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Help me choose an online backup service

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Carol Haynes:
Anyone understand the pricing for CrashPlan Pro?



Why would anyone pay $14.13 a month for 50Gb when you can pay $7.49 for unlimited?

My issue with all of these plans (not just CrashPlan) is the appallingly slow upload speeds in the UK. I get about 38Kbs upstream (7+Mbs downstream) and there don't seem to be any ISPs that do better.

I had a 5Gb online backup with my bank but even uploading small amounts took forever.

40hz:
I get about 38Kbs upstream ...
-Carol Haynes (February 16, 2012, 02:37 PM)
--- End quote ---

OMG! I'd go absolutely nuts with that. I guess the UK doesn't plan on getting much on board with SaS and "cloud" do they? Or are those speeds just because of where you're located in the UK?

Jibz:
Java backup applications suck (imho)...

I've tested CrashPlan a year ago and observed equally the same results as in the review of JavaJones. A backup client software that was
awfully slow and used up several hundreds MB of memory. Ridiculous...
-highend01 (February 16, 2012, 05:46 AM)
--- End quote ---

I can't really relate to this sorry. I've been using CrashPlan for a couple of years, and even on my old computer (which was single core with only 1 GB of mem) I didn't notice it running at all. I know others say it uses a resources on their machine, so I guess it's different (or maybe related to how you set up the options).

At any rate, it has worked well for me :Thmbsup:.

Edit: to add, what made me choose it over the others back then was that it had a sane de-duplication chice, allowed me to encrypt the data locally with my own password before it was uploaded so noone can access it, it runs as a service so it worked well with my setup of running on a non-admin account, and it allowed me to backup to the other machine here as well as online.

highend01:
They are giving you unlimited space for backups. Why would you want to exclude anything? The only reason I can think of to exclude anything from backup is to keep from running out of space, which isn't going to happen with Backblaze, so you might as well let it backup everything.
--- End quote ---

Why should I let it backup things that don't need to be backuped (e.g. parts of my C: drive)? Why should I waste my upload bandwidth (1MBit) for such a task?

40hz:
Why should I let it backup things that don't need to be backuped (e.g. parts of my C: drive)? Why should I waste my upload bandwidth (1MBit) for such a task?
-highend01 (February 16, 2012, 04:14 PM)
--- End quote ---

Why indeed? But it's kinda moot since it doesn't backup anything other than your data by default. If you look at the website:


What does Backblaze Backup?
Our philosophy: backup all data so you don't have to pick and choose.

All Your Data
With the exception of your operating system, applications, and temporary files.

-------------------------------------------------

What We Don't Backup

Backblaze does not want to waste your bandwidth or Backblaze datacenter disk space. Thus, we do not backup your operating system, application files, or temporary internet files that are transient and would not be useful in the future. Backblaze also excludes podcasts in iTunes.

Certain Filetypes
You can see these exclusions by clicking on “Settings…” in the Backblaze Control Panel and selecting the Exclusions tab. They can be removed in Backblaze 2.0! Some of these excluded files are:


* ISO (Disk Images)
* VMC VHD VMSN (Virtual Drives)
* SYS (System Configuration & Drivers)
* EXE (Application Files).
* Other Backup Programs
* Backblaze also doesn't backup backups like Time Machine and Retrospect RDB.
Deleted Files
Backblaze will keep versions of a file that changes for up to 30 days. However, Backblaze is not designed as an additional storage system when you run out of space. Backblaze mirrors your drive. If you delete your data, it will be deleted from Backblaze after 30 days.
--- End quote ---

When you tried it out, as you mentioned earlier, it might have been enlightening if you first just let it 'do its thing' to see exactly how long it took - and then logged in to check and see exactly what got backed up.

I doubt you would have seen much there you wouldn't have selected anyway.

It's also fairly intelligent. So once the initial mirror takes place, subsequent backups only require a fraction of the original time unless major changes have taken place on your local drive.

Again from the website:

Backblaze has developed a unique 'single-read' engine that ensures no slowdown of your computer. Backblaze provides an automatic throttle that most efficiently uses your Internet connection. Typical home connections can backup online 2 - 4 GB per day. Backblaze provides a throttle option if you want to use more or less of your Internet connection.
--- End quote ---

There's also a handy speedtest utility they have that will let you know what you can expect on your connection. Even on a slow residential grade ADSL with a 39.1 Kb/sec uplink (via a wifi connection no less!) you'll be able to backup a huge amount of data in a 24-hour period. This laptop I just ran it on estimates 3,300 Mb worth of data per day as the absolute capacity.

It also keeps deleted and changed files for up to 30 days - so it also acts as a sort of versioning backup system. That alone is sometimes worth its weight in gold.

Dunno...I don't think it comes any more "pro" or "advanced user" than this. Just my humble opinion anyway. :)

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