FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions Sections of Questions Bell Business Backup Service Installation & Setup Firewall Settings Connections & Backups Account Information Restoring Files Uninstalling the Bell Business Backup Software Service Plans Contact Us
FAQ - Bell Business Backup Service 1. What is Bell Business Backup? This is a backup utility that allows the user to automatically backup files to a secure off-site location. User sets the schedule by selecting time of day and frequency. 2. How does it know which files to backup? The user chooses which files, folders or directories to backup according to the amount of storage subscribed to in the available service plans. 3. Do I need to remember to start the backup every time? No, once you have established the schedule, the backup will start automatically according to the schedule you have set. You can always go back and adjust the schedule at anytime to suit your needs. 4. Does my computer need to be on to do the backup? Yes, if your computer is not on at the time that the backup is to take place according to the schedule you have established, it will prompt you to do a backup the next time you turn on the computer and connect to the network. 5. Can I still use my computer while the backup is taking place? Yes, the backup is taking place in the background and you can continue with your regular day-to-day activities. 6. Will it backup files that are open while the backup is taking place? Yes, if the files are open and the changes have been saved before the backup began, then the file will be backed up. 7. Will it backup files that are in use while the backup is taking place? No, if you are working and making changes to a file at the same time that the backup is taking place, the system cannot guarantee that it will have captured and backed up all the changes. TIP: If you have made major changes to an important file, you can always do a manual backup on demand. 8. How long will the backup take? Your first backup can take several hours depending on how much data is selected. Thereafter, subsequent backups will be incremental backups and will take several minutes. Of course, backup time is also dependent on the amount of data you are backing up and your high speed connection. On average, if you are backing up about 300-500 MB of data, using the 3 MG Business Internet High Speed connection, the first backup would be around 5 to 7 hours and subsequent daily backups around 3 to 8 minutes. 9. How will I know if the backup was successful? You can view the logs at anytime to see what happened with your backups. The log shows the start time, name and path of each file backed up, the size of the
file, the size of the file compressed, the end time, etc. 10. Why do I need this service? This service provides you with a step towards a disaster recovery solution. Your data is backed up protecting you from hardware failures or viruses. Your data is stored at a secure off-site location protecting your data should there be any form of natural disaster at your office location. 11. Do I need to install software on my PC? Yes, you will need to install software on your PC basically so you can establish a schedule for your backup. 12. How do I get this software? When you subscribe to the service, you will receive an email with a link to download the software for this service. 13. How do I subscribe to the service? If you are interested in subscribing to this service, please contact our business office at 1 888 751-6287. 14. Are there several service plans I can choose from? Yes, there are several service plans you can choose from depending on the amount of data you would like to backup. Please refer to the Service Plans page for more details
FAQ - Installation & Setup 1. Is the software easy to install? Yes, the software comes with an install wizard to guide you through the installation. Also, a Getting Started Guide is available to provide step-by-step instructions. 2. Can I install this software on more than one computer? Yes. However, each install on a different computer will be considered a separate user license/subscription fee. Each install on a different computer will generate a unique account number with a user assigned password. This combination of unique account number and password identifies which files/backups belong to which user/computer.
FAQ - Firewall Settings 1. How secure is this backup service? The requirements for running Bell Business Backup service are consistent with security best-practices. They do not create an opening for incoming connections, and outgoing connections can be limited to specific ports at specific known IP addresses. As an added security measure, all data is DES-encrypted before leaving the user's PC; it remains encrypted through transmission, and is stored encrypted at a secure off-site server. 2. How do I configure my firewall settings? There are three options to configure your firewall settings. If you are unfamiliar with your company's firewall, or do not have access to its settings, contact your IT or network administrator or help desk for assistance. The information below will enable someone who knows the specifics of his or her firewall to configure the Agent for it. a. Do not use a firewall: Select this option if you do not have a firewall. b. Use SOCKS proxy firewall: If your firewall is a SOCKS proxy firewall, select this option. You will need to determine your firewall's IP address and enter it under SOCKS Firewall IP and the port that the Agent should use to connect to the firewall, under TCP Port. The Agent will use the SOCKS protocol to figure out which IP address and port to connect to in order to connect to the Data Center. For this reason, you will not need to reconfigure your firewall if a SOCKS firewall is used.
