After a recent near miss chronicled in this thread, I'm considering an online back-up system. A local computer shop recommended Carbonite. I watched the video on Cabonite's site and I was hoping to find a stellar review on FChat but "acceptable" is a word used in the Online Data Storage thread in B&I plus the mentioning of other similar services (thus clouding the mind of an online storage neophyte...me). I didn't realize Carbonite allowed remote access of files; is this a feature that is relatively painless or something you only want to do when in a pinch? Not sure how often I would use remote access, but one of the reasons I am pushing some files up to Google apps is access as well as backup. That said, I'm not too thrilled with Google's infamous prying eyes; I assume Carbonite and the like don't data mine (or whatever it's called) the stored files? I found this comparison site, http://www.techwizbackup.com/comparison, but I don't believe it's completely accurate/up-to-date. Reason being is that it lists Carbonite as not having "mobile access" but per the video on their site it does. Anyone see any other errors or have a better comparison site? Thanks.
carbonite & mozy are the top 2 when I read about it. I believe they both encrypt during the upload & on the server, thus they do not hold the key. That is not to say a known backdoor isn't around.
Several clients use Cabonite and love it. I believe they have 30 or 45 day trials so give it a shot and see for yourself.
I use Carbonite and have been pretty happy with it. There are some limitations on file sizes that can be accessed remotely but it is in the GB range. I have successfully restored accidentally deleted files, recovered old versions of files, and transferred the subscription from an old computer to my new one and the process was essentially seemless (didn't require re-uploading all files). I recommend it.
I use Dropbox for my school documents. It's free, and allows me to see my documents (up to 2Gb worth for free) from any computer, or even my iPad.
Thanks all for the feedback. I signed up for box.net since the first 5 GB are free. Hopefully I won't regret saving the ~ $5/month over Carbonite.
For those of you concerned about the security of your data, use http://www.truecrypt.org/ Prior to pushing it out over the web. It has Windows, OSX and Linux versions. Use a strong password and the only way they'll get your data is with a keylogger.
I was a long-time Mozy customer who recently got priced out of their new tiered payment model. I've now switched over to BackBlaze on my Mac .. very happy with the service. $5/month unlimited backup, faster than Mozy's servers, and their Mac software was easier and less buggy.
Really haven't played with it much but after loading folders and files I can't view the contents of a subfolder. Might be user error or a setting; I'll look into it. One thing that does disappoint me is that the free version doesn't include sync/auto backup. If I'm going to pay I might as well go with Carbonite based on all the positive feedback. to be continued...
I tried Carbonite last year and found it did not work for my situation. It gets incredibly slow after it fast start on the initial installation. I also tried to recover files from Carbonite after a system crash. Carbonite's recover features are at best quirky and slow which is what I observed while testing it prior to letting it go live. It would recover specific files with little hassle but it was not quick for the big presentation files I tested it with. At worst Carbonite leads you into a false sense of security. Not long after testing it and getting fully backed up, I did lose the hard drive on my computer. So, I started to rebuild the computer. Carbonite will not (or did not at that time) let you recreate their seeding and encryption codes on a new computer. Thus my backups were not useable or accessible. I would have written that off to learning curve had their customer support been at all helpful. Fortunately I had scores of backups in other places and lost no data in the end. But that was due to my own caution and not at all due to Carbonite. In the end I was really happy to have paid their annual subscription by credit card as I was able to cancel the charges for their worthless to me service. Beware, they do not/did not have a system to refund if their service did not work as advertised. I believe the best backups are numerous copies in secure places at remote locations that you or trusted friends/family control. -sc
Regarding box.net... Almost 3 months later to the day I finally signed up for Carbonite. Actually the 15 day trial period. to be continued...some more...
Weird timing...my computer dies and Carbonite saves the day, a FChatter starts a Carbonite thread, and Carbonite sends me an email about new plans. I'm being watched! I recall folks previously mentioned that a drawback of Carbonite was that it didn't backup external hard drive...well, good news I suppose...it does now... http://www.carbonite.com/en/home/online-backup-pricing Image Unavailable, Please Login
