Okay, this is my new geeky Holy Grail.
I’ve done periodic copies to an external drive for a few years now, but that’s turning out not to be a reliable backup process because of operator error and hardware limitations.
What I think I really want to do is pursue an online backup system solution, like these. The way these work is that you load a client, identify the folders to backup and the schedule under which to do them, and the system starts copying them to an online archive (encrypted, etc.), and, after the initial upload, uploads any changed or added files. Common features include scheduling, monitoring for system activity (so that the process doesn’t mess up the machine), restores, etc.
I’m still in the middle of researching, but it looks promising — and the more idiot-proof I can make this, the better. As a rough guesstimate, my My Documents directory on my PC is about 30Gb in size — some of that I might skip, some I might not, but in either case I want to be sure I can recover that data or save myself from foolish deletions.
My question to my Loyal Readers is: Do any of you have any experience in something like this, and/or services you would recommend (for or against)?
I don’t have any experience with it, but if it works, I’d love to know more about it!!
I’ve been using Mozy for a couple of months, and it’s pretty easy. If you keep your backups below a certain size threshold, it’s free.
One thing I haven’t tried (shame on me) is restoring from backup. And we all know that a backup isn’t a backup if you can’t restore from it.
The worst part of the whole thing was uploading gigabytes of data the first time. Since then, Mozy just backs up changed files periodically and lets me know when it’s done.
That seems to be the general experience. The initial upload is a bitch, the rest is gravy.
And, yes, I’d advise trying to do a restore.
PCMag highly rated SOS Online, but their costs are awfully pricy — their “Home” deal stops at 15Gb, and a “Business” account is too expensive by far.
Mozy (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2284405,00.asp) looks pretty good, and is certainly reasonably priced ($5/mo for unlimited storage).
I’ve never used online backups. I’m sure you’ve thought of the security angle — once those bits are on a server, they’re more vulnerable to getting into the wrong hands. I’m also not sure what you mean by “hardware limitations” but have you considered a more local approach?
Apple offers a software product called “Time Machine” that automatically backs up everything on a Mac automatically whenever the Mac is on the same network as the backup drive. They also offer a hardware product called Time Capsule that is a wireless base station with a built-in hard drive that is set up for use with Time Machine over the wireless network. If there’s a comparable product for Windows machines, that would eliminate the user error problem while still keeping your backups securely local.
I personally use an external hard drive as a backup both due to the security aspect and due to the ability to boot from the backup drive and keep working if my current drive fails. I’ve tested it, and I can indeed boot from that drive. But if I didn’t care about having a bootable backup, I think I would go with a solution like Time Machine.
Mozy and Carbonite (which I’ve done a trial install of) seem to work well, but they don’t include attachable USB drives. Backblaze (which Solonor noted was just reviewed at LifeHacker (http://lifehacker.com/5101618/backblaze-offers-hassle+free-unlimited-online-backup) does. I’m probably going to give that a try, though their being a brand-new and independent company does give one a bit of pause.
Dave, Security is a concern, of course — but most of these services do all sorts of multiple layers of encryption of data, and if I’m really paranoid I can, in theory, hold onto the encryption key myself, which means nobody can open the files (which means I’m hosed if I lose it, of course).
Part of what I like about these services is that I don’t have to maintain separate hardware on the local network, or think about, “Hey, I need to run a backup tonight.” Because both of those are conditions that I am likely to forget about, or worry about, or both. And, of course, an online backup is like having offsite capabilities for disaster recovery, not a small issue.
The other advantage — which only works as long as the price is low — is that even if the service goes tits-up, I’m not out anything save whatever is left of my monthly or annual fee; I just go to a different service. As long as I’m not hit by a disaster or restore need in the interim, I’m golden (if I was regularly restoring files or having to rebuild my machine, that would be a problem). So Backblaze being a new startup in a weak economy is more of a potential inconvenience than a disaster. Since I always worry from day to day about my unbackedup external drive dying (at least the same risk as my normal in-PC hard drive), that nets out as being more of a relief.
Anyway, that’s my rationale.
Having an offsite backup is good, as is having someone else be responsible for your backup device. Those are certainly advantages of an online service over Time Machine or a similar product. Time Machine handles backups automatically, so there’s no need to remember to run the backup with it or a sufficiently similar product, provided you have a network that you connect to on a regular basis where the backup drive can live. If the online services allow you to get running again quickly enough after a problem, and if you’re comfortable with the security provided, then it sounds like it’s a good deal for you.
Because I think it’s faster, more secure, and cheaper, I like a local backup device. I really should have an additional backup device in my office at school as well as the one I have at home in order to provide an offsite backup when I’m at home, but I’m a little concerned about theft there, so I haven’t done that yet.