Image credit: Mark Setchell
Many, many moons ago, I finished a lengthy document and saved it to one of those portable thumb drives? Shortly thereafter the crappy little thing died, the document was irretrievably lost, and I had to do it over.
A short and somewhat ordinary story in retrospect, but if you’ve ever lost a document—or an afternoon’s work—you know that the actual moment was long and vibrant, full of colorful language, whimpers of denial, and gnashing of teeth.
The aftermath was just as exciting, between trying to revive the thumb drive (deader than a hammer), attempting to recover something—anything!—from the computer I had worked on (a public PC wiped clean between users), then sadly and frantically recreating what I had lost. All before a nearing deadline.
And all because I didn’t have a backup. I could have avoided those hours of tearful re-work by simply emailing myself a copy.
Thankfully, with nifty Web tools and the Internet’s nostalgic tendency, it’s nearly as simple to store all of our files somewhere (else) safe and recover archived copies of our Web work.
Online Backup Services
When we’re at our computers, external hard drives and such are perfect for storing copies of our data right at hand. I also keep a backup of my backup on CDs/DVDs in a fireproof safe particularly rated for computer media. Yeah, I’m crazy like that.
Still, I believe my remote backup is the most critical part of my data protection setup. Here’s why—
- If our place was burgled, the thieves would likely take the server and the safe, along with the computer…leaving me with nothing.
- If it was destroyed by fire or flood or whatever, who knows when I’d be allowed to pick through the ashes/wreckage to recover my work?
Dreadful scenarios to consider, but valid arguments for storing data offsite. And so I value my remote backup the most, and I heart Carbonite* because it’s easy to setup, secure, relatively cheap at $54.95/year, and offers unlimited storage space.
Best bit about Carbonite: my new and edited files are automatically backed up throughout the day. I “set it and forget it” over a year ago, and it’s saved my heiny more than once.
Mozy looks like another good’un, though I haven’t tried it. The service is free for up to 2G, but unlimited storage costs $4.95/mth = $59.40/year). There are plenty of other online backup services, but these two look the best to me.
That said, I’m wary of iDrive, which looks and prices the same as Carbonite and Mozy, but does not offer unlimited storage. Also, while iDrive Pro has additional features for managing backups on multiple workstations, it costs twice as much for far less storage space than iDrive Basic, and also a monthly fee if we go over our storage limit and don’t upgrade to a beefier (and more expensive) plan. Hmph.
Last Thoughts On Online Backups
A key issue with any backup system that doesn’t go without saying: data storage is only half the solution, recovering your data is the rest. Whether you’ve got dedicated hardware, special software, or an online service—
- Test the recovery process to make sure it works! I’ve restored both files and folders from Carbonite with easy success.
Note: I need to try recovering the whole kit-and-kaboodle too…
- Because of data structure, it may not be possible to restore data to a different operating system.
Example, a Windows XP workstation’s backup may not restore easily (or at all) to a Windows Vista workstation or a Mac.
* Yup, this is an affiliate link because Carbonite is a product I enjoy, recommend, and use every day.
Next time » Online Backup Resources: The Internet Remembers
Et tu? How do you protect your work? Do you keep it in a safe? Do you keep it out in space? Do you stick it some other place? Lemme know down below…
I’ve used the free version of Mozy for over a year, but only had to test it recently. The restore function worked perfectly. I must admit there’s some sense in paying for the service, because then I could backup music and photos too. Instead, I keep it for my work files.
Hi Sharon, Good to hear from a Mozy user! The site looked really promising, and the price was right for both free and paid memberships
Especially glad to hear that free really is free, and works as well as paid.
Yup, I have all my music and photos and work files and everything out there. I don’t want to pay for the music again, and my trip photos are irreplaceable. Unfortunately there’s a bunch of junk out there, too
Well worth $4.16/mth.
I backup music and photos to DVD for now but I can see the value of having everything in one place.
Crystal,
Great review of this stuff, and very important! My father-in-law uses Carbonite, and I’ve used Mozy in the past (I stopped when I got my Mac, but they now have a Mac client so I may start using it again – and Carbonite will also have a Mac program soon).
The trick for me is identifying what is important (I think I have about 600 gigabytes of stuff on my home network…)
-Brett
Recent blog post from Brett Legree: one at a time.