c. Use proxy firewall server: Select this option if you are using a non-socks compliant proxy firewall. You will need to configure both the Agent and your firewall to communicate. To do this, you will need to determine the Firewall IP Address and TCP Port, and possibly configure your firewall which will allow you to open port 16384 when requesting connection to IP address 208.148.76.46-82. These are the IP addresses which is the subnet where the servers currently reside. Enter this information under Firewall IP address and TCP Port. You will need to make at least two entries, one for each of the mirrored data centers. The Agent will connect to your firewall on a particular port that you specify. The port it connects on will tell the firewall to connect to the Data Center on port 16384. Note: Some firewalls require explicit permission for packets to come back, in which case, TCP/IP inbound to ports 1024-5000 need to be opened for a response from 208.148.76.46-82.
FAQ- Connections & Backups 1. When is the best time to do my backups? Here are some suggestions to assure successful backups: Avoid peak hours. We recommend using automatic backups that are scheduled to run in the earliest morning hours, between midnight and dawn. Close applications that are not essential during the backup. There may be one or more background applications running at the same time. Use Windows Task Manager to check this. Monitor several transmissions to see the speed at which you are connected. Bandwidth is not usually guaranteed and will vary with the amount of traffic at any given time. Try to backup when conditions are favourable. 2. What (and how much) gets backed up? The amount of data you are allowed to backup depends on the price plan you select. Please look under Service Plans for a breakdown of each plan. 3. How do I know backups took place and which files are backed up? The easiest way to confirm that your backups are taking place is to check the logs. Here is how: Open the online backup software Click on the Log tab Highlight the log for any session that you want and then click the View Details button (bottom of window) Each log lists every file that was marked as needing to be backed up and ends with a summary of the backup session. 4. What can and cannot be backed up? Bell Business Backup is intended to protect your critical data files, not the commercial software that you install from disk or CD. If you were to have a system crash you would be better off re-installing your software so that essential information could be written back into the Windows registry database that is part of your operating system. We recommend that you not back up multi-media files. Their size and sheer volume would make it costly and lengthy to restore via the Internet. 5. Where is my data stored? Your data is stored at a secure off-site location that meets world class standards for data centers.
6. How do I select files in Backup View? When you click the Backup View tab, a scan of your hard disk is initiated. Upon completion, a list of files needing backup is displayed. You can deselect files by clicking the box in front of a file name. When you do, the file will be removed from the list. If you want to add files, you will have to change the display to show a directory tree that you can browse. The button for this is in the blue window on the left; click Explore to pick files. To select/deselect, click the box in front of a file name. You will also be able to click on an entire folder to include/exclude everything in it. 7. How long is data retained on the server? Files will be retained for 30 days or 10 versions (whichever is less) and then recycled. A version is a copy of your file that has been backed up at any given time. Assume that you backed up your file on Monday, made some changes, and backed up again - you will have two versions of the file at this point. Here are two examples of how the versioning will work: 1. If the client backs up a file that has been continuously worked on and backed up 10 times (either by schedule or manually), then on the 10th backup there will be 10 versions of the file on the server. On the 11th day or 11th backup, data backed up during the first backup will be replaced by the data backed up during the second backup, i.e. data from the second backup will now become the original. In other words, there will always be 10 different versions of a file backed up on the server. 2. If a file were modified and backed up several times throughout a 30-day period, there will be several versions of the file on the server. Data will remain on the server for a period of 30 days. On the 30th day, the server will have all the versions backed up from day 1 to day 30. On the 31th day, data backed up on day 1 will be replaced by the data backed up on day 2, i.e. data from day 2 will become the original and the server will now hold all the versions from day 2 to day 31. In other words, there will always be 30 days worth of backed up data on the server. This is different from retaining data from 30 backups. If backups are not scheduled to occur daily, then data will still only be retained on the server for 30 days. 8. Can I restore a backed up file that I have deleted from my computer? Your file will be retained on the server for 30 days after your last backup. Hence, you will be able to restore your file even after you have deleted it from your computer, as long as you do within 30 days. 9. What can I do if I cannot find a particular file? Use Find to locate it. Using the Find feature is a fast and easy way to locate a specific file. You can use Find in Backup View and in Retrieve View. Simply click the magnifying glass icon at the upper right of the window, next to the question mark (the Help icon).
