LogMeIn Remote File Sync

I came to know of LogMeIn through their free secure remote desktop access product that lets you access your computer much like GoToMyPC or pcAnywhere. But unlike those other two products, it is able to go through firewalls without using weird ports (It uses standard HTTP and HTTPS traffic) and in my opinion is just generally much easier to use.

I love this free service and use it constantly for working from home, remotely helping users, and accessing my home pc from work. So when I was invited to try their new demo remote backup product, I jumped at the chance.

How the service works in a nutshell: Setup the program on at least two computers and designate one of them as the “storage pc.” Then create a backup set, tell it how often to run and LogMeIn takes care of the backup and file sync from there.

This whole process was very intuitive and took less than 5 minutes to install.

Steps I took to install:

• Sign into your logmein.com account
• Choose the backup tab
• “+Add computer”



• Accept the applet



• Follow the defaults through the install
• Uncheck “create desktop icon” (I hate desktop icons)
• Create a new backup set

Pluses:

• Very easy to install.
• Works natively through firewalls.
• Can copy open files (such as Outlook PSTs.)
• Only sends changed files, reducing bandwidth and transfer time.
• Stores data on computers you own, so there are no data storage fees.
• Very easy for an organization to automate backups to a server that they own.
• Stores multiple versions of files and can be used for restoring PCs.

Negatives:

• Stores data on computers you own, so it is your responsibility to ensure that “storage PCs” are dispersed, reliable, and have the capacity needed.
• No free version like their excellent remote access product (Currently $60/year for two PCs, $50 for each additional PC.)

From a large organization standpoint, I can see this product doing really well. I know of backup products that can cost $25-$50 a month per PC. At (worst case before negotiation) $50-$60 PC/year this could be the nudge that an organization needs to start backing much more of their data.