Backing up and accessing your data is essential when you are travelling. With a plethora of services and systems available, we look at the current options.

Data backup may not be on top of your list of priorities when planning your next business trip, but safely storing information is now more important than ever, as businesses become more mobile and executives spend even less of their time at their desks. The data on your companies intranet that you take for granted must be accessed when on the road, but you also need to consider how to safely secure the data you create when you are on your next business trip.

A recent study showed that nearly 50 per cent of all computer users suffer some form of data loss each year. And with a report from HP stating that 70 per cent of small firms in particular that suffer an irretrievable data loss never recover and go out of business, protecting the data you have and the information you create, is a commercial imperative few business travellers can now ignore.

Safe and sound

With fast and easy access to the Internet now almost ubiquitous for all business travellers, it makes sense to look for an online data backup service that you can instantly access via your PC or Mac. As this market has grown, the quality of the services on offer has expanded and now offers professional data storage at affordable prices.

From very simple services that just mirror your local or external hard drives content, to more sophisticated services that allow for the backup of multiple versions of a file when you need to see how a file has evolved over time; there are now subtle differences between each service you need to carefully consider.

And the ability to handle accounts across multiple computers is now becoming a standard feature across all the market-leading services. Many of the leading services offer live updating that backs up your data as you work on it. No more remembering to backup your files every few minutes, or setting up timed backup intervals for your MS Office documents, as these services can handle this for you.

One of the services that have rapidly grown over the last year is Mozy. Now offering a pro service with desktop licences starting at $3.95 per gigabyte per month, MozyPro also takes advantage of the Mozy 2xProject that can backup online and also to any designated external drive or USB key. More services are now offering integrated backup as part of their standard rates, which is a great move forward for business travellers that may have several devices they travel with.

Another leading online backup service that should be on your shortlist is SOS Online Backup that has a great user interface and also offers a set of default features that all business travellers need. Integration is again the key service with SOS Online Backup. You can choose to backup your Outlook account daily, backup your entire hard drive to the SOS servers or any local hard drive. And LiveProject watches your activity and backs up any files you change instantly. Prices start at $12 a month for 10GB of storage space.

The amount of storage space you need is often a major part of the cost equation when considering which online backup service is right for your needs. This area of the decision-making process is removed with Carbonite. For $54.95 a year, you have unlimited space for your data. Offering the full range of services that al small business travellers will need, Carbonite's easy pricing could be your perfect online data backup companion.

Other services that are worthy of consideration include: Data Deposit Box, iDrive, and Norton Online Backup. If you already use their virus protection systems, you can add data backup as well for 25GB at a cost of $49.99. Backblaze, and 4Shared that offers an amazing 10GB of free storage space should also be considered.

And with the rise of cloud-base computing in general, services such as those from DropBox have become more popular than ever. Once set-up, the DropBox's Windows, Mac or Linux client is easy to use. Simply place a file in your dropbox and its syncs with your online space. Any changes to files within a shared folder are sent to each user as a desktop alert. You only get 2GB of free storage, but an additional 50GB can be bought or $9.99.

Hardware heaven

Of course storing your precious data in the cloud with a service like DropBox is all well and good, and offers superb versatility especially for business travellers. But there are always times when good old magnetic media is the way to go.

Iomega and their eGo Portable series offer compact hard drives that have a pedigree of reliable portable storage that is hard to beat. Their Prestige device is just 110mm long that makes it prefect for business travellers that have limited space in their luggage. Offering up to 4TB of storage space and 2GB of free space on the MozyHome online system, you'll have more portable storage than you'll ever need.

New from Hitachi is a range of portable hard drives. The LifeStudio range have taken the concept of an ultra compact hard drive and added a couple of additional features. First is a USB drive that automatically syncs with the data on its parent drive. The drive has 4GB of storage capacity. This is a great solution, as you could take this drive to your meeting with perhaps a spreadsheet stored on it. Any changes you make to that spreadsheet will automatically be synced back to the main hard drive when you re-dock it on arrival in your hotel room. This seamless integration of your data is a superb innovation that many business travellers will rapidly embrace.

The second innovation that Hitachi has included in this new range of portable hard drives is a connection to online storage services. The LifeStudio application gives users multiple ways to easily protect their digital content on site or in the cloud. Every customer receives 3GB of online storage for free and for more storage there is an option to upgrade to a quarter of a terabyte (250GB) for only $49 per year, which includes multiple computer protection.

Hitachi Backup is simple and easy-to-use with default options that cover virtually every Mac or PC users' backup needs. When using Hitachi's cloud service, all content is stored in its natural format (no proprietary formatting), so files are protected and easy to view, download and share from any web browser, anywhere, even from an iPhone and iPad. Backup runs every 30 minutes or can be scheduled at your own convenience.

Business travellers are now well served by online backup systems that are increasingly being offered by hardware manufacturers as well. Your data needs to be backed up, but with a number of services offering similar features, you are advised to test a number of services using their free trial periods. Only then will you know which system offers you the unique set of features that meets your needs. If you don't currently have a data backup regime in place when you are travelling, make choosing and implementing a data backup system a top priority before your next trip.

	As one of the most well-developed business data backup services, business travellers can be confident their data is safe yet accessible.
	The new Hitachi LifeStudio range not only offer standard portable hard drive data backup, but also USB syncing and online storage in the cloud as well.
	Instantly sync all of your work between designated folders and keep all your colleagues informed of changes makes DropBox more than just an online backup solution.