Hint: when entering a long file name, or one that you aren t sure of, use an asterisk (*) as a wildcard symbol. An asterisk can be inserted at any point in a file name in place of characters that you aren t sure of or are that you don t want to bother typing. There is only one rule: don t use two or more asterisks in succession; use one at a time as a placeholder. Example 1: For a file named My Resume.doc, type *resume.doc This tells Find to look for all files that end in resume.doc. Example 2: For a life named Peaches and Cream.jpg, you could type P*and*.* or P*and*.jpg or Peach*.jpg. If you don t see the file that you want with your first try, click Find Next until you do find it. You can click Find Next as often as needed, it will recycle through the list no matter where your starting point is. If you are looking for an older file and are unable to locate it, then click the Retrieve Options button (bottom of window) and select show all versions of all files. 10. Why does it say 0 Files backed up in the Summary Log? There are several circumstances that may prevent files from being backed up. You cancelled the backup. Normal backups will resume without error. You ran a second backup immediately after another backup, so there were no changed files. Files needing backup were open. Close all files that you want backed up. Files selection method is set to Manual. You need to reset it we recommend Automatic. You can leave it in Manual if you intend to select all the files that should be included in your backup group, but don t forget to select the files. Insufficient resources on your computer, such as not enough free hard disk space, not enough available RAM, too small a page file, open files, or numerous background processes. An outbound connection to the Internet could not be made. Check your connectivity. Also, confirm that your connection setting in the software is correctly set for the way that you connect. Backup Schedule is set to Backup on Connection to Network and there were no changed files since your last backup. No action required; backups will resume normally when there are changed files. The backup software is installed in the same folder with the files you are trying to back up. Applications programs, such as the backup software, should always be installed in a folder of their own, not mingled with files from other programs. (Contact Support). A synchronization error occurred, in which case the details of the log would show a Diagnostic with reference to Base hash count. (Contact Support).
You are running Norton Anti-Virus software and may have encountered a rare incident that causes the backup to stop transmitting files (Contact support). 11. What happens if the size of my backup data is larger than what is permitted by my service plan? Your backup will not occur successfully. You will receive a message informing you that your data limit has been exceeded. You will be asked to either deselect some files that are currently included in your backup or to upgrade your backup plan. Ensure that the total size of your backup data does not exceed what is offered in your service plan in order to backup your data successfully.
