Frequently Asked Questions
What are the securevault backup features?
- Automatically detects changes in files and/or directories and backs
up accordingly
- Mobile (laptop) users' data can be backed up immediately as they
connect to the LAN
- Hot links provided for windows registry backup and windows
system files backup, among others
- Versioning support for backing up multiple versions of the same
file
- Incremental backups supported: backs up only changes in files and not the entire file
every time. This saves bandwidth and time
- Supports multiple periodical full backups and incremental backups in between two full
backups
- Supports MySQL Backup in Linux
- Quick restore capability: end users can easily restore their data up to the file level
- Optional compression of backed up data possible: saves disk space and network
bandwidth
- Support for auditing User Operations
- Support for non-English PCs
WHAT SECURITY IS AVAILABLE AND USED THROUGH SECUREVAULT?
- Encryption support provided to protect users' personal data
- Robust encryption based on the blowfish algorithm
- Authentication support between your client and our server
WHAT DEPLOYMENTS CAN SECUREVAULT SOFTWARE SUPPORT?
- Trusted intranet P2P backup deployment
- Typical client-server backup deployment
- Remote backup with SecureVault server residing outside the intranet
- Staged backup solution for larger companies
WHAT PLATFORMS DOES SECUREVAULT SUPPORT?
SecureVaults platform is independent and supports the following operating systems
- Windows® Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows 2000/2003/2008
SBS/2003 Server
- Debian Linux 3.0
- Mandrake Linux 10.0 and above
- RedHat Linux 8.x and above
- SuSE Linux 9.x and above
- Mac OS X 10.x
- FreeBSD 5.4 and above
WHAT BROWSERS DOES SECUREVAULT SUPPORT?
SecureVault requires one of the following browsers to be installed in the system
- Internet Explorer 5.5 and above
- Firefox 1.0 and above
- Netscape 7.0 and above
- Opera 7.01 and above
- Mozilla 1.5 and above
- Safari 1.2.4 and above
DOES SECUREVAULT SUPPORT SYSTEM STATE / ACTIVE DIRECTORY?
System State / Active Directory backups in SecureVault are treated like any other data backup. SecureVault 1-Click selection of preset backups now includes the system state / active directory allowing you to simply
select it with 1-Click.
DOES SECUREVAULT SUPPORT MS EXCHANGE?
SecureVault supports Exchange Server backups for Exchange Server 2000 with Service Pack 3 / Exchange
Server 2003 / Exchange Server 2007
You can now choose between the Basic / Advanced Exchange Server Plug-in in SecureVault. The Basic plugin
for Exchange Server backup is provided with your SecureVault installation and uses the NTBackup utility to
dump Storage Group data. The Advanced (Plugin) Exchange Server backup uses the ESE ( Extensible
Storage Engine ) API to backup Storage Groups and Mail Stores.
Incremental features in the Advanced plug-in include:
- Optimal use of dump files for local storage: the dump file is compressed and automatically purged
after use (In Basic plug-in, the dump file will be maintained locally in the client machine for further
differential log backups)
- Support for Storage Group level and Mail Store Level backup
- Straight through Restore of Exchange Server backup (as opposed to a 2 step process in Basic
plug-in)
- Comprehensive Backup & Restore report of Exchange Server backup is available
- Detailed Exchange Server Backup & Restore email reports available
DOES SecureVault SUPPORT SQL & MYSQL?
SecureVault supports SQL Server backups for SQL Server 2000 and all higher versions.
You can choose between Basic & an Advanced SQL Server Plug-in. The Basic Plugin uses the OSQL utility
to dump the database(s) and thereafter uploads the locally dumped file to the backup server. The Advanced
SQL Server plugin uses the VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) API to backup database(s) before
uploading them to the backup server.
Incremental features in the Advanced plug-in include:
- Optimal use of dump files for local storage: the dump file is compressed and automatically purged
after use.
- Straight through Restore of SQL Server backup (as opposed to a 2 step process in Basic plug-in)
- Comprehensive Backup & Restore report of SQL Server backup is available
- Detailed SQL Server Backup & Restore email reports available
HOW DOES SECUREVAULT HANDLE INCREMENTAL DATA?
The ability to intelligently handle incremental data is a key component of any backup solution! Especially
since this has huge implications on performance and infrastructural and operational costs- bandwidth and
storage costs being the most crucial of these!
Our Intelli-Delta technology, based on the powerful & proven RSYNC algorithm, ensures that after the
first 'seed' backup, only 'optimized byte level' changes in individual files & folders are backed up thereafter.
Most backup software implement incremental backups in fixed block sizes (eg. 4K blocks). In effect, they
divide files into blocks of a pre decided size, examine CHECKSUMS of blocks that are detected to have
changed and retransmit the changed blocks!.
SecureVault does not implement pre decided block sizes as this is often sub-optimal. For a small file, the block
size may be too large and hence translate to a larger amount of data being sent than what's required. For
very large files, a small block size translates to performance degradation. SecureVault decides on individually
optimal block sizes for every single file after taking into account the original file size. This ensures that for
each file, changes are examined at an 'optimized byte level'.
HOW DOES SECUREVAULT ENSURE SECURITY BETWEEN THE CLIENT AND THE SERVER?
SecureVault uses the following, to ensure the security of data:
- Authenticated connection between client and the backup server. During the client-server connection
initialization, the client and the backup server generate random private/public key pairs and based on this
random key pair the authentication takes place with the client password (hashed and encrypted with the
private key). The private keys are never sent out from the client or the server.
- The backup data encryption password is hashed before sending it to the backup server. Also, SecureVault
uses its own protocol (not HTTP) over raw TCP sockets over SSL for communication between the client and
the backup server. The passwords are never transmitted in clear text. Even if the connection between the
client and server is through raw TCP sockets (and not using SSL over TCP) the passwords can never be
read as they are all hashed and sent.
- SecureVault design the backup server never requires the encryption password at all. The hashed encryption
password is sent just for the backup server to verify that the encryption password has not changed across
different schedules for the backup. If it did the backup server will not accept the backup as encryption
passwords cannot change across schedules.
Therefore, even if the data is sniffed while in transition from the client to the backup server, the encryption
password cannot be captured. Without the encryption password, the encrypted (BlowFish encrypted, up to
448 bit ) backup data cannot be decrypted. And same is the case with the authentication password used for
connection between the client and the backup server.
While configuring the backups using SecureVault to eliminate security concerns you should do the following:
- Enable SSL in the client to ensure all communications between the client and the backup server are
secure.
- Choose a good backup data encryption password.
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