Reliable Data Systems

Reliable Data Systems' ReliableBackup Provides Relief to Small Business Owners

FLEMINGTON, N.J., Nov. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Reliable Data Systems (http://www.reliabledatasystems.com), experts in online data backup and small business operations, announced today that it has released an enhanced version of ReliableBackup almost one year after the product's initial launch. The new version's improvements focus on ease-of-setup and enhancements to the restore feature.

"Our product has been well received by small business owners, whose entire livelihood is their data. They've really appreciated the extra sense of security that RelaibleBackup provides," says Rick Morrison, President of Reliable Data Systems.

And it isn't just the sense of security that Reliable Data Systems' customers appreciate. ReliableBackup kept one customer's business open after his tape backup system failed. The client, a general construction contractor, had lost plans and documents for active projects in a hard drive crash and found that his tape backups were blank. However, he was able to restore the information using ReliableBackup without losing any business days. He wrote after his experience "[ReliableBackup] worked as promised, saving us considerable time and money . . . [RDS's] level of service allowed us to maintain ours."

Reliable Data Systems is anticipating growth in the coming months, expecting to double their customer base by early 2007. They are also working on opportunities to distribute ReliableBackup with third party software vendors and consultants.

ReliableBackup automatically encrypts and uploads the customer's data at the end of each business day to Reliable Data Systems' secure servers, removing the need for manual steps like flipping tapes or remembering to copy files. At any time, the user can, through the ReliableBackup software, restore recent or older versions of their files.

Reliable Data Systems has been providing data services since 2004. The software was written in- house, with help from Able Methods (http://www.ablemethods.com). Its founders are experienced with both small business and software development. Reliable Data Systems is located in Flemington, New Jersey, and can be found on the internet at http://www.reliabledatasystems.com

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New Firm Provides Data Backup

DELAWARE TWP., Jun 16 - Richard Morrison last summer visited the owner of a drug store who was despondent. "The pharmacist had his head in his hands," Mr. Morrison said, "because he had just lost important data from his store's computer system."

"That's when the light bulb started blinking over my head," he said. "I called my son and told him that data back-up is a perfect application" for a new business.

Mr. Morrison owns Payroll Systems Inc. here. The firm produces paychecks and handles tax deposits for area businesses. His son, Rick, is a Carnegie Mellon computer science graduate who has been writing programs since high school.

The father-son team pooled their talents and their new company, Reliable Data Systems, was born nine months later. The company provides an easy way for area businesses with Internet connections to safely and securely backup their computer data.

For about $30 a month, Reliable Data Systems backs up data on businesses' hard drives or servers to a "secure" facility in Newark managed by Qwest Communications. The back-ups are done automatically. A program that Rick wrote schedules the back-up sessions as often as the customer likes.

To set up the service, users get a Web link to a page that asks for a user name and password and then lets you download the service’s software. With the software loaded, users create a schedule describing which files to backup and when. "You can do multiple schedules,” said Rick. "Some files you might want backed up once a week while others once a day."

The process then runs in the background and the program "wakes up" when it’s time to contact the server to do a back-up. Users receive an e-mail confirming successful back-ups.

Internet transmission of the files is secure. They are encrypted or scrambled by Reliable Data Systems software into unreadable code. The company uses 2,048-bit encryption keys that are now recommended by data cryptographers. When users need to retrieve their data, the keys automatically unlock the code.

And the physical location of the backed-up data is secure as well. "I need a proximity pass to get into the facility and then I am personally escorted to our servers there," said Richard. "This place is about as secure as you can get."

While Internet-based back-up and recovery services are becoming common these days, "what makes us different is that we’re local," Richard said. "The idea is that you know who we are. We meet with our customers face-to-face."

People concerned with dealing with strangers typically purchase their own back-up systems, according to Rick. "You could spend several thousand on a tape backup system, but what if you have a fire?" he asked.

For more information, go to reliabledatasystems.com.

By Bick Treut, Hunterdon County Democrat