Yes, I love my Carbonite. I also do a manual back up of all main files once every 2 weeks.
Recent blog post from Shama Hyder: A Most Intriguing Conversation about Facebook
All sounds great in theory, but how safe is the data that is stored?
Have these services ever been hacked?
Would you advocate a business using these services if they were holding your personal data?
On the subject of file backup, sharing and storage …
Online backup is becoming common these days. It is estimated that 70-75% of all PC’s will be connected to online backup services with in the next decade.
Thousands of online backup companies exist, from one guy operating in his apartment to fortune 500 companies.
Choosing the best online backup company will be very confusing and difficult. One website I find very helpful in making a decision to pick an online backup company is:
http://www.BackupReview.info
This site lists more than 400 online backup companies in its directory and ranks the top 25 on a monthly basis.
I’ve checked out Mozy (they’re based in Utah) and like it. But the unlimited storage for Carbonite is even better.
So I just signed up for Carbonite on a client’s PC through your affiliate link. Thanks for the saving me time on researching backup options.
Recent blog post from Sterling Okura: 8 Random Business Bits
@Brett—How grateful I am to hear that someone else has more stuff on their hard drive than I do!
Do you have many photos and such? I keep almost all of those, but could definitely stand to delete old PDFs of order confirmations, outdated ebooks and resumes, etc. Such a tough call
@Shama—Hi and welcome! That’s a great idea to manual back up regularly…mine are a bit haphazard. I’m marking my calendar now for every two weeks. Thanks for your comment
@Nick—Howdy and welcome! Both Carbonite and Mozy encrypt the data in transit and in storage, and they promise bank-level security. That’s good enough for me, but your mileage may vary.
Good question about the hacking, too. I’ve never heard that either have been hacked, but I’ll keep an ear out. For certain, based on this article I just found, they do better than iDrive and others! Some online backup services insecure
And no theories here…like I touched on in my reply to Sharon, Carbonite IS holding all my personal data. Every file and photo that I have is in their care. Every website, every term paper, every everything. That’s the only reason I feel qualified to recommend them.
Great questions, thanks!
@Sterling—Cool! Glad I could save you step. And thanks for using the link
The initial upload may take a long while (mine took 4-5 days), but it’s incremental after that, and so it’s much quicker.
Thanks for the great comments, y’all!
@Jennifer—Hi there, welcome, and thanks for the info and the link!
Very cool to check their Top 25 Online Backup Services list and see that Carbonite has topped the list every month they’ve listed. Mozy was 2nd, but moved down to 4th, and iDrive is 9th.
Thanks again!
Mozy and Carbonite are both good services – but I prefer Angel Backup as they allow me to backup all of my computers, as well as my external hard drives.
Hi Crystal,
Thank you for the great resources. I’ve been completing most of my back-ups on stick drive. I didn’t know they could malfunction.
I’ll definitely check out Carbonite and Mozy.
Great information, as always.
Recent blog post from Pamela: Time to Reboot
Competition in the arena of online backup services is heating up. Symantec a well known name in internet security has recently acquired SwapDrive Inc
View this funny video offering by Online Backup provider Connect. Beware of the avenging employee with a samurai sword….
http://www.connect.co.uk/services/online_backup/166/
Crystal,
Thanks for posting this information. I have been hearing a lot about online backup services lately. Ironically I am working on a project for a data recovery service provider – all a sure sign that I need to utilize an online back up system ASAP!
Recent blog post from Kimberly Ben: Does Your Business Work When You Don’t?
@Pam—Yup, they sure can. This was 4 or 5 years ago now, when they were new. They surely have improved since then. As it was explained to me, the “cell” that information was stored in collapsed. Not physically, but logically.
Guy could have been blowing smoke, but I ran my own diagnostics/repair/recovery and there was surely nothing there
Thanks, glad I could help!
@Kath—Hi and welcome! Competition is a beautiful thing (for us as consumers, anyway), prices go down and/or quality of service goes up. If Big Ol’ Symantec digs in, this will be a field to watch.
And that video was HILARIOUS! Lesson 1 for executives: Never EVER tick off your secretary. They should teach that in business school
My first laugh of the day, thanks!
@Kimberly—My pleasure, glad this is helpful! So many signs, it’s meant to be
And hey, your “Business Work When You Don’t” looks really nifty…gonna go read it. Thanks for your comment!
