to synchronize Yandex Disk, just copy the corresponding files to the Yandex.Disk folder. At first glance, this approach to synchronization is most reminiscent of Google Disk. This is partly true.

Using the Yandex.Disk web application, you can download the corresponding application for Windows. For selective synchronization, you need to enter the Yandex Disk settings panel and select the “Synchronization” tab. If you uncheck the corresponding folder, it will not be synchronized. To upload files to a folder where synchronization is disabled, you can simply drag the files into it in Explorer. Thus, in this case, the contents of the Yandex Disk root folder are always synchronized, and the contents of subfolders can be synchronized at your choice.

The main difference between Yandex Disk and Dropbox and Google Disk is that you can save files to Yandex.Disk directly from Microsoft Office.

Thus, using cloud storage, you can not only increase your hard drive space, but also provide a backup copy of your most important files (documents, photos, etc.). If we compare the ease of using selective synchronization, the conclusion is clear. Both Dropbox and Google Disk configure selection at the folder level. Thus, you need to go to the “Settings” dialog of the corresponding service and manually specify which folders are synchronized and which are not. A solution that supports the context menu in Explorer and allows you to configure file synchronization and placement exists today only from Microsoft.

– a convenient, functional and cheap solution. Handy Backup allows you to avoid using the popular WebDAV interface for Yandex.Disk, using direct access instead.

Automatic backup to Yandex.Disk

With Handy Backup, you can backup any data to Yandex.Disk automatically, on a schedule at intervals from months to minutes or by event, or manually. You can automate the copying of any data, such as:

User data:

Files and folders (with the ability to search by name mask)
Windows Libraries, User Folders
Microsoft Outlook, files and folders of other email clients

Server data types:

Databases MS SQL, MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, Oracle, IBM DB2, Lotus Notes
Microsoft Exchange
Content of FTP, SFTP or FTPS servers with SSL/TLS encryption
Websites (static and dynamic content)

Virtual machines and storage:

Hyper-V, VMware
Servers, arrays and virtual machine hosts
Clouds Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, OneDrive, Box, 4shared and others
Any clouds via WebDAV interface

Other data types:

Disk images
1C data in file and SQL versions, for 1C 7.7 and 1C 8 solutions, for example, 1C 8.2
Files, folders and libraries of network machines (for network solutions)
Windows Registry

Advantages of the Handy Backup solution for organizing backups on Yandex.Disk

Protecting your data

Handy Backup has built-in tools for encrypting and compressing data into an archive under a password, allowing you to safely transfer commercial information over open networks and store it on a public cloud service without fears for data integrity.

Product Certification

Open storage of copies in original formats

In contrast to the strong protection provided by encryption and compression, Handy Backup generally creates backups that preserve the original file format. This allows you to view, edit and even restore backups like regular files.

Version 7.9.4 dated September 15, 2017. 66.1 MB
Backup program Handy Backup. 7400 RUB per license

The Office Expert solution allows you to copy any type of data from one computer to Yandex.Disk automatically on a schedule, both directly and via WebDAV. Free trial period 30 days!

How to create a backup task to Yandex.Disk in Handy Backup?

Instead of the outdated WebDAV backup, Yandex.Disk is now used to organize backups new plugin Handy Backup Yandex Disk with access to the cloud service via the RestAPI interface. To use it, follow these steps:

Open Handy Backup and create a new task using the button on the panel or menu.
Select a backup task.
Switch to Step 2 and select the desired data to create a backup copy.
On Step 3 select the plugin from the list of storages Yandex.Disk, double-click on it.

In the window that opens, double-click “New configuration”. A new dialog will open.

Click the button “Connect to Yandex.Disk”. You will be redirected to your browser.
In the browser window, enter login and password for access to Yandex.Disk. Confirm your choice.

Return to the Handy Backup window and select the created configuration.
Then continue setting up the task as usual. On Step 6 indicate the schedule.
In the last step, give your task a name and complete the Create Task Wizard.

Your automatic backup task to Yandex.Disk is ready for execution, and will be launched in the future with the specified frequency at the specified time. You can also start it manually at any time.

Comment: in the same way, tasks are created to copy data to other cloud services: Google Drive, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, Amazon S3, Box, and so on.

Video tutorial about Yandex Disk backup

This video tutorial covers instructions for backing up to Yandex Disk, as well as backing up data stored in this cloud.

Attention: This video instruction is based on the assumption that Handy Backup software is already installed on the computer. If this is not the case, please download and install Handy Backup before starting the video tutorial.

