Tranquil Announces TLS – The Ultimate Home Server Backup Service

If you reading this, you are probably quite aware of the need for data backup.  After all, if you are here, you either own or are looking to own a Windows Home Server.  And the purpose of a WHS is to be a backup server for the computers in your home and all the important/precious/irreplaceable data you have residing on those machines.

At least that is, or was, the intent of a Windows Home Server as originally conceived by Microsoft.  Regardless of your experiences with WHS, kudos to Microsoft for having the foresight to bring data backup to the masses.  And for just getting consumers thinking about the need for backups.

I have no idea of how extensible MS planned WHS to be.  Obviously, a backup server.  But more than that?  Perhaps, but as soon as one deviates from that path, a need to backup the backup becomes quite important.  If you are like me, you have begun or have in place a WHS system that is a server for your data which is just the opposite of what a backup server is.  Once you move all those irreplaceable memories to your WHS, that data is just as vulnerable as it was prior to purchasing such a device.

Enter on-line backup services.  Obviously, these services have been out there for quite some time, as least as a commercial service.  Financial institutions, large businesses, etc. make use of these services or risk financial chaos.  Backup services for the consumer are starting to become more prevalent in the industry now.  The problem, in many cases, is that the free ones do not offer adequate space for a WHS user or they become quite expensive as the storage space requirements increase.

Enter Tranquil PC.  As a major WHS device manufacturer, Tranquil is looking to expand upon that base and provide solutions to those users who have a need to “backup the backup”.  They are putting in place a new on-line backup service called TLS – the ultimate Home Server Backup Service.  TLS is short for Tranquil Life Server.  From their announcement on this new service:

What is Tranquil Life Server (TLS) ?

The TLS facility is the Fort Knox of data backup, for your absolute peace of mind.

Your Home Server already provides excellent PC backup, Data Duplication and Server Backup functions. This means you can rest easy when it comes to the data integrity of your Home or Small Office PCs.

However, there is always the lingering question, what if there was a fire, a theft, or other serious loss of the server itself ? This may be very unlikely, but it’s not impossible.

The costs of off-site data backup services, previously set up for larger corporations and banks, are now becoming affordable. But there are serious questions to be answered before committing your data to these servers ? 1) Is the data server to be TRUSTED, ie where is it, who owns it – are they to be trusted ? 2) In the event that you do have a problem, with the loss of data and your Home Server, would you be able to wait for days or weeks whilst it is downloaded ?

TLS sets out to answer these questions :

TLS runs on multiple servers owned, managed, housed by Tranquil PC Ltd, your TRUSTED supplier of the world’s first and finest Home Servers. These servers are then mirrored across multiple Tranquil sites via dedicated high speed optical links.

TLS also provides the option to not only recover your backup data on line or by Tranquil to a suitable HDD delivered to you for fast recovery on your site, but also offers to quickly supply a NEW Home Server, including the recovered data. To ensure your personal or small office data is quickly available again.

This exclusive service is unlikely to be copied by any other provider.

This service is set to launch early next year as a service for all WHS users.  And they would like your input on what is important to you to have in an on-line backup service.  If you have been investigating on-line backup services, and have not committed yet, or are looking to jump ship, this is your chance to provide some ground level input.

The questionnaire can be found here.  As a token of their appreciation for taking the time to complete this VERY short questionnaire, Tranquil will be draw a name from the list of respondents before the end of the year.  This lucky person will receive an AVA RS3 Music Server.  Not bad for 5 minutes of your time!

Based upon what I seen and read about Tranquil products, I think that we will find this service to be top-notch.  Let’s hope that they can keep the cost to a reasonable level.  As in commercial grade performance at consumer level prices!

For your reference, the original PDF announcement.