My wife asked me the other day if it was possible to lose all our family photos and videos (this happened before on a small scale). My eyes glazed over and I began to experience high blood pressure.
Currently, I backup to a Western Digital MyBook and a second internal hard drive. That’s all fine and dandy until the house burns down (knock on wood). I definitely don’t feel like making backup DVD’s and putting them in a lock box somewhere. That would be so Web 1.0.
So thus, my search for an online backup solution begins. Here I share my findings for your pleasure.
Requirements
- OS Support: Windows XP, Vista, 7 ; Mac OS X 10.5 ; Ubuntu 9.04
- Automatic
- Low cost, under $10 a month
- Easy recovery
- Remote access
Research
You can see the results of my search in this spreadsheet.
Your Solution
I know I must have missed some good backup solution, so please feel free to add yours in the comments and I will update the spreadsheet.
May 3 2009
I wonder which of those options is faster.
I’m looking around for a new solution too.
Mozy, which is what I use now, doesn’t work when I shut my laptop lid at night. (One of the few things that bothers me about a Mac.)
And videos that I shoot each day are so big that I need a lightning-fast online backup, or my computer will be doing nothing but backups all day.
May 3 2009
@Andrew
That is a great question. I don’t know, but I do hope people who are using any of these will chime in.
What I suggest is that you also use a local NAS like the WD World Book Edition (I’m looking to get one next week) for your quick backup needs and then have the online solution just back that device up.
If you set your Mac up to do nothing vs. sleep or hibernate when you close the lid, it will still backup.
May 4 2009
@Andrew
I’ve been using http://www.myotherdrive.com for a while now. I had the same issue with Mozy. I think the service is aptly name.
MyOtherDrive.com schedules backups for a time period and I set the time to be 12:00am. even though i have been on at that time I didn’t really notice that much CPU usage.
I have decent bandwidth with my internet service so if you’re on slow internet service you may see otherwise.
May 4 2009
Those who use Windows may want to try new CloudBerry Online Backup powered by Amazon S3 with friendly user interface, strong data encryption and scheduling capabilities.
May 7 2009
I use SafeCopy backup, http://www.safecopybackup.com. For me SafeCopy is a perfect fit. It allows me to backup all my USB drives, external and network drives. It also allows me to share files over 1GB easily. I love it and it might be worth checking it.
May 27 2009
Those who use Windows may want to try new CloudBerry Online Backup powered by Amazon S3 with friendly user interface, strong data encryption and scheduling capabilities.
June 15 2009
Local backup is good option but it cannot handle some typical situations as in your case. Its always better to backup online, some of good free applicatios for it are Mozy, SOS, carbonite and Idrive. Other service from HPupline worth mentioning but now it is discontinued.
August 6 2009
Try looking at http://www.blockbackup.com I have been using them for 6 months or so and works well. Cost me £2.99 per month and backups up to my local usb drive and online automatically.
August 19 2009
Like doppy said you should have both local and online backup. This gives you the advantages of fast local backup/recovery and disaster-proof online backup. Check out http://www.keepvault.com which provides both online and local backup in realtime starting at $4/month. I found it to be faster than both mozy and carbonite.
August 20 2009
Hi,
Your spreadsheet is coming up empty when I view it. I’m looking for a Win7 solution so am very interested in your findings.
Cheers,
Rob
August 26 2009
Check us out…
http://www.datastorageunit.com
Just pick your favorite sftp client and go.
2.99 a month for home users