FAQ- Account Information 1. Where can I find my account information? Account Number: This appears on the Home Screen and under Help About Encryption Key: From the menu bar, select Options Security View Password: You can only see your password by printing your account information. From the menu bar, select Options Security View Print. If you have a password, you will need it in order to print. 2. Is there a unique account number for each computer? Yes. The account number that you are assigned when you start your account is associated with the computer where the software is installed and where the backups will take place. If you have multiple computers, you will have multiple accounts. If you have several accounts, they may all be charged to the same subscriber. By having a unique account number for your computer, data that you back up from that computer will be recoverable even if the account is moved to a new computer. If you want to share backups between computers, distinct account numbers enable you to do that too. 3. What is an encryption key? The encryption key is a security lock on your backups. It is a word or a phrase that you create when you first set up an account. It contains a minimum of 8 characters. Once an encryption key is set it cannot be changed. Your encryption key is used to encrypt your data for safe transmission between your computer and our data centres. You will be asked for your encryption key whenever you retrieve files or perform an account recovery. 4. What is the password for? The password is a safeguard for data retrieval. Once you have established an account, you can create a password for it. A password must contain a minimum of 6 characters. It can be changed whenever you wish. It is not necessary to have a password. However, you might want to passwordprotect your account if your computer is shared with other people. While a password won t prevent backups, it will prevent anyone else from using your account to retrieve anything you have backed up. Note: most people do not use an account password, and some companies do not even enable this feature for their users. To create a password or to change one: From the menu bar, select Options Security Change Account Password. After your password has been transmitted
to the data centre, you should print your account information as described in the next paragraph. In order to see an existing password, it is necessary to print the account information. However, you need to know the account password in order to print, so print the information while the password is fresh in your mind and store the printout in a safe place. From the menu bar, select Options Security View Encryption Key Print. 5. How do I upgrade my Bell Business Backup service plan? You can upgrade your Bell Business Backup service plan by contacting our Bell representatives at 1 888 751-6287. 6. How do I downgrade my Bell Business Backup service plan? You can downgrade your Bell Business Backup service plan by contacting our Bell representatives at 1 888 751-6287. 7. How do I cancel my Bell Business Backup service? You may cancel your Bell Business Backup service by contacting our Bell representatives at 1 888 751-6287. Please be aware that your data will be removed from the data centre 30 days after your cancellation request has been processed.
FAQ- Restoring Files 1. Do I need to call Bell or my technician to restore a file? No, the file restore feature is a self-serve feature. You can easily choose which file or folder to restore. 2. How do I select files in Retrieve View? Files are selected in Retrieve View the same as they are in Backup View, by clicking on the box in front of whatever you wish to include. You can review a list of your selections at any time by switching the display to show Files selected for retrieval. The button for this is located in the orange pane to the left. To locate a specific file, use the Find feature. You can access Find by clicking the magnifying glass icon in the upper right of the screen or from the menu bar by clicking Operations Find or with the key combination Ctrl + F. 3. Why can t I see a file that I backed up a while ago? Retrieve View defaults to displaying the most recent version of your files. In order to see older versions, click Retrieve Options (bottom of the screen) and select the view that you want. A description of each of the options can be found by clicking the Help button. If you still don t see the file, set the display to show all versions of all files and then use the Find feature. You can access Find by clicking the magnifying glass icon in the upper right of the screen or from the menu bar by clicking Operations Find or with the key combination Ctrl + F.
FAQ- Uninstalling the Backup Software 1. How do I uninstall the Backup software? Step 1: Remove Business Backup Program Confirm that the backup software is closed. Then select, Start Settings Control Panel Add/Remove Programs Bell Business Backup (remove only) Add/Remove OK OK. Note: If you attempt to remove the software by deleting it (Recycle Bin), the software will not be completely uninstalled. However, if after you uninstall it according to the directions above, some files or folders may remain, it is all right to delete those; they are no longer needed. Step 2: Remove Business Backup from the Taskbar Select Start Programs Startup Bell Canada Taskbar Icon Delete Yes. NOTE: Your version of Windows may vary slightly, but you should be able to approximate these instructions.
Service Plans Service Plan Bell Business Backup Starter Bell Business Backup Lite Bell Business Backup Basic Bell Business Backup Plus Bell Business Backup Premium Price/Month/ License Amount of Storage Included $4.95 65 MB $8.95 100 MB $19.95 500 MB $24.95 4 GB $39.95 10 GB Typical Scenario This plan is suitable for users who want to backup only selected critical files. This plan is suitable for users who want to backup critical files. This plan is for users who want to backup all their data. This plan is intended for users who want to backup all their data, as well as, email (.pst) and bookmarks files. This plan is for the advanced users who have large amounts of data and email files to backup.
Contact Us General Inquires: If you would like more information on Bell Business Backup, please contact us at: 1 888 751-6287 Technical Support: Call 1-877-877-2426 or send an e-mail to bellbackup@bell.ca Hours of operation: 24 Hours a Day, 7 Days a Week