초록 ▼

The additional resources made available to the customer computer can be used either to enhance the customers' local needs (such as access to virtual storage for additional disk space, or access to a more powerful processor of similar type for program execution), or these additional resources can be

The additional resources made available to the customer computer can be used either to enhance the customers' local needs (such as access to virtual storage for additional disk space, or access to a more powerful processor of similar type for program execution), or these additional resources can be used by the customer computer to support services on-line that otherwise would be unavailable, impractical, or unaffordable. Examples of services include software and information rental, sales, and release update services, anti-viral services, backup and recovery services, and diagnostic and repair services, to name a few.

대표청구항 ▼

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] An online computer system providing commercial backup services to remote customer computers over the Internet by performing the following steps:(a) providing at least one remote storage area for use in storing customer backup information;(b) establishing a first online In

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] An online computer system providing commercial backup services to remote customer computers over the Internet by performing the following steps:(a) providing at least one remote storage area for use in storing customer backup information;(b) establishing a first online Internet session with a customer's computer;(c) allowing the customer to sign up for backup services over the first online Internet session, including the step of establishing a customer identifier and associated password for the customer;(d) establishing a second online Internet session with the customer's computer;(e) requesting the customer to input the customer identifier and associated password established by step (c);(f) validating the customer identifier and password requested by step (e);(g) conditioned at least in part on validating step (f), allowing the customer to access the remote storage area over the second Internet session substantially as if the remote storage area was a backup storage device physically and/or locally attached to the customer's computer, including the steps of:(1) encrypting backup data provided by the customer's computer,(2) transmitting the encrypted backup data to the online backup service provider over the second online Internet session, and(3) storing the backup data in the remote storage area provided by the online backup service provider.