Devin Johnston Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 Is anyone using this backup service for either personal or professional uses? From what I understand you get unlimited backups for about $55 a year, are there any problems with the service? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmcgonigle Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 We're using it for our sales team laptops, works very well and easily configured. For some reason I think their are additional prices depending on the amount of data being backed up but don't quote me on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazdaz Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 I have no experience with those guys, but from their website, it looks like they are just another online-backup company. BEWARE. What happens if these guys go out of business? Is there a way to get a physical copy of your backups? While I normally LOVE the idea of The Cloud (i.e. storing data online so you can retrieve it at any time and from any where), I am more than a little hesitant to store backup data online...Wire magazine or some other magazine recently ran an article about the problems that can arise from storing files online... namely, that many online companies aren't the most stable of entities, so what happens if they go out of business and you just happen to need a backup of a very important file? Just something to keep in mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin Johnston Posted September 19, 2009 Author Share Posted September 19, 2009 You're right that there's no guarantee that they will be around forever but they have been around for several years and are pretty well know in the realm of online backups so I think it's as safe as it can be. One thing I like about their system is that before the files are sent to them they are encrypted and once they get there they are encrypted again. No one at the company can access the files without the encryption key and I'm the only one who has that key so the files are very secure. Your also right that you can't get a physical copy of the backups but for a service of this kind I would think that is the norm. I have backed up all my files on DVD already so I'm covered in any case but the carbonite backup is always backing up any files that change so it's more up to date than DVD's could be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Mottle Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 Depending upon how much data you have this could be a cheaper alternative http://www.jungledisk.com/index.aspx This app allows you to save your data to either Amazon's or Rackspace's cloud storage servers. Neither of which I envision going out of business any time soon. If you don't want something automated and just want to FTP your data up, there are a lot of free FireFox addons that allows you to FTP your data to the Amazon cloud. It's called Amazon S3. That's pretty crazy that they are giving unlimited data, but I guess they are relying on the slow speed of most people's internet connection to throttle that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Homeless Guy Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 So has anyone tried Carbonite? I am torn between this and simply using my web host for remote backup. Carbonite says unlimited encrypted file storage, but then it says things like whether you have 1gb, 10gb, or more... this doesn't reassure me that I will be able to keep a fairly comprehensive backup on their servers. It makes me wonder what unlimited is if they seem to be implying that you should have 10gb backed up? I am looking at backing up somewhere between 200-300gb. Alternately, I already have a web/ftp account with 350gb's of hard drive space, of which 270 are sitting unused. I could purchase a sync/backup program, and just backup to the space I already have. But I would prefer to it encrypt, compress files, and do this automatically without my monitoring it. Any recommendations? I don't want to spend more than $40 or so on a app that does this. The Carbonite might be nice because someone else is taking care of monitoring and managing the data. Which comes in handy, and backups often slip my mind. It is more of a turn key solution. On the other hand, the FTP with special app will give me more flexibility, but requires me to be more proactive. I did sign up for the free trial of Carbonite. I guess I will give it a spin with a gig or two of non vital data, and see what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SandmanNinja Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 wow - how long does it take you to transfer 250 gigs of data to an online storage place? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin Johnston Posted October 15, 2009 Author Share Posted October 15, 2009 Carbonite does seem to have unlimited storage however the down side is the backups are pretty slow. Depending on the speed of your internet connection and how long your computer is on it will backup between 1 and 3 GB/day. Currently I'm backing up about 100GB and have been for about 5 weeks and have only gotten about 60% of it uploaded. There's no way to speed up the upload but I've seen no indication that there is any limit to how much you can backup. The program is very easy to use and backups anything that changes in the folders it's monitoring, I haven't tired restoring any files yet, I was waiting until it was done with the initial backup which I figure will take another month. But really what can you expect for 5 bucks a month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SandmanNinja Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Hope you won't need a data backup before it finishes uploading.... (fingers crossed) Having designed 400+ node networks in my earlier life as a IT guy, I'm aware of the advantages of offsite storage. But I also weigh it against the speed of creating/restoring data. A terabyte external HD (either NAS or just USB 2 / 3) is a very fast and really not that expensive of a solution. If you want the data stored offsite, get 2 and keep one in your car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmcgonigle Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 At 250gb of data I think you should be looking at an archive solution more so than a backup solution. Backing up to an online service with that amount of data will be slow and frustrating to say the least. And downloading it for a restore will be just as painful. Consider purchasing a couple external harddrives or a NAS and storing a copy in a small firesafe or offsite in a safety deposite box. The online databack solutions are more geared towards smaller amounts of data used on a reguler basis where as your talking about alot of data that I'm guessing is drawn on when needed. As I mentioned before, we've been using carbonite for a few years now and its worked very well for us. We still do our own regular backs to disk, but the carbonite is a very effective solution for small to medium amounts of data. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Homeless Guy Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Hmmm.. I may try and do the FTP site for now. I think I could get my information up quite a bit faster than what I could with Carbonite. As for local backup. I currently run a RAID 1 for data protection, but I don't have a good way to archive a lot of data without me monitoring the writing of DVD's. Maybe I should look into an external. The problem is that I really need something that will run, and take care of this without me thinking about it. Something that will do it automatically, somewhat behind the scenes. I need to be realistic about the likely hood of me keeping a local backup, and then moving it to a secondary location. I'm not saying I am lazy, I am just saying that this is something that is secondary, and if you are busy, there is a good chance it won't get done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1d2d3d4d Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 If you use the promo code "Rush" you get a discount... EIB listeners? