This is a software backup solution inspired by the everyday experience of living in Florida.

by Alex Goldman ISP-Planet Managing Editor [November 7, 2006]

Although File Preserver is a relatively new application, coming off an eight month extended beta, and Evolved Software Solutions is a relatively new company, its parent company, Boca Raton, Fla.-based Coastal Technologies (CTGI), is a telecom veteran, founded in 1996. Richard Kane is CEO of both CTGI and Evolved Software Solutions.

File Preserver is a file backup application that installs on a customer's computer and uploads files the user selects to CTGI's servers in high security data centers in Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

It is offered to ISPs on a revenue share basis, with the amount of shared revenue ramping up from 30 percent to 50 percent after the first 1,000 customers.

A built in referral system uses a popup window to ask customers to refer friends in order to receive a month free for the friend and a month free for the referrer.

Protect yourself
Kane explains the value. "It's personal stuff that we stand to lose when our computers fail. There are still people who do not realize that their computers are vulnerable to mechanical failure. The files people save are pictures and music, personal stuff that make us who we are."

The interface is designed for anyone to be able to use. The application is suitable for broadband and dialup, although the FAQ warns that the first backup will take some time over dialup, depending on the number of files stored.

Pricing is a key part of the pitch. The company charges a penny per megabyte, starting at $0.50 per month for 50 MB, up to $9.99 for unlimited storage.

Its data center uses iSCSI technology, Kane claims. "We've standardized on a few drives and drive arrays. We're making RAID arrays out of RAID arrays."

In the future, the company will be releasing a version designed for SMB customers that will enable superior storage and retrieval of critical information.

History
Kane built the company from scratch. "We bootstrapped up over ten years," he says. "I'm the sole owner, the founder, owner, chief pilot, cook, and bottle washer."

The company has been inspired by the ethos of Peter Diamandis, founder of the X-Prize, the company regularly holds internal technology competitions.

"The winner becomes the CEO of their own business unit," explains Kane. "This year's winner has to do with backing up mobile phones and ring tones. We call it the Coastal Prize for Innovation."

Kane shares Diamandis' fascination with flight, having set a record flying time from West Palm Beach to Kitty Hawk, N.C. The press release notes, "Kane's small special edition Cirrus has a souped up engine and is made of especially light materials: Between West Palm Beach and Kitty Hawk, Kane stopped only once—partly to re-fuel and partly for a bathroom break for his pregnant wife who was along for the ride."

Also on the board is former Rep. Billy Tauzin, with his telco connections, and Kane is working on selling the product to telcos and cablecos, but of course that's a long process. Meanwhile, the company is demonstrating its product at ISPCON.

—End