Backup to Yandex.Disk via WebDAV

Despite the availability of a new tool for direct access to the Yandex.Disk service, in some cases the traditional method may be more preferable - for example, backing up a site to Yandex.Disk via WebDAV using an external cryptography utility.

Handy Backup fully supports backup to Yandex.Disk using the WebDAV protocol.

To use WebDAV to access Yandex.Disk, select the WebDAV plugin in Step 3, using the task creation algorithm described above. In the WebDAV configuration dialog box, enter your Yandex.Disk access settings.

Attention: When using WebDAB, backup to Yandex.Disk may be slightly slower than with direct access. For example, backing up 1C to Yandex.Disk usually takes a significant amount of time when using WebDAV.

Automatic backup to Yandex.Disk using Handy Backup has become even easier and faster with the introduction of a new tool that uses direct access to the Yandex cloud service. Try it for yourself by downloading a free 30-day trial!

Hello friends!

It's only been 4 years since I last blogged. During this time, a large base of knowledge and experience has been accumulated. A lot of interesting work was done and many interesting projects were completed. I will try to talk about some of them (read: “without violating trade secrets”) in several posts.
Several things prompted me to return. Firstly, it turned out that many of the things written have not yet lost their relevance. Secondly, it turned out that people liked reading it. It was very nice :) Example: three months ago at an interview they asked me why I abandoned my blog and praised me. They said if they take me, I’ll write for their wall newspaper. They didn’t take it, so I won’t write newspapers for the walls :)

But this is all lyrics, let's get down to business.
The task arose to set up a backup on Yandex.Disk. Of course, there are many scripts, but most offer simple copying of a file without checking the fact of copying, without reports and other things. In the end, one good person sent me a link to the blog of a certain friend with the nickname del, who solved this problem. Given his nickname, I read the script, then tested it. Everything works fine, all files are in place, nothing is sent to the side.
I warn you that the script does not essentially archive data. Those. There is compression, but it is minimal. If you need to properly compress data, then use “tar --help” or “man tar” for FreeBSD. By the way, I really love FreeBSD precisely for their man's. More precisely, for the almost permanent need to read them. Every time you read, you get the feeling that “just about... a killer will appear..”, but again disappointment. No killer, no meaning in life.

Now the script itself. Please note that an Applications folder will be created in the root directory of your disk. Look for everything there. Also, the script leaves all comments in Russian, so many may have problems with the encoding. As usual, there are two solutions. Either we install the one we need on the server, or we rewrite everything into transliteration. You can also translate it into English. The latter is best, because... who wants to read quotes from the Necronomicon or a handwritten doctor's prescription.
Also note that at the beginning of the script there is a standard #!/bin/bash
Please note that FreeBSD does not support bash, so you need to replace this line with #!/bin/sh, otherwise it won't start.

It may be necessary to upload backups of projects (sites) to Yandex.Disk for several reasons, for example, due to lack of space on the server (hosting, VDS, VPS) or to increase the security of storing backups (in case the server is not raided and it goes out of service). building).

In this regard, I wrote for myself and decided to post for others a small bash script for backup on Yandex.Disk. Script functions:
- Creating backup projects on the server (files + MySQL databases);
- Authorization on Yandex.Disk as an application (using a token, a more secure method than using a login and password);
- Sending backups from the server to Yandex.Disk;
- Deleting old backups from Yandex.Disk to save space (the maximum number of stored backups can be configured);
- Recording and sending the log by e-mail (configurable).

In order to use the script, you must first receive a token from Yandex.Disk. Let's get started.

1. Log in to Yandex under the account on whose disk we will make backups, go to oauth.yandex.ru and click “Register a new application.”

2. Fill in the name of the application (for example, “backup”) and grant the necessary rights in the “Yandex.Disk REST API” section, namely: “Access to information about Disk” and “Access to the application folder on Disk”.

Below on the same page, under the “Callback URL” field, click “substitute URL for development” and click “Save”:

3. After saving the application settings, we will be redirected to a page with application data:

4. Now we will get the token itself (if you want, you can read more about this in the Yandex manual), for this we copy the ID, insert https://oauth.yandex.ru/authorize?response_type=token&client_id= at the end of the URL, go to the resulting address and confirm that permissions are granted to the application:

As a result, the page will display a token that is issued for at least 1 year, so if the backup script suddenly stops working, we can get a new token and substitute it in the script. You can test the capabilities of working with Yandex.Disk using the received token at a special test site.

