Last summer my Dell hard drive crashed out of the blue – if you ever had this happen to you, you know what a nightmare it can be. I had been making manual backups every month or so, but losing even several weeks worth of data meant I lost some important pictures and client files.
Right after something like that happens you get into “I won’t let this happen again” mode and try to get some good data backup solutions working. Which I did at the time, but I never found anything that was really hassle-free. I used elephant drive for a little while, but I didn’t like logging into the program at every startup so I ended up uninstalling it.
Up until now I’ve been using SyncToy (free for Windows) to do semi-automated backups to an external drive, but I decided I need something remote, secure, automated, cheap, and reliable in case the office spontaneously combusts taking my external hard drive with it.
Last month my girlfriend’s laptop was stolen from my car. Earlier this month, the same thing happened to Rand Fishkin of SEOMoz. So I decided I really need to beef up my backup plans. Techcrunch recently posted that the Mozy’s online data backup service (now available for macs) won a contract with GE.
Good enough for General Electric, good enough for me. At $5/month Mozy offers unlimited data storage (for home users) so what you can store is only limited by your bandwidth. I downloaded the application a little while ago and it’s in the process of backing up 30GB, which it said will take 2 weeks (so as not to hog your bandwidth). I’ll post a review of Mozy later if it turns out to be everything it says it is. At $5 per month, I hope it’s an easy insurance policy.
Does anyone else have any suggestions or experience with good online data backup systems? Something remote, automated, cheap, reliable, hassle-free and as secure as possible.
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Try Carbonite, i have been using it for a while and its excellent. It doesn’t require any user intervention just quietly sits in the background backing up all your important files. It cost $49 per year for unlimited bandwidth. Which i think is excellent value.
Give it a try http://www.carbonite.com
Lee
I currently use SyncBack for backups to an external drive — it will also automatically backup to an FTP site. So, you could just use your own server.
I haven’t tried it yet, but it is on my to-do list (especially as I need to rebuild my computer soon).
Anyone else tried it?
Thanks for the suggestions, Lee & Tim. I’ll check them out. I wish carbonite had a monthly option.
Do these services delete all your data once you stop paying? I wonder how that works.
hi
i use mightykey
this is backup service and more !
you must try it
http://www.mightykey.com
I’ve been using mozy for awhile on my mac and I’m highly satisfied with it. Crucial features for me are encryption (with own keys), multiple file versions and partial updates (I have some writable disc images which are really big and I don’t like to constantly send them to the mozy servers). There’s a free subscription which gives you 2 GB backup space. And if you use or make a referral you even get 256 mb extra. Just use this link with the promo code inside: https://mozy.com/ [edit:no aff link drops please] After your first backup, the extra space is added to your and to my account.
I’m using mozy’s free 2G option, have been for a few months, am happy with it. Just got a new (to me) laptop and in the course of trying to get my firefox installation duplicated on the new machine, I managed to mangle its files on the old machine. Mozy backup to the painless rescue.
That said, I’m not sure I want to ante up for the $5/mo option, just yet, because I would really prefer to have my offline storage 1) look like its onboard — look like just another drive on my own machine or lan, and 2) give me the option of sharing selected files with selected users. I’m still looking around.
Looking at eSnips.com and OrbitFiles.com, both of which offer generous free versions, and allow sharing. Neither one looks like another drive on my machine, but eSnips has a firefox toolbar and windows explorer context-menu options that are pretty impressive, and the downloadable uploader from OrbitFiles can be set up to schedule backups.
One service that does look like a drive on my machine is offered by omnidrive.com. BUT it’s pretty unstable, in the sense that some copies fail, and has a lousy interface.
Onward, into the data-cloud, comrades!
I enjoyed your post!
We run an online data backup company – Symagio, LLC – based in New York City. Our software is also compatible with Mac. I’d like to invite everyone who is interested to check out our website and give us a call for a free trial. We’d love to set you up with an account to see just how easy it is.
Thanks!
Will
http://www.symagio.com
Hi Will, thanks for stopping by and extending the offer. The pricing for your services seem quite a lot higher than Mozy or Carbonite, so I’m not sure what the advantages of going with your system would be.
I totally agree with Lee, Carbonite is the way to go. Ive been using it for a while now and its been great. Its not invasive at all, it works seamlessly in the background of your computer. It’s only fifty dollars and its been a life saver. Ive lost my hard drive multiple times and got it restored fully each time. I give it my highest recommendation.
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I did the free trial for Carbonite and found it to be super-simple, but was disappointed to learn that I could not back up any files that I have stored on a removable hard drive without moving them to my permanent hard drive. My understanding is that Mozy allows such a thing at no extra charge and so I’m looking into that.