by Jon Ferraez, on Apr 17, 2015 10:04:21 AM
OneDrive is a cloud storage and file sync service that offers users 15GB of free cloud storage to try out their services. It's a great way for users to test out using the Cloud to store files online. For businesses using Office 365, OneDrive now offers 1 TB of free cloud storage per user. While file sharing and content collaboration is the primary reason users choose solutions like OneDrive, it can also be used as a destination for your backups. By using backup software like NovaBACKUP, which integrates with OneDrive, you can securely store your backup with encryption in the cloud. This article is designed to explain how to use OneDrive for backup to securely backup your backup using NovaBACKUP software.
NovaBACKUP software includes the capability to utilize your existing Microsoft OneDrive cloud-based storage account as a destination storage location for your backup. If you do not have a OneDrive account, you can sign up for a free account on the OneDrive cloud storage plans page.
Backups to OneDrive can make use of the encryption feature available in NovaBACKUP. In order to make use of OneDrive as a destination storage location, you will need to have the OneDrive client software for Windows installed on the same computer that NovaBACKUP is running on. To make use of the OneDrive backup functionality in NovaBACKUP, make sure that you have the latest Microsoft OneDrive client software installed and you are logged in to the installed OneDrive client. If you need to download the OneDrive client, use this link to download the application:
How to Use OneDrive to Backup Your Backup Utilizing NovaBACKUP
Step 1: Verify OneDrive Application is Installed
You will need to first verify that the Microsoft OneDrive client software is installed on the same computer where NovaBACKUP is installed on. If you have not downloaded NovaBACKUP, you will need to download a free trial of NovaBACKUP. Next, you need to verify that you have associated your OneDrive account with your installed OneDrive application by logging in to the OneDrive client.
Step 2: Select What to Backup
Once that is in place, launch the NovaBACKUP software and create a new file backup job via the “Backup” tab. You will need to select what you would like to backup, so select some files and folders that you would like to back up to OneDrive. When you are done selecting the folders/files you want to backup, name the backup set by filling in the “Backup Name:” text entry field at the top left of the “Backup” tab. Make sure to choose a name that will indicate that you are storing this backup set to “OneDrive”; for instance “Backup to OneDrive.”
Step 3: Select OneDrive as Your Storage Destination
Now we will need to set the destination storage location to OneDrive. To do that, click on the “Backup to…” button at the bottom of the “Backup” tab screen and you will see a list of devices to select from. You should see a device named “SkyDrive”; this “SkyDrive” device is your OneDrive.
Select the device named “SkyDrive”, usually located at the bottom of the device list. Once you have selected “SkyDrive” as the device, you will need to fill in the “Media name:” which is the name of the backup set that will be stored in the cloud on Microsoft OneDrive using the OneDrive account that you are currently signed into via the Microsoft OneDrive client software that you had installed earlier and logged in to. The media name is the name of the backup set that will be stored on OneDrive, so be sure to name it something useful. Press the OK button to save that change.
At the bottom of the “Backup” tab you should now see that the “Backup to…” will show your destination storage location path similar to “C:\Users\Your.Name\OneDrive\Backup to OneDrive”. This means that the destination storage location is set correctly; in this example the Media name that I chose was “Backup to OneDrive”.
Step 4: Enable Encryption on Your Backup
To enable encryption on your OneDrive backup job, click on the “Settings” button, at the bottom of the “Backup” tab, and then click on the “Encryption” tab to enable Encryption. The highest level of encryption type that NovaBACKUP contains is “AES 256-bit.” Make sure to enter only alpha-numeric characters into the secret key field, as symbols will not work in this entry box.
When utilizing encryption in your OneDrive backup job you will be required to enter in the encryption/secret key if you ever need to restore data from that encrypted backup set stored on OneDrive. Be sure to keep your password stored in a secure location, so should you need to restore, your password is available to use to recover your files.
Step 5: Save Your Backup Job
Now you are ready to save the backup job you created. By default the job script will save to a file named exactly what you filled in at the top left of the “Backup” tab for the “Backup Name:” text entry field. If you do not save the backup job, you will be prompted to do so should you attempt to exit out of NovaBACKUP without first saving.
Step 6: Complete Your Backup and Test a Restore
You can now try out completing a backup job to OneDrive and then later test out your backup job by restoring files from it. Once you start and complete your backup job to OneDrive, you will click on the “Restore” tab in NovaBACKUP and then expand the “Disk Backups” category and locate your “OneDrive” backup job that you created from this guide.
Expand the OneDrive backup job to see the details of that backup job and to be able to restore files and folders from that backup job to test the restore capability. You can restore to the original location (the default) or an alternate folder by clicking on the “Settings” button at the bottom of the “Restore” tab. Once you select the files and folders you would like to restore, press the “Restore” button to make sure that the files can be restored. You will be prompted to enter your encryption/secret key at this point if utilizing encryption. The files should then restore and you will get a log created for that restore process.
A backup is only as good as your ability to restore the files you have backed up. That's why we highly recommend testing your backups, no matter what solution you choose to use. To learn more about cloud backup, check out our infographic on cloud backup.
