Author Topic: For those with a CrashPlan... (Read 50803 times)

Jibz · « **Reply #50 on:** August 01, 2018, 12:57 PM »

For anyone interested, the SpiderOak One unlimited account (which they said would never happen again) is back for a week. Of course it costs $30/year more than last time, so I guess it's not technically the same offer.

https://spideroak.com/aug18unlimited/

If you consider this, please keep in mind that unlimited space means lots of space subject to certain restrictions, see here.

(Disclaimer: I am using an unlimited account from last time they had this offer, and am quite happy with it.)

mouser · « **Reply #51 on:** July 26, 2019, 04:10 PM »

I have been using SpiderOak for a year or so now, and I am not particularly happy with it.

It's gotten very slow, is using 10gb of local hard drive space for its indexes.

Worst is that I am getting regular pop up warnings saying I have exceeded my space use, and I find it impossible to figure out what it taking all the space. Apparently the space is counting all old versions of files, and so the culprits of space use are likely files that have many copies, but I can't figure out how to find such files.. Painful.

Anyone find any alternatives they are happy with?

wraith808 · « **Reply #52 on:** July 26, 2019, 06:30 PM »

I'm using OneDrive, and using nowhere near my maximum space, and am very happy with it. Of course, my backup plan is not to backup everything, but just my unrecoverable files, so if you're doing a full backup YMMV. It also does not have versioning (other than office docs), though it does allow you to recover from deletions.

mouser · « **Reply #53 on:** July 26, 2019, 06:45 PM »

It also does not have versioning (other than office docs),

Yeah this part is a must have for me.

Deozaan · « **Reply #54 on:** July 27, 2019, 01:29 AM »

I've started using a DVCS (mercurial, but it could be done with git) to make backups of things.

I just add things to a repository, clone/push the repo to another drive, PC, or remote server, and I've got a backup with built-in versioning.

That said, my backup needs are relatively simple and small. I probably don't back up nearly as much as I ought to, and this method probably wouldn't work so well for very large amounts of data, especially if that data is stored in a binary format, doubly especially if that binary data changes often.

wraith808 · « **Reply #55 on:** July 27, 2019, 12:00 PM »

I've started using a DCVS (mercurial, but it could be done with git) to make backups of things.

I just add things to a repository, clone/push the repo to another drive, PC, or remote server, and I've got a backup with built-in versioning.

That said, my backup needs are relatively simple and small. I probably don't back up nearly as much as I ought to, and this method probably wouldn't work so well for very large amounts of data, especially if that data is stored in a binary format, doubly especially if that binary data changes often.
-Deozaan (July 27, 2019, 01:29 AM)

And this is the reason that I don't require versioning- anything that does require versions (writing, coding, etc), I have in repos that are pushed to a few remotes.

f0dder · « **Reply #56 on:** July 28, 2019, 12:00 PM »

Apparently the space is counting all old versions of files, and so the culprits of space use are likely files that have many copies, but I can't figure out how to find such files.. Painful.
-mouser (July 26, 2019, 04:10 PM)

I believe versions are going to get reclaimed automatically (but probably are counted against the limit).

Deleted files, however, do not get deleted automatically - this pretty much got me locked out of my account. The client will not connect properly when you're above your quota, and the web interface is bloody useless... doesn't show totals for folders, so it's near impossible to hunt down what's taking up space. And with the amount of files I had (because versions), it was also painfully slow. Not that the local client is much faster, when I got access again by contacting support and getting some extra gigabytes quota temporarily assigned, clicking around some of the large folders would take several minutes.

(The knowledge base articles on cleaning up versions and trash via commandline didn't work either - you literally can't clean up with the client if you're above your quota. And that you have to shut down the GUI, if running, before being able to run command line actions is... bloody stupid).

Anyway, deleted files end up in a "trash" folder you have manually empty now and then, might be your issue as well, mouser?

