$84.90 (12-month subscription with unlimited capacity)
Available fromAsiaflux Networks

Ever had the PC just give up the ghost on you when you needed some important data real bad? Carbonite's Online PC Backup, for always-on archiving, allays fears of such nightmares.

Installing the software is easy.I popped in the installation disk, created an account, and answered some security questions. Carbonite started to upload my files in the 'Documents and Settings' folder to the Carbonite server located in the United States - this it does using a secure tunnelling protocol to ensure data privacy of the user.

To add other folders for back-up, I just have to right-click a folder I want to protect and choose 'back up' under the Carbonite sub-menu. It's that simple.

But beware the slow process: the initial archiving of the 2.5GB worth of data files I had residing on my PC took about 26 hours. That said, the speed of the backup process depends on the upload speed of the Internet connection. Good thing the process didn't slow my PC's performance to a crawl. Fortunately, subsequent back-ups were very fast.

Still, what if my PC had crashed? I would have had to just go to Carbonite's website - using a new PC because that would not be stuffed with files - and log into their system.

From there, it would have been a simple case of following the instructions to restore all the data.

And even if I had accidentally deleted my files and the recycle bin had been cleared, all I would have had to do was double click the Carbonite Back-Up icon, search for the file I needed, and right click to restore. But note that this is not a file-sharing facility, and users would not be able to swap files between a laptop and a desktop. That takes some shine off the service as each subscription can be used only by one PC at any one time.

- Wilson Wong is an associate lecturer and gadget enthusiast.

FINAL SAY

A good and simple data back-up system for the businessman. Pity the limited subscription model.