Backing up data is the job you know you need to do, yet rarely get around to doing it. With our PCs now holding more and more crucial data, it will be essential for all users – home or business – to implement some kind of backup regime offsite, safe from theft or accident.

At least, that’s how the boys at Aussie startup Safe Offsite see the situation. They’re banking on online backup being huge in the next few years, and have offered some preview code for us to try out.

While consumers and end users typically use some kind of local backup system, offsite storage is often the domain of large corporations. SOS Online Backup is clearly geared at bridging that gap. After you’ve scored an account, installation is just a matter of running the client software, and designating which folders, files or drives you want backed up, and when.

Under the hood, SOS performs some technical wizardry to keep file sizes down, and consequently speeding up the data transfer. Say, for example, you have a spreadsheet with your home budget on it. Rather than sending the entire file every night on a scheduled backup, SOS looks at how the file has changed and transmits only the new information that’s been added to the file.

At this stage, the software was stable enough to use, although we had some trouble backing up across our network drive. We’d also like to see some work done on the interface – the vertical navbar is slightly clunky.

Offsite backup is a no-brainer; however the price of such services is a major consideration for consumers. While no final price has been announced for the service, it’ll probably be in the ballpark of $1 per week.

Safe Offsite is giving PC Authority readers the chance to try it out. Head to the website to and sign up to the beta test, with a special 50 percent discount.