Product Overview

ElephantDrive was founded by a team of technologists who are passionate about developing world class software and fascinated by the challenges of storing, securing, and protecting massive amounts of data. They are based in Los Angeles and have worked together for years designing and deploying online applications.

They offer 1 free account, 2 home accounts, 2 small business accounts and corporate options.

Feature Set

Security

Files being transferred to and from the servers are protected with 128bit SSL encryption; which is the industry standard. Once on their servers your data is protected using 256 AEG encryption. You can use a personal encryption key to further protect your data.

Backup Features

Open and locked files can be backed up in the Pro versions only.
External drives can be backed up in all editions except the Home edition, while network drives can be backed up in the Pro and Pro Plus editions.

Backups can be continuous or scheduled, if continuous, then only files that are altered will be backed up. Backups can be set to archive by folder or by file type. There is a TrunkManager that allows you to move files directly from your computer to the ElephantDrive using either drag-and-drop or select the items you want to move and click the upload or download buttons.

File versioning is available but the number of versions allowed depends on the edition used:

• home edition allows 3 versions
• home plus edition allows 10 versions
• pro edition allows 20 versions
• pro plus edition allows unlimited versions

Restore Features

Files can be restored from either the TrunkManager or the web portal. In either case, navigate to the file you wish to restore and drag-and-drop the file to your computer. If you wish to restore a particular version, then click on the file and select ‘Version History’. Then simply select the version you wish to restore. Restores start almost instantly.

Control and Analysis

All backup jobs can be stopped, paused or resumed at any time from the desktop client Progress Report. This is also where you will find the error and transfer logs.

CPU and bandwidth usage are determined by the program, however, you can set throttling on, off or scheduled for specific times.

Interface

The ElephantDrive can be mapped as a local drive letter, using the utility installed with the client software. The web portal allows access to your entire backed up file set and you can view and restore different file versions from here.

The Pro Plus edition gives centralized administration functionality and all versions support Proxy servers.

Device Support

MAC OS X and higher
Windows 7, Vista, 2003, XP, 2000
Linux support is in development

Limitations

Maximum individual file size:

• Home – 1Gb
• Home Plus – 2Gb
• Pro – 2.5Gb
• Pro Plus – 5Gb

Maximum Monthly Transfer Limit:

• Home, Home Plus – 100Gb
• Pro – 1Tb
• Pro Plus – 2Tb
  

Maximum Number of Devices:

• Home – 1 computer
• Home Pro – 4 computers
• Pro – 10 computers
• Pro Plus – 20 computers
  
  

File Sharing and Collaboration

Any file uploaded to your ElephantDrive can be privately shared by right-clicking on the file in Trunk Explorer and selecting share. Then just enter the email addresses of the people you wish to share the file with and they will receive a unique web address to the file. Public File sharing is not supported.
There are no collaboration tools within ElephantDrive.

Synchronisation

Computers synchronize to the web portal but not directly to each other.

Web 2.0 Integration

ElephantDrive does not currently integrate with any online services or social network sites.

Pricing

offers 4 main packages as shown below:

Plan	Home	Home Plus	Pro	Pro Plus
Initial setup	free	free	free	free
Cost – Monthly	$4.95 / mth	$9.95 / mth	$34.95 / mth	$99.95 / mth
Cost – Yearly	$49.95 / year	$99.50 / year	$349.95 / year	$999.95 / year
Initial allowed storage amount	unlimited	unlimited	1Tb	2Tb
Cost of additional storage	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Cost of additional devices / PCs / users	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Referral Program
E-billing facility

Corporate plans are available and there is also a 1Gb free account.

All accounts can be tried out via a 15 day trail.

Ease Of Use

Both the web portal and the client software are very simply to use. If you can use windows explorer, then you can use ElephantDrive. Adding files to backup sets and restoring files requires is intuitive and easy. Mapping ElephantDrive as a local drive took a bit of finding but once setup it acts as any other network drive.

Screenshots

Customer Support

Self-help support is very good: There is a knowledgebase, forum and blog for interaction with other users and ElephantDrive staff. For reference there is a very good FAQ section and the user documentation is very good. There are tutorials, testimonials, demos, webinars and case studies.

If you wish to contact ElephantDrive privately, you can email them or fill in the web form. There is telephone support but only by appointment.
We found their customer support very helpful, knowledgeable and friendly.

Summary

ElephantDrive is a slick and streamlined backup client. While it is very well done and does its job extremely well, it would be nice to see some web 2.0 integration to allow modification of files directly from the web portal. At the moment ElephantDrive is a solid, effective and reliable Online Backup Solution, however, I can’t shake the feeling that there is so much more it could be doing. I would love to see ElephantDrive develop into a full-blown Online Storage and Collaboration tool. We will have to wait and see what happens.

For the moment, if you want a very reliable, quick and straightforward Online Backup Solution then ElephantDrive is an excellent choice.