Online backups (who I picked)

I polled about 400 people and businesses recently as to whether or not they used online backups, and, if they do, who do they subscribe to and why.  Approximately 15% use an online provider.

I looked at all the products and weighed the values of each, along with the cost, with strong emphasis on data recovery.  I selected Carbonite for backing up Windows PCs.  Mozy came in a close second.

Carbonite costs about $50 per year for unlimited storage space, and data storage occurs in the background while you work, as well as when your PC is inactive.  The initial backup can take several days, but after that only changes are stored.  Recovery of data is simple.

Carbonite works on Windows XP and Vista.

Mac users will have Carbonite available sometime this year.

I resell Carbonite now, so I appreciate all purchases made through me.  However, if you go to them directly, so be it.  Just make sure your personal and business data is secure.

For more information about my services, please visit my website at www.plaitsolutions.com.

Posted by Sid Plait at 8/29/2008 6:54 AM
Categories: Windows XP, Backups, Macintosh, Windows Vista, Data Recovery, All

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  • 8/29/2008 10:39 AM Mike B wrote:
    I was a mozy supporter up till recently. Apparently their mac client still has ALOT of issues, as even an uninstall and reinstall couldn't fix a locked database problem. A search of the googles turned up lots of other users with the same problem, and no resolution in sight.
    Hopefully they'll be able to fix these problems in the future, as their idea and business plan actually seems fairly sound.
    Reply to this
    1. 8/29/2008 10:51 AM Sid Plait wrote:
      Thanks for that feedback, Mike B.  I do hope they get that fixed.  

      Do you know of any other good Mac solutions for online backup?

      Reply to this
  • 8/29/2008 10:51 AM Craig wrote:
    What made you pick Carbonite over Mozy?
    Reply to this
    1. 8/29/2008 11:11 AM Sid Plait wrote:
      It was partially price.  The two products are basically the same, except that, as Mike B. suggested in his comment, there were problems posted online with Mozy's Mac version, although I didn't see as many complaints when I did the research as I do now.

      For PC users, both products seem to be about as good as it gets online.

      Now, I'll let you in on a little bit of psychology I use when dealing with clients (and selecting products) that affected which I chose:

      Mozy doesn't charge for the first two GBs you store out there, which is a good hook for people, but then they charge you after that.  Since I work with homeowners for the most part, I prefer to put them on a product they will stay with.  I don't want them changing products just because they break some pricing boundary.  

      What some clients will do is start picking and choosing what to back up to stay under the limit, or they will shop around for another free product.  If I cannot control their computing environment to some extent, things become more difficult to manage and dicey as to whether or not the important stuff gets backed up.  Also, they may choose an inferior product and lose their data anyway.

      I'd much rather they start paying a minimal amount ($50/year is cheap) from the beginning so they don't get to the point where they second guess the choice.

      I do spend some time talking to my clients about the value of their data and how they would feel if they lost everything.  Having discussed that with them, if they still aren't willing to pay $50 per year, their data is probably not important enough to them to need an online backup.

      Having said that, if they want Mozy for free, I will implement it for them.  There are only a few instances where I will not follow my clients wishes, and those always have to do with personal and business policies I have.  See my previous posts (here and here) regarding my policy on rebuilding Windows on a PC.

      Reply to this
      1. 8/29/2008 1:51 PM MarciT wrote:
        I purchased Carbonite some months back (sorry Sid, it was before I knew I could get it from you) and I like it very much. It took almost 5 days to back up my entire computer, but I haven't noticed it since. I haven't had the need to retrieve anything, so I can't speak to the ease of that feature. It's definitely worth the $50 a year.
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  • 8/31/2008 1:44 PM Thomas Siefert wrote:
    I checked out Carbonite recently after it was mentioned in a post on this website.

    The catch for me is that it does not support backup of drives connected via USB and that is essential in my current setup.
    I use a laptop and have to use USB hard drives for extra data storage and backup, due to the infamous and obscure 137GB limit on slightly outdated equipment (I believe that I would not have been in this situation if I had waited five minutes before I bought my laptop ).

    When Carbonite starts to support USB or I buy a desktop computer, I'll keep you in mind.

    Reply to this
    1. 8/31/2008 2:21 PM Sid Plait wrote:
      I'll keep an eye on that, Thomas.  That 137GB limit is/was a real pain!
      Reply to this
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