Deozaan · « **Reply #57 on:** July 28, 2019, 02:57 PM »

Apparently the space is counting all old versions of files, and so the culprits of space use are likely files that have many copies, but I can't figure out how to find such files.. Painful.
-mouser (July 26, 2019, 04:10 PM)
I believe versions are going to get reclaimed automatically (but probably are counted against the limit).

Deleted files, however, do not get deleted automatically - this pretty much got me locked out of my account. The client will not connect properly when you're above your quota, and the web interface is bloody useless... doesn't show totals for folders, so it's near impossible to hunt down what's taking up space. And with the amount of files I had (because versions), it was also painfully slow. Not that the local client is much faster, when I got access again by contacting support and getting some extra gigabytes quota temporarily assigned, clicking around some of the large folders would take several minutes.

(The knowledge base articles on cleaning up versions and trash via commandline didn't work either - you literally can't clean up with the client if you're above your quota. And that you have to shut down the GUI, if running, before being able to run command line actions is... bloody stupid).

Anyway, deleted files end up in a "trash" folder you have manually empty now and then, might be your issue as well, mouser?

-f0dder (July 28, 2019, 12:00 PM)

Ah yes, that reminds me of my experience with SpiderOak--which ultimately led to me abandoning them--which I posted about earlier in this thread:

Be careful with SpiderOak. I had an experience with them many years ago where somehow a folder that wasn't supposed to be included in my backups got included, and it put me just barely over my storage limit.

They essentially locked me out of my account until I got below the limit. But without having access to my files, I couldn't remove anything to get below the limit. Seemingly, the only option available to me was to pay for a plan with more storage. I didn't actually need more storage; without the accidentally added folder I was using something like half the limit.

I contacted support and told them as much. They were kind enough to (permanently!) increase my limit by 1GB to bring my storage usage back under the limit and allow me access to my account/files again. But they also warned me that there was no way to manage your files while being above your limit.

I never understood why it would happily let me go over my limit but not allow me to remove files to get it back under the limit, and while I was otherwise satisfied with SpiderOak in every other regard, that experience left a bad taste in my mouth.

But as I said, that was many years ago. Maybe things have changed in that regard. I haven't been using SpiderOak for a long time.
-Deozaan (December 05, 2017, 11:23 AM)

mouser · « **Reply #58 on:** July 28, 2019, 03:02 PM »

Anyway, deleted files end up in a "trash" folder you have manually empty now and then, might be your issue as well, mouser?

That's a great tip -- I did not know about that, and it could very well be the (a) source of my problems. Trying now..

mouser · « **Reply #59 on:** July 28, 2019, 06:50 PM »

Been about 4 hours since I tried to "empty" the trash, SpiderOak just said the operation was "queued" -- no sign that it's actually doing anything, that the files were removed, that the size use when down, or any way to see the "queue". Though the UI responds so slowly I am hesitant to explore it much..

This is the kind of thing that makes me want to drop SpiderOak and find something better.

mouser · « **Reply #60 on:** July 28, 2019, 07:22 PM »

Another thought: I have a NAS now (synology); do people have recommendations for a non-hosted VERSIONED backup system that would backup to my local network nas?

Shades · « **Reply #61 on:** July 28, 2019, 07:55 PM »

As far as I know, Synology has software packages you can add to your NAS for extra functionality. You could try if there is a backup system available on their website.

Regarding SpiderOak:
While it is not a direct option, you might try to use CarotDAV (WebDAV option) to login to your SpiderOak account to circumvent their web-interface and remove crap that way.

For those with a CrashPlan...
That is the CarotDAV interface with the content of my user folder on a Linux based Nextcloud installation I host on my own webserver. Nextcloud does have it's own client and comes with a web-interface as well. But this is the tool I mainly use to access it. Because it is plain simple to use and works fast.

For those with a CrashPlan...
These are the type of connections you can make with it to any server anywhere of that type. For most cloud-based backup solutions, I would try the option 'WebDAV' first.

CarotDAV is free to download as installer, but also as a portable application, if you are into that kind of thing. Author is from Japan.

mouser · « **Reply #62 on:** July 29, 2019, 04:28 AM »

Thanks Shades, that's fantastic info, since SpiderOak seems to be ignore my attempts to delete stuff from the UI.

