Frequently Asked Questions

General information

Who is Comet for?

Comet is designed for data backup service providers. This can include any business that provides a computer backup service to their customers, even if that is not their core business. We do not sell directly to the public. Our typical customers include:

  • Data backup service providers
  • IT support companies
  • Managed service providers
  • Internal IT teams for SMEs and corporates
  • Enterprise organizations

Who are the end users of Comet?

Comet suits any business or organization with information that needs protecting. This may range from a single device to enterprise scale environments.

Technical

What hardware do I need to run Comet?

Comet does not require you to own any of your own hardware. Comet can be run from a VPS, and you can instruct it to store data directly on one of our approved cloud storage providers. Alternatively, you can run the entire system on your own hardware (or a combination of both). You choose

Is Comet Linux or Windows based?

Both the Server and Client components run natively on Windows and Linux. The self-installer is incredibly simple, and there are no third-party software dependencies (eg Java, .NET etc)

You mentioned “chunking”. What is that?

Glad you asked! Comet backs up data by first splitting it into variable-sized chunks, which are individually compressed, encrypted, and uploaded. Comet uses data-dependent chunking, efficiently splitting a file into consistent chunks even in the face of random inserts.

How does chunking help?

Faster backups, faster restores, better deduplication, smaller uploads, smaller downloads when restoring, reduced data storage, better security, vastly reduced risk of corruption. It’s the game-changer that makes Comet so unique.

I’m wondering about data sovereignty. Where is data stored?

Comet can be installed on your hardware, or the Cloud environment of your choice. We do not store any identifiable information about your customers or their data. If you want to use MyClient for your backup monitoring, you can choose a hosting location in either the USA or UK when you sign up.

What data does Comet collect?

Comet does collect licensing and usage data which you can read more about here.

Billing and payment

What payment methods do you accept?

We accept credit card payment using Visa, MasterCard, and American Express (Amex). We also accept direct bank deposit through telegraphic transfer.

What currencies do you support?

All of our services are quoted in United States Dollars, and payment is also only accepted in USD. Please use a currency converter (e.g. www.xe.com) to check the costs in your own currency

How does billing work?

Comet uses an account credit system. You need to keep a positive balance of credit to keep your licenses active. Credit is consumed as you use our licenses.

Select a payment amount that covers your usage. After your first payment this becomes your default payment amount (unless you change it). When your account balance is near zero we automatically top up your account with this default amount, so you never have to worry about running out of credit. Deductions are made in real time to your account balance as you consume services.

For example, one protected device license costs $2 every 30 days; once 30 days has elapsed, another $2 will be deducted from your account balance.

More information is on the pricing page.

How often do I need to credit my account?

You are in complete control of your purchasing – that is one of the benefits of Comet. You can add credit regularly, or buy in bulk and save. There is no expiry for any credit packs purchased after August 9, 2021. Any credit packs purchased before that date have an expiry date.

Can I credit my account automatically?

Comet can automatically top-up your account credit to ensure continuous service.

Do I need licenses for my back up servers?

Yes, but these are free. You can procure licenses from the Partner Portal.

Support

Do you have online documentation?

Yes, it is here.

How do you provide support?

Support is provided via our ticket system in the Partner Portal. You’ll need to sign up and log in to access this. We have two support offices, based in New Zealand and Ukraine. This gives us global coverage across most time zones. Tickets which require escalation to our development team are answered during NZDT work hours.

Want to speak directly with our Customer Success team? Book a call for a free one-on-one support session.