Case Study

Contact: William Kalamon
Company: Doaty & Co. Real Estate
Product: 30GB PCMCIA ABSplus

Background

Doaty & Company Real Estate provides real estate services in the Berks, Chester and Montgomery County areas of northeast Pennsylvania. Employing over 30 people, Doaty & Company sells primarily in the residential market and offers real estate sales services, mortgage products, title insurance and settlement services. Like many other firms in the real estate industry, Doaty & Company increasingly relies on the Web to distribute information to potential customers. Likewise, homeowners and buyers also turn to the Web when making selling and purchasing decisions.

For William Kalamon, technical director for Doaty & Company, maintaining the company Web site is one of the most crucial aspects of his job. He is responsible for all of the video and digital imaging used on the company Web site and in their advertising materials. Working with such large files forces Kalamon to save massive amounts of files on his notebook computer on a regular basis. These images are important sources of information to customers who want to see visual images of available properties. “We have the ability to blend technology and real estate in a seamless union to bring the consumer information at lightning speeds. I can share data and information with consumers on a level never before obtained,” said Kalamon.

Problem

However, in 2001 Kalamon experienced a severe crash and burn of his Dell Inspiron 8000 notebook. Like many people before him, Kalamon had not backed up his notebook and, as a result, lost an extensive amount of crucial data. Kalamon estimates that he lost at least $3,150 in both the time spent restoring his computer and in the data lost. After restoring his notebook back to its original working order, he learned from his mistake and purchased an external USB hard drive in an attempt to protect himself from any further data loss should his notebook crash again.

After spending over $300 on the hard drive, Kalamon thought his problems were solved. But it wasn’t long before Kalamon discovered his notebook did not support the slow speed of USB and, once again, was exposed to the possibility of data loss and home sales. He was forced to call Dell’s Technical Support department desperate for a solution.

Solution

Kalamon was finally presented with a viable solution when a technical advisor at Dell recommended the CMS Products ABSplus solution as the only sure way to back up externally and effortlessly. His research of CMS and their complete line of backup solutions led him to the 30GB ABSplus system with PCMCIA interface. After evaluating some of the alternatives, Kalamon thought the security offered by the ABSplus more than justified the price.

The storage capacity of the ABSplus was a perfect accompaniment to the 30GB hard drive on his notebook and the automatic aspect of the system made backup effortless. Kalamon found the integration of the ABSplus solution, a complete system backup performed with the push of a button, saved the user valuable time and made backup a painless task. “Having CMS's ABSplus system is like having all your life insurance paid up,” said Kalamon.

Another feature appreciated by Kalamon was the quick speed of the PCMCIA port, which delivered data transfer rates of up to 75MB during the initial backup. Subsequent backups are incremental, transferring only those files that have been changed since the last backup, and therefore less time consuming. With each incremental backup, the ABSplus software scans the source drive and compares each file to the ABSplus at a rate of one gigabyte per minute.

The compact size and durable design further simplified the backup process for Kalamon. Pocket-sized for mobile users and weighing seven ounces, backup can be performed wherever and whenever necessary. The rugged design of the ABSplus is also beneficial to Kalamon who travels between his office and home. The ABSplus can withstand a non-operating shock up to 1400Gs and operating temperatures ranging from 5?C to 55?C and is strong enough to hold up to even the most demanding conditions.

Because of his busy schedule, Kalamon sometimes forgets to perform backups. Now the reminder option on the ABSplus tells him if it’s been more than four days since his last backup. “It's just a secure, good feeling to know if there is a bad crash and burn, I can be back up and running in no time,” he said.

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