And now the bash script itself for backup to Yandex.Disk:

#!/bin/bash # # Yandex.Disk backup script v1.0 by Sergey Lukonin (neblog.info) # # # # # # # # # # # MYSQL BACKUP SETTINGS # # # # # # # # # # # Server DB MYSQL_SERVER=mysql.some-server.ru # User under which we will make backups of available databases, mysql root usually has access to all databases, an individual user usually has access to the database of a specific project MYSQL_USER=some-user # Database user password (Password for server root and do not confuse different ones from the mysql root) MYSQL_PASSWORD=some-password # # # # # # # # # # GENERAL SETTINGS # # # # # # # # # # # Directory for temporary storage of backups that are deleted after sending to Yandex.Disk BACKUP_DIR="/home/www/backup" # Project name, used in logs and archive names PROJECT="neblog.info" # Maximum number of backups stored on Yandex.Disk (0 - store all backups): MAX_BACKUPS="14" # Date, used in archive names DATE=`date "+%Y-%m-%d"` # Directories for archiving (indicated by a space), which will be placed in a single archive and sent to Yandex.Disk DIRS="/home/ www/projects/neblog" # Yandex.Disk token (how to get it - see neblog.info) TOKEN="" # Log file name, stored in the directory specified in $BACKUP_DIR LOGFILE="backup.log" # E- mail to send the result of the script execution. Leave blank if you do not want to send results. sendLog=" " # Send only errors (true). Specify false if you want to send logs for any result of script execution. sendLogErrorsOnly="false" # # # # # # # # # # END OF SETTINGS # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING FURTHER! # # # # # # # # # # function mailing() ( if [ ! $sendLog = "" ];then if [ "$sendLogErrorsOnly" == true ]; then if echo "$1" | grep -q "error" then echo "$2" | mail -s "$1" $sendLog > /dev/null fi else echo "$2" | mail -s "$1" $sendLog > /dev/null fi fi ) function logger() ( echo "[ "`date "+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S"`"] File $BACKUP_DIR: $1" >> $BACKUP_DIR/$LOGFILE ) function parseJson() ( local output regex="( \"$1\":[\"]?)([^\",\)]+)([\"]?)" [[ $2 =~ $regex ]] && output=$(BASH_REMATCH) echo $output ) function checkError() ( echo $(parseJson "error" "$1") ) function getUploadUrl() ( json_out=`curl -s -H "Authorization: OAuth $TOKEN" https://cloud-api.yandex.net: 443/v1/disk/resources/upload/?path=app:/$backupName&overwrite=true` json_error=$(checkError "$json_out") if [[ $json_error != "" ]]; then logger "$PROJECT - Yandex .Disk error: $json_error" mailing "$PROJECT - Yandex. Disk backup error" "ERROR copy file $FILENAME. Yandex.Disk error: $json_error" echo "" else output=$(parseJson "href" $json_out) echo $output fi ) function uploadFile ( local json_out local uploadUrl local json_error uploadUrl=$(getUploadUrl) if [[ $uploadUrl != "" ]]; then echo $UploadUrl json_out=`curl -s -T $1 -H "Authorization: OAuth $TOKEN" $uploadUrl` json_error=$(checkError "$json_out") if [[ $json_error != "" ] ]; then logger "$PROJECT - Yandex.Disk error: $json_error" mailing "$PROJECT - Yandex.Disk backup error" "ERROR copy file $FILENAME. Yandex.Disk error: $json_error" else logger "$PROJECT - Copying file to Yandex.Disk success" mailing "$PROJECT - Yandex.Disk backup success" "SUCCESS copy file $FILENAME" fi else echo "Some errors occured. Check log file for detail" fi ) function backups_list() ( # Search in the application directory all backup files and display their names: curl -s -H "Authorization: OAuth $TOKEN" "https://cloud-api.yandex.net:443/v1/disk/resources?path=app:/&sort=created&limit= 100" | tr "()," "\n" | grep "name[[:graph:]]*.tar.gz" | cut -d: -f 2 | tr -d """ ) function backups_count() ( local bkps=$(backups_list | wc -l) # If we backup both files and the database, then for 1 backup we have 2 files. Therefore, the number of backups = the number of files / 2: expr $bkps / 2 ) function remove_old_backups() ( bkps=$(backups_count) old_bkps=$((bkps - MAX_BACKUPS)) if [ "$old_bkps" -gt "0" ];then logger "Removing old backups from Yandex .Disk" # Cycle for deleting old backups: # Deleting the first file in the list 2*old_bkps times for i in `eval echo (1..$((old_bkps * 2)))`; do curl -X DELETE -s -H "Authorization: OAuth $TOKEN" "https://cloud-api.yandex.net:443/v1/disk/resources?path=app:/$(backups_list | awk "(NR == 1)")&permanently=true " done fi ) logger "--- $PROJECT START BACKUP $DATE ---" logger "Uploading database dumps" mkdir $BACKUP_DIR/$DATE for i in `mysql -h $MYSQL_SERVER -u $MYSQL_USER -p$MYSQL_PASSWORD -e "show databases;" | grep -v information_schema | grep -v Database`; done logger "Creating a mysql archive $BACKUP_DIR/$DATE-mysql-$PROJECT.tar.gz" tar -czf $BACKUP_DIR/$DATE-mysql-$PROJECT.tar.gz $BACKUP_DIR/$DATE rm -rf $BACKUP_DIR/$ DATE logger "Creating an archive of directories $BACKUP_DIR/$DATE-files-$PROJECT.tar.gz" tar -czf $BACKUP_DIR/$DATE-files-$PROJECT.tar.gz $DIRS FILENAME=$DATE-mysql-$PROJECT. tar.gz logger "Uploading to Yandex. Disk archive mysql $BACKUP_DIR/$DATE-mysql-$PROJECT.tar.gz" backupName=$DATE-mysql-$PROJECT.tar.gz uploadFile $BACKUP_DIR/$DATE-mysql-$PROJECT.tar.gz FILENAME=$DATE -files-$PROJECT.tar.gz logger "Uploading an archive with files $BACKUP_DIR/$DATE-files-$PROJECT.tar.gz to Yandex.Disk" backupName=$DATE-files-$PROJECT.tar.gz uploadFile $BACKUP_DIR /$DATE-files-$PROJECT.tar.gz logger "Deleting archives from the disk" find $BACKUP_DIR -type f -name "*.gz" -exec rm "()" \; # Deleting old backups from Yandex.Disk ( if MAX_BACKUPS > 0) if [ $MAX_BACKUPS -gt 0 ];then remove_old_backups; fi logger "Completing the backup script"

