Some Quick facts: Regardless of what you may think, there are a list of unreliable storage medium that people rely on.
Here are a few:

• Your computer Hard Drive - Expected life is about 4 years
• You new cute little flash drive - Sometimes data just vanish for some strange reason or they just become defective after a few uses
• CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, Blue-Ray Disc - Commonsense should tell you if your movies don't work when there is a scratch on the disc you should expect your data to be safe on it.
  
• Floppy Disk - If you still use this, you my want to stop reading and get your data off right now!

How does a Remote Backup Service work? Although many may think that the name is self explanatory, this is not the case.
A remote backup service, is a service that runs on a client computer based on a set schedule or ran manually be the user.
The remote backup service either backs-up change files or every file in the backup set ( list of files pre-selected to be backed up).
The client then collects all the data and sends it to the remote storage server for storage and data archiving.
Although many professional IT guys may think that transferring your files to your grandmother's computer across the country via FTP is the same, think again, it is not.
The remote backup server usually keeps a catalog of your backup history for later retrieval.
Why should I use a Remote Backup Service instead of an external hard drive or flash drive? Aside from the quick facts I mentioned earlier here are a few scenarios that may help:

1. You backed up your school paper, proposal or Quickbooks file on your flash drive on Friday, the following Monday you you made a few changes to the document or file on you desktop.
   On Tuesday and Wednesday you made a few critical updates to the information then on Thursday your computer failed due to a bad hard drive.
   The work you did between the Friday you backed upand the day your hard drive failed will be lost.
   
2. You are a college student, you like to party a lot, you are pretty good at getting all your papers done on time.
   The only thing is that since you never have time to do your backups you made sure that you saved all your documents to your "My Documents folder".
   one day, you turned your computer on and you cannot boot, you remembered that your loving parents bought that extended 4 year coverage for you, so you called up technical support.
   The tech guy walked you through a series of steps to get you back up and running and when you look in your "my documents" folder you realize it's empty.
   They erased all your documents.
   

I can go on, and on.
but I think you get the point.
A remote backup service never forgets to back up your computer and your files can be recovered to any computer, even the same computer after major computer repair.
What you should look for in a Remote Backup Service Provider? Things you should look for:

1. Security -multiple encryption standards: DES 56 bits, TDES (Triple DES) 168 bits # Rijndael AES (new US Federal Standard) 128 bits # Rijndael AES 192 bits # Rijndael AES 256 bits (most secure) # Blowfish variable key length to 448 bits
2. Predefine Include/Exclude Files - You can predefine Backup Sets with files preselected for Include or Exclude, AutoSelect ON or OFF, and other Backup Set definitions.
   This allows building customized client installers designed for a vertical market application or a specific type of client.
   For example, you can make installers that require no file selection at all by the Client by pre-selecting a set of files to back up, and a set to exclude from backups.
   
3. Administrator's Features - Entering the Administrator's password at the Client opens access to enhanced features on the Client software.
   
4. Bigger Backups - Unlimited file size and count.
   RBackup supports backing up hundreds of thousands of files per Backup Set, and file sizes in the terabytes.
   (one thousand gigabytes)
5. Disaster Recovery System - Clients should make sure their Encryption Keys and Passwords are safe.
   But, just in case they don't, RBackup's Disaster Recovery System makes it easier to restore them from Key Disks that can be generated by the Client.
   
6. Exclusive IP Detection System - Identifies public IP address behind non-commercial routers.
   RBackup Servers can now be used behind inexpensive consumer-grade routers like many that are sold at electronics discount stores.
   Many Internet Service Providers install these routers as part of DSL and Cable Internet connections.
   Until now, NO Server Software has been able to operate through these non-commercial routers.
   (Requires our exclusive Server Locator service, a part of your Maintenance Subscription)
7. Copy to Disk - Onsite backups can be done to a series of CDs at the Client, usually as first full backups.
   CDs are transported to the Server location and copied onto the Server.
   It's faster than Remote Backups which may not be practical for large full backups.
   
8. Scheduled Start Date - Allows scheduling a Backup Set to launch at a future date.
   
9. Reports Contain Original File Size - This is important for billing, in case you are operating a commercial Remote Backup Service.
   Clients may not be able to relate to "Compressed File Size," since it cannot be predicted.
   Billing on Original File Size (pre-compression) is easier to understand.
   
10. Reporting Options - Reporting options include the ability to export comma-delimited files for easy import into accounting systems and other software.
    
11. HIPPA and SOX Compliant.