Memory Box Overview
Every year, 1 in 10 hard drives fail and more than 40% of computer users lose irreplaceable files. So why don't people backup? The reasons are varied: apathy, it's too hard, they just forget. Even when they do backup, it's usually to a local drive or on CDs or DVDs.
Memory Box provides an insurance ...
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Every year, 1 in 10 hard drives fail and more than 40% of computer users lose irreplaceable files. So why don't people backup? The reasons are varied: apathy, it's too hard, they just forget. Even when they do backup, it's usually to a local drive or on CDs or DVDs.
Memory Box provides an insurance policy against loss of precious data and intellectual property, and peace of mind for individual computer users and businesses everywhere. It is a simple, secure, automated off-site backup solution for work and home. Unlike other online backup solutions, Memory Box doesn't rely on a centralised data store. Instead, the spare disk space of a community of users around a network is utilised to lower the cost and minimise the effect of natural disasters, theft, and that unfortunately spilled coffee.
As part of the market research undertaken since being awarded a COMET grant, focus groups have identified two distinct end users for the consumer product:
- Tech-savvy users who see Memory Box as a “backup for their backups”.
- Casual users, who mostly use the computer for “fun” and just want a “set and forget” backup solution.
The business model for Memory Box is in four parts: to license to Internet Service Providers (ISP) as a value add for customers; as an enterprise solution that allows medium to large enterprises to maximise th eir IT infrastructure; as a direct-to-consumer sale; and an IT-reseller solution, where resellers provide the servers, installation and support.
Each time a change to a file has been automatically detected, the Memory Box software compresses and encrypts the file and breaks it into more than 100 pieces, whilst adding some redundant data. The parts are distributed to users around the network, using the network controller to direct them to the “best” place in the network: even if some of the users are behind firewalls! The redundant data in each file means that up to half of the file parts can be lost yet the full file can still be recovered.
