Custom Online Backup Solution Advice

Question

I have to implement a way so our customers can backup their SQL 2000/5/8 databasase online. The application they use is a C#/.NET35 Winforms application that connects to a SQL Server (can be 2000/2005/2008, sometimes express editions).

The SQL Server is on the same LAN.

Our application has a very specific UI and we must code each form following those guidelines. There’s lots of GDI+ to give it the look and feel we want.

For that reason, using a 3rd party application is not a very good idea.

We need to charge the customer on a monthly/annual basis for the service. Preferably, the customer doesn’t need to care about bandwidth and storage space. It must be transparent.

Given the above reqs., my first thoughts are:

Solution 1: Code some sort of FTP basic functionality with behind the scenes SQL Backup mechanism, then hire a Hosting service and compress->transfer the .BAK to the Hosting. Maintain a series of Folders (for each customer). They won’t see what’s happening. They will just see a list of their files and a big “Backup now” button that will perform the SQL backup, compress it and upload it (and update the file list) ;)

Pros: Not very complicated to implement, simple to use, fairly simple to configure (could have a dedicated ftp user/pass)

Cons: Finding a “ftp” only hosting plan is not probably going to be easy, they usually come with a bunch of stuff. FTP is not always the best protocol. more?

Solution 2: Similar to 1, but instead of FTP, find a cloud computing service like Amazon S3, Mosso or similar.

Pros: Cloud Storage is fast, reliable, etc. It’s kind of easy to implement (specially if there are APIs like AWS or Mosso).

Cons: I have been unable to come up with a service optimized for resellers where I can give multiple sub-accounts (one for each customer). Billing is going to be a nightmare cuz these services bill per/GB and with One account it’s impossible to differentiate each customer.

Solution 3: Similar to 2, but letting the user create their own account on Amazon S3 (for example). Pros: You forget about billing and such.

Cons: A mess for the customer who has to open the Amazon (or whatever) account, will be charged for that and not from you. You can’t really charge the customer (since you’re just not doing anything).

Solution 4: Use one of the many backup online solutions that use the tech in cloud storage.

Pros: many of these include SQL Server backup, and a lot of features that we’d have to implement. Plus web access and stuff like that will come included.

Cons: Still have the billing problem described in number 2. Little of these companies (if any) offers “reseller” accounts. You have to eventually use their software (some offer certain branding).

Any better approach?

Summary: You have a software (.NET Winapp). You want your users to be able to backup their SQL Server databases online (and be able to retrieve the backups if needed). You ideally would like to charge the customer for this service (i.e. XX € a year).

Answer 1

I work with a startup that does exactly what you describe. It's a white label solution for managed service providers, value added resellers, ISPs, and IT/Software consultants. http://www.xzbackup.com is the url. What's cool about what we do is that we allow you to brand the entire front-end and desktop application, and give you the ability to manage all the users, billing, and support from a seamless interface. In fact we have a few point of sale retailers that use our service to add backup support for their custom software distributions. We support all the latest databases, operating systems, and advanced functionalities you'd expect from an online backup provider, and it's written in java so we're secure and scalable.

Answer 2

As a Reference, we are using Mozy Pro as Resellers.

Pros:

• It lets you start with less than 10 dollars. You can create an account with the bare minimum and grow from there. (1GB/1License)
• The console is very powerful and buying new licenses and/or moving them between customers is very very easy and realtime.
• You can define settings and make the application be very transparent in the customer. They can’t even modify the settings if you desire so. Install process is very simple on the customer (because you can predefine a group of settings and it will automatically read that).

Cons:

• In the long run, it might be more expensive than others, but that’s after you have more than 100 customers with 1 GB I Think. Which was not my target.
• No branding. The software is Mozy Client and you can’t do much about it, except localize (you have to do it yourself) the text in the URL of each error. I.e.: if there’s a problem, the user will get a dialog saying: “bla bla bla has happened, (url)”. You can change the text in that URL.
• We use Mozy Server licenses (if you don’t need SQL/Exchange you can go with Desktop License, less expensive) and they Backup SQL Server, but it does it by using the Volume Shadow Service (VSS) in Windows XP SP2 and above. Although this is ok, it doesn’t really let you micromanage the SQL backup. Some clients may even have this disabled.
• Recovery process is done though a complex method (not in terms of “things you have to do” but the whole thing is weird). You request your data and eventually get an email saying: "ok, you data is ready to be recovered.” This means you have no access “real time” to your backups. This can be -depending upon the amount of data and the time you have- a problem. I.e. if you need a file now, you might be frustrated.

All in all, the service has been good and the post-sales attention was top. Datacenters are only in the US, at least now. Speed is ok, given that most xDSL and Cable connections are slower than their speed.