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Homeless Guy Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 If you use the promo code "Rush" you get a discount... EIB listeners? TWiT also. 2 months free after signing up. What is the discount for Rush? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1d2d3d4d Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 no idea, but he promotes it every half-hour... I know he is a dedicated Mac user though.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin Johnston Posted October 15, 2009 Author Share Posted October 15, 2009 Yea the service isn't perfect like I said but I tried the external hard drive for a few years and although it worked pretty good in the end the hard drive failed. Unless your going to back up to more than one and store the second one in a different location your still vulnerable to fire, theft, power surges, floods and kids! I guess there's always Blue Ray backups but that will get expensive quick, there just doesn't seem to be a good answer to long term data storage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 I think there is a much easier way to do backups. Well, maybe its not easier than something that's fully automated, but it gives me more control, which I prefer when it comes to backing up my data. 1) Local Files - Raid 5 File server or NAS 2) Local Back Up - Internal/External hard drive with a weekly back up of the entire server. 3) Off Site Back Up - Internal/External hard drive with monthly backup of entire server. Store it in a bank safety deposit box or some other secure location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SandmanNinja Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 I keep my external drives powered down when not in use. Everything has a MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures), so everything eventually dies. I have a cradle and just grab the appropriate HD off the shelf, whack it in the cradle, drag-n-drop, then remove it from the cradle. Another part is to consider WHAT you are backing up. In my photography business, I give the client a DVD with their files and a little business card saying that this is their only copy - that I am unable to maintain a backup due to my customer volume. This gives me offsite storage and puts some responsibility onto the client as well. I do maintain copies of most of the files (the final ones). I keep them on DVDs and manage to get about 10 shoots onto a single DVD. I then remove the files from my computer and put the DVD onto a spindle. Different spindle for each client. I don't store them in any sort of fireproof container - there are too many. But I don't consider these discs as the ultimate copy - I keep them as a record of the job, to reflect on some of the houses I've done, and just 'in case' the client loses their disc (which happens). I make Ghost images of my boot drive and weekly back-ups of my working data. I only use the bare external HDDs about 2-3 hours a week tops, with the rest of the time with them sitting on my shelf. I'm very fond of my cradle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epictor.com Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 as mentioned earlier online backup has its big problems. it probably will be the way to go, but i doubt it's already there. i'd currently suggest 2 solutions, which won't blow a budget. 1. use a mirrored external harddrive (or a bigger nas / raid system). of course it is not failsafe, but you'll get a decent sized harddrive for a good price with at least some redundancy. 2. use some service like dropbox or microsoft mesh. you obviously can argue about the safety here - though its handy, as you work locally and got automated backups without having to worry about it anytime. i persoanlly have a mirrored iomega drive at home and am quite satisfied. it actually is the second, had one some years earlier before which apparently 'died'. i can't really tell, i just know that at some point a light indicated drive problems. at that point i simply got a new one and copied the data. having 2 mirrored hard drive's in there, it all went without any problems. before i fogert, mozy.com is an alternative - i think they're a division of emc or iomega. cheers felix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 I have just been burned by Mozy, be careful. I backed up 20GB of data, well i thought I did . .. So I went to retrieve it and only then found out it hadn't backed up properly. Mozy couldnt do much to help and have now refunded all my money. I have heard many people have the same problem, just google mozy problems and take a look yourself. Also be aware most of Mozy has been moved to India and you cannot call a CSR, only a tech guy that cant authorise anything but engineering. I now use dropbox for my live data, and only live data. The best thing about it, is that I can share any folder with anyone I choose. This makes working with others a breeze. Need to send someone 1GB of data, not a problem, its a right click for me! I echo what others have said here. Raid 1 or 5 is the best redundancy solution, I also archive to blu-ray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin Johnston Posted December 3, 2009 Author Share Posted December 3, 2009 So far I've backed up 180GB of data to Carboniet without any problems other than it's pretty slow, my only worry is that if and when I need to recover something it could take some time to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 So far I've backed up 180GB of data to Carboniet without any problems other than it's pretty slow, my only worry is that if and when I need to recover something it could take some time to do it. Sir, I bow to your upload speed or increndible patience! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Homeless Guy Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 I wound up going with a portable USB drive. I was looking to dump the info on my host, but most plans have a clause that the storage you have is to be used for website only. Backing up files is frowned upon, and a breach of contract. So, I could back them up there, but then I may go to retrieve them, and they will just be gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 I have about 27 gigs of personal files at Carbonite. Took forever to get it up there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Homeless Guy Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 Could be interesting.... $0.25 per Gb. Not sure how good it will be for backups, or how fast the uploads will be, but definitely interesting. http://community.winsupersite.com/blogs/paul/archive/2010/01/12/google-allows-large-file-uploads-to-google-docs-microsoft-says-pfffttt.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Homeless Guy Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 Could be interesting.... $0.25 per Gb. Not sure how good it will be for backups, or how fast the uploads will be, but definitely interesting. http://community.winsupersite.com/blogs/paul/archive/2010/01/12/google-allows-large-file-uploads-to-google-docs-microsoft-says-pfffttt.aspx Ok, I logged into Google Docs tonight to do some work and a notice popped up telling me of new features. It looks like the price quotes above holds to be true, but there is an individual file size cap at 250mb's. They only give you 1gb free to start, which is rather lame considering you get 7.5gb free for your Gmail account. I did a test with a 149mb file. It took under 10 minutes to upload, which I didn't think was to bad. It does look like they have a bug in their system though. I tried to download that file. It gave me an error saying it was to large to scane for viruses, which is fine, I know what is in it. But it never actually started to download. Which is a problem. One nice thing is that like any other Google Doc. It is stored in the same area, and can be organized into folders and such. I can also share this so friends can have access to it. In that sense it is kind of like DropBox, or one of theose other quick share websites. It is not cheaper than Amazons solution, but if you use Google Docs, does offer a new degree of flexibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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