Backup and Synchronization 1, Finding the best solution for backup and synchronization

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PassXYZ is a password management software built on top of KeePass library for Android, iOS and Windows 10. KeePass data format is a popular open-sourced password database format used by many KeePass derived applications. However, KeePass can only run on Windows platform by itself. The goal of PassXYZ is to support KeePass database on all major platforms.

PassXYZ has been published in the following two releases to meet the different requirements from KeePass users:

  • PassXYZ is a standalone application without any networking capability.
  • PassXYZ Cloud is an enhanced version with backup and synchronization functionalities using cloud storage.

This article together with another named “Backup and Synchronization 2, Step-by-step guides of password database backup and synchronization using cloud storage” introduce how to use cloud storage for backup and synchronization.

PassXYZ Cloud version 1.8.1 and later provides full cloud storage support by adding most of common used storage protocols, such as WebDAV, FTP and SFTP etc. WebDAV, FTP and SFTP are standard storage protocols used by cloud storage. Even though many popular cloud services, such as OneDrive, Google Drive or iCloud, use proprietary protocol, there are also many cloud services supporting WebDAV, such as Box, DriveHQ and CloudMe etc.

How to choose a solution for backup and synchronization

The users using password management software usually have to balance between security and convenience. Even though data safety is the number one factor to be considered, the convenience also plays an important role as time goes on. Backup and synchronization are major features requested by many users when considering both reliability and convenience, especially, when we have multiple devices and need to access the same database across platforms. Then, how do we choose the solution for backup and synchronization? To answer this question, let’s have a look at the table below first.

comparison

From the above table, we can see that we have a few choices according to the data storage solution. Different choices have different features in terms of data safety and convenience of usage. Below is a summary:
1. Local storage: If we use only one device and backup data occasionally, PassXYZ is a good choice for this case.
2. Intranet (home or internal network): This is a choice which can meet both safety and convenient usage requirements. As long as the internal network is safe enough, PassXYZ Cloud can be used and the data should be stored in the internal shared network storage only. However, the users with this option need to know how to setup home or internal network storage.
3. Internet: To use PassXYZ Cloud and store data on internet, this is the most convenient solution. The safety of this solution depends on the knowledge of internet security. The safety can be low to high according to the configuration of PassXYZ, data files and cloud services.

From the above summary, we can see that the best solution may be varying for different users. To choose the best solution, users need to balance between safety and convenience according to their knowledge on data security. For most of the users, they may not have enough knowledge about either cyber security or data security. In this case, they should consider classifying their data into different categories. Personal data can be classified according to the security requirements. For an example, we can have two categories of data as suggested below:

  • High security: banking, public services (ID, passport etc.)
  • Normal: Social media, email or network services etc.

Of course, you may have three or four categories according to your own preferences. After classifing your data, you may find that the data with higher security requirements usually have a longer life cycle and require less changes over the time. On the other hand, most frequently changed data require less security and normally have a shorter life time. As such, you may choose the above listed solutions according to the classification of your data. You may use local storage and backup manually for the most important data and, at the same time, choose to store your data which need to be changed frequently on the network storage.

After choosing the solution which is suitable for your needs, you may start to read another article “Backup and Synchronization 2, Step-by-step guides of password database backup and synchronization using cloud storage” which tells you how to backup or synchronize data with PassXYZ Cloud.

Further reading:

PassXYZ is a cross platform password management software developed using KeePass. PassXYZ can run on Android, iOS and Windows 10.
If you are interested in the personal information management, please add PassXYZ Wechat public account by searching the keyword PassXYZ or link it using Wechat name passxyz_kpclib. The source code of KPCLib can be found at GitHub at https://github.com/passxyz/KPCLib.

You can also find more information about PassXYZ on its website and install it from Google Play, Apple Store and Microsoft Store.