You can also download the finished script file. The script should be placed on the server, the parameters should be replaced with your own, the rights to run should be given (chmod +x) and executed daily in cron. If you plan to run several of these tasks, set the time between their launches (5-10 minutes).

There are many ways to create a backup copy of important files. For example, you can save the files to a USB drive or flash drive, burn them to a DVD, make a copy on an additional hard drive, or, ultimately, use one of the cloud services. The last option seems to be the most modern, because in this case you do not depend on the quality and reliability of the media, which means you can access files even in the event of unforeseen circumstances (fire, etc.)

But not all popular cloud storages are ideal for backing up large amounts of data. As a rule, free plans do not provide much space, and the price of paid plans most often depends on the amount of disk space offered. For example, Dropbox now offers 1000 GB for $99 per year, that is, $8.25 per month. But what if you need to save more than a terabyte? Google Drive has a plan that offers 20 TB for $199.99 per month. For most this will be a bit expensive.

Well, what if we go the other way? In this review, we'll look at three services that can help you create online backups of large amounts of data for relatively little money.

⇡ JustCloud - a cheap cloud with a catch

When you first get acquainted with JustCloud, it may seem that this cloud storage and synchronization service is no different from dozens of others. What makes it stand out from its competitors is its very attractive price: 1 TB of data storage space can easily be obtained here for only $2.98 per month.

However, upon closer inspection, it turns out that JustCloud is not exactly who it says it is. In fact, the main functionality of the service comes down to backup, and not data synchronization (which, in principle, also suits us, so let’s move on).

After registration, the user receives only 1 GB of disk space for free to store files in the cloud. By participating in the affiliate program, you can additionally receive 100 MB for each invited user, as well as for posting about JustCloud on social networks. For using additional functions of the service (such as file sharing, installing mobile applications) bonuses of 50 MB are provided. In addition, the volume of available cloud will grow as JustCloud is used - by 1 GB monthly.

Once you download the JustCloud desktop app for Windows, Mac or Linux, you can select the folders to back up. The application itself offers to backup standard folders with photos, music, documents, desktop items, but it is possible to select folders manually.

Data copying begins immediately after selecting settings. However, this is where the functionality of the desktop client is limited. There is no integrated file manager for working with data, and if you need to perform any operations with files or even just generate a public link to a file, you will have to use the web interface.

