SOMIS News & Updates:

Zimbra users may use the webmail site (Zimbra - log in with your PennKey) with full functionality. We expect to have restored all clients including mobile phones by tomorrow morning.
Many machines at the School of Medicine have been compromised by a new type of virus that presents itself as an actual anti-virus product while a user is browsing the internet. If you experience anything remotely similar to this virus description, or are concerned about any suspicious activity on your computer, please contact your LSP immediately. For more information, please visit the following link.
Zimbra users are reporting an increase in spear-phishing attempts. Penn computer administrators will NEVER ask you for your password at any time via any medium. For more information about phishing, please see the following link.

CrashPlan Backup Service

Introduction
How does it work?
Encryption
Benefits
Pricing
Getting started

Introduction

CrashPlan is SOMIS' disaster recovery backup solution offered to the School of Medicine Departments, Centers, and Institutes. Once installed, CrashPlan automatically backs up selected data over the network to two servers located in different secure locations on campus. Data is encrypted prior to transmittal over the network, so the process is very secure. There is also an easy web-based interface to restore files. CrashPlan provides a quick data recovery in case of hardware failure or new computer setups.

The Crash Plan solution is superior to Apple's local Time Machine or Windows backup solutions. Events could damage both the computer and local backup hard drive located near each other. External hard drives can easily be stolen if not properly secured.

How does it work?

SOMIS operates two redundant servers in different locations that maintain all CrashPlan backups. Client computers communicate to these servers via installed software. Users can have the CrashPlan service back up their desktops and/or laptops. When necessary, users can restore all or select files via the installed software or via the web-based interface.

Encryption

CrashPlan encrypts data both at rest (256-bit AES) and in transit. This combination of encryption makes data backed up with SOMIS CrashPlan compliant with HIPAA standards.

Benefits

A variety of Operating Systems are supported (i.e. Mac, Windows, Linux).
It is easy for users to navigate the CrashPlan client and manage their backups or restore files.
Users may even use any web browser from internet-capable computers to restore files.
CrashPlan is a cheaper backup solution compared to previous solutions.
Start up and annual costs are very modest.
All backups are fully encrypted during the backup process making CrashPlan a secure and HIPAA-compliant option.

Pricing

CrashPlan Pricing consists of three parts:

A one-time set up fee.
An annual maintenance fee, which covers the cost of the software maintenance. (This fee is due at the beginning along with the startup fee.)
A monthly fee per GB used to cover the remaining costs of providing the service. The GB monthly fee will be adjusted each year.

Fee	FY11	FY12	FY13
One-time setup	$43.50	$43.50	TBD
Annual Maintenance	$9.00	$9.00	TBD
Usage per GB/per mo	$.60	$.60	TBD

TBD - For budgetary planning purposes, please note that the rates for FY13 will be equal to or less than FY12 rates.

Getting Started

If you would like more information about CrashPlan, please contact your LSP.
If you're ready to use CrashPlan, please create a ticket request here.

Click here for CrashPlan Information in PDF Format