Review of ElephantDrive Online Backup Solution

Overview and History

ElephantDrive was setup by a group of techies who are passionate about creating world class programs and excited by the challenges of storing, securing, and protecting massive amounts of data. ElephantDrive are headquartered in LA and have worked together for several years designing and providing web applications.

Currently they have 1 free edition, 2 home editions, 2 business accounts and corporate options.

Feature Set

Security

Files being moved to and from their servers are protected with 128bit SSL encryption; which is the industry standard. When on their servers your information is protected using 256 AEG encryption. You can use a personal encryption key to further secure your data.

Backup Features

Open and locked files can be backed up in the business editions but not in the home editions. Portable hard drives can be in all {editions except the Home edition, yet network drives can be archived in the Professional accounts.
Backups can be continuous or scheduled, if continuous, then only files that are amended are archived. Backups can be setup to backup by folder or by file type. There is a program called TrunkManager that permits you to transfer files directly from your computer to the ElephantDrive using either drag-and-drop or by choosing the data you would like to move and select the upload or download buttons.

File versioning is automatically setup however the number of versions allowed depends on the edition used:

• home edition gives 3 file versions
• home pro edition allows up to 10 versions
• pro edition allows 20 versions
• pro plus edition gives unlimited versions

Restore Features

Files can be recovered via either the 'TrunkManager' or the internet. Either way, navigate to the file you wish to restore and drag-and-drop the data to your computer. If you want to restore a particular version, then click on the item and pick 'Version History'. Then just pick the version you want to retrieve. Restores start almost instantly.

Control and Analysis

All backup jobs can be stopped, paused or resumed any time from the desktop client Progress Report. This is also where you will find the error and transfer logs. Processor and bandwidth usage are determined by the client program, yet you can set throttling to on, off or scheduled for specific times.

Interface

The ElephantDrive can be setup as a logical drive letter using the software installed alongside the client software. The online portal provides access to your whole backed up file list and you can view and restore different file versions from here.
The Pro Plus account provides centralized administration functionality and all versions allow use of Proxy servers.

Device Support

MAC OS X and higher
Windows 7, Vista, 2003, XP, 2000
Linux support is being developed

Limitations

Maximum file size: Home - 1Gb; Home Plus - 2Gb; Pro - 2.5Gb; Pro Plus - 5Gb
Maximum Monthly Transfer Limit: Home and Home Plus - 100Gb; Pro - 1Tb; Pro Plus - 2Tb
Maximum Number of Computers: Home - 1; Home Pro - 4; Pro - 10; Pro Plus - 20

File Sharing and Collaboration

Any file uploaded to your ElephantDrive can be privately shared by selecting the file in Trunk Explorer and choosing share. Then simply add the email addresses of the people you would like to share the file with and they will get a unique web address to the file. Public File sharing is not supported.
ElephantDrive does not support collaboration.

Synchronization

PCs sync to the online portal however not directly to each other.

Web 2.0 Integration

At this time ElephantDrive does not have connections with any web utilities or social network sites.

Customer Support

Self-help support is good: Options are a knowledgebase, forum and blog for chatting with other users and ElephantDrive staff. To answer common questions there is a excellent FAQ section and the user documentation is also very good. There are tutorials, testimonials, demos, webinars and case studies.
You may contact ElephantDrive privately: Either using email or by filling in the web form. There is telephone support however only by appointment. I found their customer support very helpful, knowledgeable and eager to help.

Ease of Use

Both the web portal and the client program are very simply to use. If you can use windows explorer, then you can use ElephantDrive. Adding files to backup sets and restoring data is intuitive and easy. Mapping ElephantDrive as a local drive took a bit of finding however when setup it behaves like any other network drive.

Cost

• Initial setup cost: free
• Monthly Cost: Home - $4.95/mth; Home Plus - $9.95/mth; Pro - $34.95/mth; Pro Plus - $99.95/mth
• Yearly Cost: Home - $49.95/yr; Home Plus - $99.50/yr; Pro - $349.95/yr; Pro Plus - $999.95/yr
• Initial allowed storage quota: Home, Home Plus - unlimited; Pro - 1Tb; Pro Plus - 2Tb
• Cost of additional storage: - n/a
• Cost of additional devices / PCs / users: n/a
• E-billing facility: Yes

Conclusion

ElephantDrive is a smooth and streamlined archive client. While it is extremely well made and does its job well, it would be ever better to see some web 2.0 integration to permit alteration of files directly from the web portal. At this point ElephantDrive is a solid, effective and reliable Online Backup Solution, yet I can't shake the feeling that there is so much more the service could be offering. We would love to see ElephantDrive develop into a full-blown Online Storage and Collaboration Service. We will have to wait and see what happens. For the moment, if you would like a very reliable, fast and easy Online Backup Solution then ElephantDrive is an perfect choice.