Connected Corp. ships online backup and disaster recovery service; New service available for small and home businesses seeking fast, convenient and affordable way to safeguard valuable business data

Business Wire, July 22, 1996

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 22, 1996--Connected Corporation, a leading provider of online backup and data management services, today announced immediate availability of DataSafe (tm), the industry's fastest online backup service, for Windows 95 and Windows 3.1.

DataSafe provides home-based and small businesses with benefits that traditionally only larger companies with full MIS staffs could afford. Connected's first service offering is an automated, time-saving, more reliable, convenient and secure alternative to traditional backup methods such as tape or floppy disks. A monthly subscription-based service, DataSafe provides daily automated backup via the Internet or Connected's secure, private dial-up network.

"Individuals running a solo business, such as lawyers, are an ideal group for DataSafe," said Michelle Carron, a solo law practitioner who has been beta testing DataSafe. "DataSafe provides a quick, automated and affordable means of ensuring that my business is protected from a potentially devastating loss. It's the best kind of insurance that a small business can buy."

Unlike traditional tape backup software and all other online backup services, which must backup entire files during each session, DataSafe backs up only the pieces of each file that have changed since the last backup, significantly reducing overall transmission time and costs. DataSafe also saves each and every version of every file that the user creates, according to time and date, for easy retrieval.

"DataSafe meets the backup needs of home and small office businesses that know they should backup their data but rarely have the time or discipline," said Howard Marson, Connected's co-founder and vice president of marketing and sales. "DataSafe allows PC users to devote more time to revenue-generating business activities and less time to essential, but time-consuming data management tasks."

Multiple levels of security and data redundancy ensure that the user's data is kept confidential and always available. Data is stored at Connected's two separate secure operations centers, allowing customers who lose one or more files due to a mistake or disaster to recover them with minimum effort and downtime. In addition, mobile users need not worry about losing their irreplaceable data in the event their notebook computer crashes or is stolen.

DataSafe provides significant benefits to the business traveler, never before available or affordable for small businesses. While on the road, DataSafe allows users to instantly access information stored on their desktop PC by simply dialing into Connected's server and downloading it onto the laptop. Colleagues working in separate locations can use Connected's servers as their own networks to access each others' files.

Users subscribe to the DataSafe service by downloading the software from Connected's World Wide Web site (http://www.connected.com) or by installing the free program from a diskette. After specifying a daily backup schedule that is convenient for them, users need not remember to initiate each backup, nor do they need to be present while the backup occurs. DataSafe works over any type of modem, as well as over most local area networks that have a direct connection to the Internet. For those users who do not yet have Internet access, Connected supports a secure private network with local dial access from anywhere in the U.S.

DataSafe is immediately available for both Windows 95 (true 32-bit application supporting long filenames) and Windows 3.1, with a Macintosh version in development for release in the third quarter. Users interested in a free 30 day trial of the DataSafe backup service can obtain a free copy of the software program by accessing Connected's Web site. The subscription-based service costs $14.95 per month. The initial, baseline backup of up to 30 megabytes is free during the trial period. Thereafter, the monthly fee covers daily, automatic incremental backups of the user's data files. There is no additional fee for restoring data to the user's machine. Archival CD-ROM's containing all of the user's data files on a single CD are available for $24.95 and can be ordered and generated automatically, as frequently as the user desires.

Connected Corporation is an emerging leader in designing, developing and operating value-added, online backup and data management services for PC users in small-to- medium-sized and home-based businesses. Venture-backed by Hambrecht & Quist, Applied Technology, Inc., SOFTBANK Holdings Inc. and Solstice Capital, Connected is a privately- held company founded in October of 1995. The company is headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts and can be reached toll free at 1-888-9-BACKUP (888-922-2587).

CONTACT: Lisa Hahn/Jon Bornstein

Copithorne & Bellows

(617) 450-4300

lisah@ca.cbpr.com

jonb@ca.cbpr.com

or

Howard Marson

Connected Corporation

(508) 270-0035

howard@connected.com