Posted on 03/07/2012 6:20:10 AM PST by FreeAtlanta
With cloud services now available, gone are the days of those local data backups to CDs or tape – or are they? If your business has a modest amounts of data to safeguard, then cloud services provide a convenient solution for moving a copy of your data over the web to a secure storage environment. The issue is with larger amounts of data, with some cloud backup providers like Carbonite reducing the speed at which the data is transferred. It’s a policy known as bandwidth throttling, something that competitors like CrashPlan say they avoid.
If you know what you’re getting, then you can at least avoid unpleasant surprises. However, some network providers use the word “unlimited” in ways that require interpretation. Carbonite states on its website homepage that it provides “unlimited data backup.” Yet elsewhere it gives a figure of 3GB-4GB of data as the maximum daily backup level, at least in the context of its “Home”...
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
And for those who ask why you would need a program like that? There are those of us who are not tech savy and who like the set and forget part off offsite storage. There are some things that would break my heart to lose and I love the fact that something can come in and back up only those things that have changed and I don't have to remember to do it. At my age the less I have to remember the better.
I am surprised the stock holders are not screaming bloody murder.
There has to be a breach of fiduciary duty in there somewhere.
The fact they sacrificed investors for one persons political whim agenda has to be a breach of duty.
As if I want to pay a bunch of strangers to know everything on my computer. No, thanks.
There was literally nothing left standing above ground in a couple of recent mobile home fires in my area.
Crashplan, the choice of Information Technology professionals :-)
“I’m confused. Why not just use an external hard drive?”
No need to be confused. That’s the only smart thing to do, at least when you consider that both Carbonite and Mozy (and perhaps the others as far as I know) install software that so deeply penetrates the Windows file management subsystems that your PC performance pretty much drops dead. I don’t know how many times I’ve “fixed” badly performing PCs by just removing either one.
Also, Carbonite has (or at least used too) a policy that you can only restore your data to the PC it originally came from so people wouldn’t use it like a crappy version of Dropbox. So basically, you’d be scwewed if your PC dropped dead and you wanted your Carbonite data backup back.
You don’t have to pay the CrashPlan guys, and I doubt they are very concerned about what is on any of our computers. They have a business model that depends on data protection.
If you choose to use their storage, it costs a little, but if you don’t want to pay, then they have it set up so that you and a friend can swap invites. Your data is encrypted and stored on their pc, and his is encrypted and stored on yours.
If there is a catastrophic event, then you simply reinstall crashplan (free) and then login, select your files from your friends storage and you are back up in business.
it is sweet!
1.5 TB is readily available from Costco for $140 so I back up to the external drive and occasionally swap with a second external drive in an offsite storage unit I rent because I downsized to a condo recently.
As someone mentioned upthread, the MS Office, Turbotax files are trivial in size and easily fit on a thumb drive. I have Turbotax files as e-mail attachments on the net also.
Be sure you go into Carbonite TODAY and turn OFF auto renewal. I would check it even if you don't think you had it turned on. Once it renews, you're stuck - no refunds.
It was Justcloud for me after I cancelled Carbonite this weekend. I use Time Machine and Time Capsule on my Mac, but I do want external storage should the local disks fail.
Simple and cheap backup:
First, get one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=usb+sata+dock&x=0&y=0
(many items shown, they all work the same, just pick one that’s cheap, some are $20-25)
Then, get one or more SATA “bare” hard drives of your choice. Sometimes you can even pick one up for free from someone who has one they don’t need.
On a Mac, use the -free- “CarbonCopyCloner” app to create a bootable clone of your internal drive. CCC will also do “incremental” updates once the initial clone is complete.
Not sure what can be used with Windows, but probably ‘way more backup apps there than on the Mac.
Keep the backup handy.
OR — for more security, create a second backup and store it “offsite”.
If you don’t have a place offsite to store it, go to an office supply place and get one of these:
http://www.staples.com/Sentry-Safe-Fire-Safe-07-Cubic-Ft-Capacity-Waterproof-Security-File/product_651875
Waterproof and fireproof (at least to a certain degree).
Put the backup drive into the safe along with some silica gel to suck up moisture and put it down in the basement. If there’s a house fire, it probably has the best chance of surviving the heat down there. Yes, the fire department will spray water on the house, and that’s why you want a -waterproof- safe (along with heat resistance).
A strategy like this should work reasonably well for personal/home backup. Businesses (and home-businesses) might need more.
Although I can’t understand why anyone (particularly conservatives) would put their faith “in the cloud”. What if the cloud suddenly “disappears”? Seems like at least one cloud backup outfit went under, and the data stored therein went “poof”. Putting one’s faith “in the cloud” is, to me, like putting one’s faith in the all-powerful government.
I don’t.
> Call me old-fashioned, but I’m not handing my data over to anyone to safeguard. From my cold dead hands!
No kidding!!!
A few years back my bank stopped sending me my cancelled checks and told me they would be available online.
Then I needed a copy of a 4-1/2 year old check and the bank told me that they only keep 3 years worth of check images.
Anyone who thinks someone else will safeguard their data is living in a deluded state.
Ubuntu has free could/file sync.
You dont have to be an Ubuntu user for this service.
Supports Linux, Windows, Android, Iphone and Ipad...no OSX.
Free plan - 5GB, File sync across platforms, mobile access.
https://one.ubuntu.com/services/free/
https://one.ubuntu.com/downloads/
And they have pay plans for users who need more.
I agree and I use external hard drives, put them in fireproof safe.
Unless your safe is air conditioned - I would not expect it to protect a HD from extreme heat.
Most backup drives use a software that discreetly synchronizes in the background.
I use an external hard drive on my desktop, and have no need to use a service like Carbonite. I don't keep anything on my laptop, desktop computer or external drive that I couldn't live without. All my treasured photos, system backups, important documents, passwords, etc., are already backed up on DVD and I still have the memory cards my photos were originally stored on, so losing a hard drive, other than an inconvenience, wouldn't be a big deal. I have Macs. My desktop has Time Machine, which automatically updates everything on the external hard drive every hour. If I had to rely on my computers for my livelihood, I might feel differently, but since I'm retired, my computers are used for my own personal enjoyment.
Services like Carbonite are “set it and forget it”.
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So are other programs that you can put on your computer to back up to external hard drives.
I currently use a 2TB Seagate GoGlex NAS
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Ditto
LOL!
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