I signed on with DropBox a couple weeks ago, still waiting for the other shoe to drop but so far it’s exactly what I needed:
1. A backup utility for important files
2. A file-syncing and, when applied, sharing utility that lets me access the latest versions of the same files from all of my machines.
Functionality is exactly right, just hoping it ends up being a stable service.
Tee
I am slowly but surely putting more and more of what I do online. This way, I don’t *need* a backup of my items and I leave it up to the provider to maintain. The caveat usually means if it is too important to lose for me, then I make a physical copy.
That being said, my biggest fear is losing my laptop with all my clients graphics, content, etc. This post has inspired me to use my Google calendar to setup regular backups for me to copy over to a backup HDD I keep around.
@All – In Twitter, @rjleaman just offered SugarSync as another good online backup with autosync (which really is a must…really)
I think it’s quite nifty that they offer phone and Web based access. Affordable plans with plenty of space, though no unlimited plans. Super secure and they do much to backup your backup.
http://www.sugarsync.com/
People often don’t recognize the need for backing up things until they experience disaster, which can be absolutely devastating. It’s an issue that really needs to be addressed by a great many people.
Recent blog post from Chris Crum: Another Social Network for Small Businesses is Born
Carbonite is amazing. It saved my bacon very recently after a hard drive crash.
However, customer support needs work. When I tried to retrieve my password via their website, I wasn’t able to. So I called support, where I had to wait for 20 minutes (despite being the “first caller” in line) listening to a spiel of how for an additional $20 per year I could get access to email addresses that were answered promptly and phones that were picked up immediately.
I was stressed… I was freaking out (because I wasn’t sure that Carbonite really HAD my backup… I’d never accessed my 3 week old account)which I’m sure is the state of EVERYONE who contacts customer support.
By the way, Carbonite ONLY backs up the data. Not the software. That’s an important note. If you’re looking for a “kit and kabooble” pick up Symantec Backup Exec and an external hard drive as your backup solution.
Recent blog post from Virtual Impax: Comcast Changes Outgoing E-Mail Settings
yea but i wont be for long since you can get like 5 gig free storage from mozy.
-Jake
SO far I’ve been happy with the free Mozy service. I just backup my emails and my Client Project files.
I haven’t had to use it in an emergency but I tested it and it worked great. Auto Sync – works on my Mac. Happy so far!
Checking out Carbonite and Sugarsync too now.
I’m a bit of a sceptic about all of this, I’m afraid.
Okay, so a pen-drive might die, but what are the chances of it dying the same time as your HD? And given how very cheap they are, what are the chances of my HD going belly up at the same time as BOTH of my pen drives? Pretty much nill!
Mind you, I’m at a bit of an advantage because I’m a Linux user, so all I have to do to back up all our presentations is stick the pen in and type the command “backup”. I don’t know how I’d do that with Windows (or even a Mac, good though they are).
S
You can never be too safe when it comes to your data.
I definitely always use back-up.
You can save your files or data to your usb or flash disk drive..
I back up all my important data on DVDs. This is the safest way to do it. The HDD drives can always crash.
If you know what you’re doing it’s not too hard to set up a system that backs up all your important content to a server, your laptop, and your desktop machine, and keeps everything synchronised automatically. For free. To get started, take a look at Unison or rsync.
I am a habitual backer upper! I lost 4 websites due to a server crash one time. It took months to rebuild the sites
yea but i wont be for long since you can get like 5 gig free storage from mozy.
I used to use XDrive, but it was crap.
I like seeing the Carbonite symbol and knowing it updates every night for files I’ ve updated. Never needed the restore though–and I thought it did backup your software too, I thought it had everything, am i wrong in this?
Well i’m a backup freak! since i got burned a while back and messed up my site’s database i am now taking serious steps so that this doesnt happen again! I have my server making a full backup every night at midnight. I also have everything backed up on one external hard drive that is kept in a very very very safe place and one USB Stick. I know, i’m paranoid however I just want to feel I have everything backed up safe!
Its always better to back-up important data online. Although you may back up onto storage media, there is a possibility of even the back-up copy going kaput. So, its wise to have back-up online. Yes, it is not possible to back-up GBs or even TBs of data, but the very important things can be backed-up online.