BUT: Spideroak website seems to suggest they support webdav, but I can't find any info about what url to connect to.. any thoughts?

4wd · « **Reply #63 on:** July 30, 2019, 05:56 AM »

BUT: Spideroak website seems to suggest they support webdav, but I can't find any info about what url to connect to.. any thoughts?
-mouser (July 29, 2019, 04:28 AM)

I would have thought the opposite is true: FTP, WebDAV, and Web Access

Neither FTP clients, WebDAV clients, nor web browsers are very well suited to doing cryptography as part of the upload/download process, so accessing your data this way would require the server to first decrypt your data, and then give it to your browser. This breaks our no knowledge model, where SpiderOak does not have your encryption keys, and SpiderOak servers are entirely unable to decrypt, read, or send any data.

...

Nevertheless, convenient web access is important to some people, so we did build a web access option. It stores the user's password (and derived keys) in memory only -- never writing the session file to disk -- and purges them from memory as soon as the session ends. On our website, we actually recommend against using the web interface at all due to this issue, but we provide it anyway, due to overwhelming customer demand.

ie. Of the three methods mentioned, they've chosen to only implement the last - no support for FTP/WebDAV.

Just as a matter of interest I had a look at iDrive w.r.t. WebDAV - they do provide it but only if you used the default system generated encryption key on signup. If you chose your own private key then you're in the same boat as with SpiderOak.

mouser · « **Reply #64 on:** July 30, 2019, 11:24 AM »

It seems pretty clear at this point that SPIDEROAK is malfunctioning silently on my pc; deleted items never get deleted/removed. If i try to empty the trash it just says it queued the operation but never does anything even after days.

superboyac · « **Reply #65 on:** July 30, 2019, 11:27 AM »

Another thought: I have a NAS now (synology); do people have recommendations for a non-hosted VERSIONED backup system that would backup to my local network nas?
-mouser (July 28, 2019, 07:22 PM)

didnt i learn my backup methods from YOU??!!

when you say non-hosted...you want a cloud service right? i have no idea what to use, i dont do it. i do use backblaze so you can do the versioning locally and backup to backblaze. but sounds like you want the full service. not sure, am interested.

Deozaan · « **Reply #66 on:** July 30, 2019, 11:36 AM »

I read "non-hosted" as "non-cloud" which interpretation is further reinforced (in my opinion) by "backup to my local network" at the end of the sentence.

mouser · « **Reply #67 on:** July 30, 2019, 11:37 AM »

when you say non-hosted...you want a cloud service right?

No, what I meant was, I don't need a hosting service if I just use software to backup to my own NAS device in another room.

I still think it's important to have an online offsite backup service these days, but I don't need versioning on that, so a simpler solution would be possible.

skwire · « **Reply #68 on:** July 30, 2019, 11:37 AM »

It seems pretty clear at this point that crashplan is malfunctioning silently on my pc;
-mouser (July 30, 2019, 11:24 AM)

Mouser, did you mean SpiderOak here and not Crashplan?

mouser · « **Reply #69 on:** July 30, 2019, 11:58 AM »

Yes, thanks, edited post.

superboyac · « **Reply #70 on:** July 30, 2019, 05:25 PM »

when you say non-hosted...you want a cloud service right?

No, what I meant was, I don't need a hosting service if I just use software to backup to my own NAS device in another room.

I still think it's important to have an online offsite backup service these days, but I don't need versioning on that, so a simpler solution would be possible.
-mouser (July 30, 2019, 11:37 AM)

I'd recommend syncovery with versioning options enabled. For files.
For images, I suggest Terabyte Image for Windows, or Macrium Reflect.

mouser · « **Reply #71 on:** September 06, 2019, 05:02 PM »

I have to walk away from SpiderOak.. It's making me miserable.. Once it hit the point where it thought all of my allocated 400gb was used up, it's basically entered a hellish state where it doesn't care what I try to remove from the backup, it doesn't change anything. I'm done.