Virtual Network Drive from enVirtua Ltd.

Details about the VirtualNetworkDrive technology

Since 2008, enVirtua has been providing the VirtualNetworkDrive to businesses and individuals in the UK and as far away as Australia. The non-intrusive software client we provide runs in the background creating a connection to the secure storage system on servers on the Internet. On the users computer they see a new disk/folder/drive that looks just like any other disk.

Using the software is very simple, below is a short screencast showing how the software in action:

The software is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit Windows, Apple Mac (OSX), and Linux. This means that no matter what type of machine you use you have access to your files.

Default configuration

Currently our default configuration is a single account that is used across multiple machines, this provides a majority of our new users with a flexible solution that allows multiple staff to have a shared drive across all their machines; no matter where they are as long as they have access to the internet.

Sync local files to all users local disk

A more advanced option (included in the system at no extra charge) is the ability to keep a local folder that is synchronised to all the local disks of all the Users of the system. This allows files to be kept up to date on everyone's machine without having to email files to everyone. It also allows files to be available when offline (for example on a train).
(Both online and the sychronised folder options are included in the software and no extra charge is required to use both. Both options can be used at the same time)

Data Backup to the "cloud"

The virtual network drive includes our popular CloudBackup software, so that files on Users machines can be securely and reliably backed up to our secure storage automatically. Files can then be restored via the software client by Users should this be required. You can stop losing sleep over backing up without the hassle and capital cost of buying external USB disks or backup tapes and having to swap disks/tapes daily and keeping them organised.
The backup option is a hassle free way to ensure that all your files are safely backed up to an offsite backup.

Bandwidth Optimisation

As all data is sent and received via your internet connection our solution has been designed to use the least amount of bandwidth possible. We backup only changes to files, rather than all parts of all files each time. This means that we are sending much less data across your internet connection whilst still ensuring all your files are backed up.

The software has the User configurable option to limit how much bandwidth is used. This will result in longer backup windows, but will prevent any traffic congestion if you are on a very busy or slow internet connection. The settings allow different limits for office hours and after hours. This allows you to use all the available bandwidth overnight whilst limiting during the day when you might be surfing internet websites.

Flexible Billing

Unlike other solutions, enVirtua is happy to bill weekly, fortnightly or monthly. Invoices can be paid by cheque, bank transfer (BACS, CHAPS) or PayPal. We are able to bill by staff member, team, or organisation. We bill Users only for what they use at the following rates (as of 01 March 2011):

Storage
• £0.15 per GB-Month of storage used
  Data Transfer
• £0.10 per GB of data uploaded
• £0.17 per GB of data downloaded
  Requests
• £0.01 per 1,000 upload requests
• £0.01 per 10,000 download requests

We estimate that 10GB of data would cost you around £10 per year (100GB of data would cost approximately £300 per year). We do not "round up" usage to the nearest megabyte or gigabyte, all our billing is done by the byte.

Security

All files shared using our system are transmitted/received via SSL, files are encrypted BEFORE transmission across your WAN onto our servers using 256-bit AES Encryption. We also encrypt file names, so without the software, your username and password you can not even tell what a file is called.

The system ensures that data can not be intercepted during transmission or whilst stored on our storage arrays.

**** NOTE: It is essential you store your user credentials safely, if you lose your credentials we are unable to recover your data as it is encrypted. We do not store copies of your user credentials in our offices or on our computers so staff are unable to recover your data... the system is designed to allow only you to access your data.