But the latter also does not shine with functionality. By logging into your account in the browser, you can see a list of files and folders, download files one by one, generate a public link to a file or folder, and view the history of file changes. It is impossible to get an archive with all the data uploaded to JustCloud here (which is somehow undignified for a backup service).

A little digging into the settings of the JustCloud desktop app reveals a task scheduler. The program can perform backups according to a user-specified schedule, starting it on certain days and temporarily not performing it on others. By default, the application searches for new and changed files every day at a certain time, but for the search to be performed hourly, you need to upgrade to a premium plan. You can disable automatic backup altogether and start the copying process manually.

One of the interesting features of the application is the use of the Volume Shadow Copy service, thanks to which even those files that are currently in use or to which access is restricted can be uploaded to the cloud. However, when this option is enabled, JustCloud consumes more RAM and the speed of data copying decreases.

JustCloud can work not only with folders, but also with individual files. To upload files to the cloud, just drag them to the Drag & Drop tab of the desktop application. In addition, it is possible to limit file downloads by extension and size.

As mentioned above, JustCloud is a backup service, not a data synchronization service, although the latter function is also present here. Sync folders and backup folders are not the same thing. To synchronize data on a free account,… 15 MB are allocated. Yes, yes, exactly a megabyte, that is, several photos will fit. It is also interesting that even for premium users, increasing the size of the synchronized folder comes at an additional cost. That is, by purchasing a premium subscription, you simply get more space for backup, but not for synchronization. Additional features that are available for an additional fee also include storage of file versions for 30 days, storage of deleted files, support for network drives, hourly backups, and backup of video files. In a word, functions that are usually offered as part of tariff plans (or even free on some services) are included in a separate price list. This explains the very low price of cloud storage.

Well, the marketing policy of the service deserves special attention. If you do not immediately buy a premium tariff, then the price for it begins to fall, gradually decreasing first by 20, then by 35 and finally by 70%.

In addition, free users are periodically attacked with letters containing “secret” links to pages from which they can buy a premium package with a maximum discount. All this is very reminiscent of crossed out price tags with initially inflated prices in stores, only JustCloud does not sell discounted T-shirts, but megabytes.

⇡ 4shared - file sharing service as storage for large files

For backing up large files to the cloud, file hosting services may be suitable, which recently are not as popular as they were 5-10 years ago. But despite the fact that they were partially supplanted by cloud storage, some file hosting services continue to live and develop.

For example, the 4shared service, operating since 2005, may be useful for those who would like to backup media files to a remote server. The advantages of the service include a convenient client for downloading, the ability to stream music and video from the server (including on mobile devices), and the ability to download large files (up to 100 GB).

A free account allows you to download up to 15 GB of data (the maximum file size should not exceed 2 GB), but there is a download limit of no more than 3 GB per day. Uploaded files are saved on the server for 180 days from the last time you logged into your account. For premium users, restrictions on the size of downloaded files are removed, the size of disk space is increased to 100 GB, and the storage time of files on the server is up to one year.

Files are uploaded via the web interface or using a proprietary file manager, which is available for Windows, Mac and Linux. You can upload files to the server by simply dragging them into the browser window (except Safari and Internet Explorer) or the client, manage the folder structure on the server, delete, move, copy, rename files, and also play music and videos that are uploaded to the server in real time.

To play music uploaded to the server, the 4shared music mobile application for Androd is also offered. This is a player with the ability to search on 4shared, save tracks in playlists and stream playback.

4Shared has free WebDav support, so you can add files to your server using any WebDav client, such as the free CyberDuck program. For premium users, in addition, it offers support for FTP and SFTP protocols for uploading files.

The desktop client provides the ability to limit download speed, use a proxy server for downloading, and perform predefined actions if a file with the same name is detected. And in order to download previously downloaded files or files from other 4shared users, you can use the desktop client. It configures the folder in which files are saved, sets the maximum download speed, and also determines the behavior of the program when it detects files with the same names. But the ability to use external download managers, as well as downloading a backup copy of your files in the form of a Zip archive, is available only to premium users.

Like any other file sharing service, 4shared offers easy ways to share uploaded files with other people.

In particular, support for QR codes deserves attention. Each file is assigned a unique QR code, making files saved on 4shared easy to download from mobile devices. However, it is worth keeping in mind that within a free account it is impossible to create direct download links, and in order to download the file, you will have to watch ads.

In addition to files, you can also share folders on 4shared. Each of them can have its own access rights. In addition, it is possible to additionally protect public folders with a password.

⇡ Backblaze - unlimited backup for $5 per month

Don't think that the more cloud space you need, the more money you'll have to shell out. There are services that do not limit the amount of user data (no matter how incredible it may sound). Backblaze is one of them. For $5 per month, the user gets the opportunity to save as many files as he wants.

“Where’s the catch here?” - you might ask. The thing is that Backblaze does not synchronize data between devices, but only makes a backup copy on a remote server. Files can be viewed through the web interface if necessary and restored when necessary.

To work with the service, you need to download the desktop application (it is available for Windows and Mac). It will work in trial mode for 15 days. Unfortunately, the service does not have a free version, but perhaps it is thanks to this policy that developers can offer unlimited data backup volume for a fixed, low price.

Once installed, the Backblaze client automatically detects all local and external drives and begins the backup process. If your connection has limited bandwidth, you can pause the process for a while. However, in most cases, Backblaze does not interfere with your Internet browsing, since the copying occurs in the background. Creating the first backup can take quite a lot of time (even more than the two weeks allotted for the trial), but the main functions of the application, including recovery, work until the full backup is completed.

Once all the data is copied to the cloud, Backblaze constantly monitors which files change and replaces old versions with new ones. That is, incremental copying is used, so the operation of the application is even less noticeable than at the beginning of its use. Backblaze doesn't ignore deleted files either—if a file was deleted locally, it will be stored in the cloud and remain available for recovery for another 30 days. This is worth keeping in mind if you decide to back up your external drive. In order for a copy of the data to be successfully stored in the cloud, you need to connect a flash drive or USB drive to your computer at least once a month.

In most cases, Backblaze requires no additional configuration and runs quietly on its own. However, you can change some application settings if necessary. For example, if backup eats up most of the traffic, you can limit the download speed of data. In addition, it is possible to select the number of download streams. If Backblaze is running on a laptop, it may be useful to pause the application while the device is running on battery power.

By default, the program performs backups continuously, as files are changed and new ones are added. However, it is possible to limit Backblaze's operating hours by setting the start and end times of the process. Unfortunately, there is no flexible scheduler, so it is impossible to choose different working hours on weekends and weekdays, or turn off the program on some days. However, automatic backup can be disabled completely and the process can be started manually by clicking on the Backup Now button.

Although Backblaze can copy all the data stored on your drives, it doesn't make sense to save everything indiscriminately. By default, the program does not save a copy of the operating system, application installation folder, temporary Internet files, ISO and DMG image files, VMC VHD VMSN virtual disks, SYS configuration and driver files, EXE applications, files created by Time Machine and Retrospect RDB. On the Exclusions tab, you can add any other exceptions or remove predefined ones. In addition, it is possible to limit the maximum file size that will be uploaded to the cloud.

The creators of Backblaze took a thorough approach to security issues - the program uses modern data encryption methods. All information transmitted to the cloud is encrypted on the user’s side with a strong AES algorithm. In other words, all data reaches the server in encrypted form. To decrypt, the user must provide an e-mail and password. If this level of security does not seem sufficient, an additional encryption key can be used. It is used to decrypt and recover data along with email address and password. This key is never stored on the server and cannot be recovered in any way. In other words, if the user forgets the key, it will be impossible to decrypt his data.

Backblaze offers several options for data recovery. The simplest and most accessible is creating an archive with selected files. To do this, you need to make a request through the web interface, and after a while you will receive a download link. The archive with files is stored on the server and is available for downloading for 7 days. In addition, you can order data recording to a flash drive (if its volume does not exceed 128 MB) or to a USB drive (no more than 3 TB).

The web interface can be used for more than just file recovery. Here you can see the history of previous restore requests, check the status of the backup, and view the latest downloaded files. There's also a Locate My Computer feature that can help you get your laptop back if you've lost it. Backblaze transmits information about the IP address, ISP, and recently downloaded files. Therefore, if a laptop falls into the hands of a not very experienced thief, then, having this information, it will not be difficult to return it. And the password for accessing Backblaze can always be changed through the web interface.

⇡ Conclusion

Data backup solutions have always been in demand. Over time, the principle of their operation changes (previously they copied data to DVDs and network drives, but now they upload it to the cloud), but the basic requirements that users place on them remain. As our small research has shown, inexpensive cloud storage, file-sharing services, and, of course, services created specifically for online backup can be suitable for creating a backup copy of files. But when choosing any of the options, you should first check for the availability of functions that are important to you. Let's say Backblaze has a lot of strengths, but it doesn't generate links for sharing files with other users.