Online Backup/Recovery/Access of Computer Files

cameron12x · October 9, 2011 12:05PM

Does anyone have any experience using Internet-based (online) backup, recovery, and access of your computer files?

What kind of vendors (e.g. Carbonite) are out there, how do they rate, what are typical storage limitations (if any), what kind of remote access do they allow, and how much do they typically cost? Is there an affordable best-of-breed vendor out there you can recommend?

I'm looking into alternatives to local external hard-drive storage. Thanks!

Frankcoins · October 9, 2011 12:33PM

<< Does anyone have any experience using Internet-based (online) backup, recovery, and access of your computer files?

What kind of vendors (e.g. Carbonite) are out there, how do they rate, what are typical storage limitations (if any), what kind of remote access do they allow, and how much do they typically cost? Is there an affordable best-of-breed vendor out there you can recommend?

I'm looking into alternatives to local external hard-drive storage. Thanks! >>

Don't think that your online backed up files cannot be hacked, stolen, subpoenaed or looked at warrantlessly by the government.

CoinCoins · October 9, 2011 12:38PM

i don't understand why anyone would want to do that.... may i ask how come?

cameron12x · October 9, 2011 12:47PM

<< i don't understand why anyone would want to do that.... may i ask how come? >>

It simply offers another way to backup your files with the advantage that you can access them anywhere through the Internet.

It also provides a contingency in case your local hard-drive fails and you lose your files there.

LanceNewmanOCC · October 9, 2011 12:48PM

.
.
i personally prefer doing my own back-ups

BUT

if you are dead-set on using an online version that is automated, then all the major electronic companies probably offer the service

DELL is constantly reminding me to use their service which is already pre-programmed to know what it should backup from my pc, so it is hands-free so to speak
.
.
i would imagine Dell,Google,Sony,HP, etc etc etc would offer this service and I also have seen numerous ads in the magazine "Inc" my all-time favorite well above Time, Wired, Men's Health, Business Week and a few others
.
.

illini420 · October 9, 2011 12:53PM

I've been using Carbonite for the past 9 months or so and I love it. The initial back up takes a week or two (it all runs in the background) and after that everything gets backed up pretty much right away.

I used to back up my files on an external hard drive and would do so every week or two, but sometimes I'd neglect it for up to a month. Some files I have are updated frequently and now that I do a lot of my work files on my home computer, I couldn't afford to even lose a couple of days worth of files. Gives me tremendous peace of mind knowing that they are getting backed up instantly.

I know they also offer a moblie phone app where you can access any of your backed up files via your smartphone. never needed to do that yet so I havent tried it.

Also haven't had any problems yet, so haven't had to try to recover the files onto a new computer yet either.

All that said, I still back up everything on to my external hard drive every few weeks or so, just in case the Carbonite fails me, but it seems to be working well and think it's worth the $50/year or so that it costs.

mrearlygold · October 9, 2011 1:02PM

We use "several" backups and last month 2 main computers AND there backups failed. We had a backup to the backup and were ok .

I would never use a carbonite or similar system.

Bochiman · October 9, 2011 1:09PM

If you rely on someone like Carbonite, ask yourself ---- "What happens if they go out of business?"
Reason I say that is that the business models can be dicey and companies may not last, barriers to entry keep getting lower, etc.

There was a photo site (I never used it and can't remember it's name) that was used by a lot of people, particularly professional (and wannabe) photographers. They stored gigabytes and more up there.
Then, they got the notice they had ~30 days to retrieve/move their files or they were gone. Depending on how much storage and your connection...can you imagine backing them up, if you didn't have a backup to a backup? A lot of folks were up in arms.

I would only use a cloud based backup service for select files (ones that, if hacked, don't include personal info/banking/IDs/etc) that I needed to access from anywhere (maybe some coin photos or innocuous documents...nothing work related unless on a work cloud based server) though.

Coins101 · October 9, 2011 1:13PM

<< Don't think that your online backed up files cannot be hacked, stolen, subpoenaed or looked at warrantlessly by the government. >>

Unless you unplug from the internet, don't think that your computer files cannot be hacked, stolen, subpoenaed or looked at warrantlessly by the government.

mingot · October 9, 2011 1:20PM

<< If you rely on someone like Carbonite, ask yourself ---- "What happens if they go out of business?". >>

As long as it doesn't happen between the time that I have a hard drive failure and I get my files back, I should be OK.

It's a valid question, though, as that COULD happen.

Bochiman · October 9, 2011 1:21PM

<< 

<< If you rely on someone like Carbonite, ask yourself ---- "What happens if they go out of business?". >>

As long as it doesn't happen between the time that I have a hard drive failure and I get my files back, I should be OK.

It's a valid question, though, as that COULD happen. >>

How many gigs are you planning to back up? What type of connection do you have? How many gigs will be transferred monthly? Does your provider limit/charge you at some point over a certain cap?
Think about those, and your other uses, before you make up your mind, is my recommendation to you

JedPlanchet · October 9, 2011 7:14PM

I use Dropbox myself, it works really well and enables files to be synchronized between multiple machines ... PC Magazine Review

Priller · October 9, 2011 7:59PM

CrashPlan I've been using them for years on multiple computers (Windows, Mac and Linux). Had to beat the price and functionality.

derryb · October 9, 2011 8:16PM

I store/access my important files on a large flashdrive. No backing up, better security. Everything else can be reloaded in event of a crash.

mrdq · October 9, 2011 8:27PM

Mozy Home is free. I do my whole My Documents folder.

Coins101 · October 9, 2011 10:41PM

<< I store/access my important files on a large flashdrive. No backing up, better security. Everything else can be reloaded in event of a crash. >>

What about a house fire? I use a RAID 1 and an external HD for file recovery. However, neither will help in a fire.

My IT guys all use CrashPlan+ with 448bit encryption for their personal files and photos.

Nysoto · October 9, 2011 11:29PM

I use googledocs for word and excel files, along with manual backups stored in a bank box for some important files.

derryb · October 9, 2011 11:32PM

<< 

<< I store/access my important files on a large flashdrive. No backing up, better security. Everything else can be reloaded in event of a crash. >>

What about a house fure. >>

Flash drive goes in fireproof safe right behind me when not in use. Flash drive contains document with all of my account log ins and all of my passwords.

LanLord · October 10, 2011 12:07AM

<< 
Don't think that your online backed up files cannot be hacked, stolen, subpoenaed or looked at warrantlessly by the government. >>

Any data stored on any system that is accessible can be hacked, stolen or otherwise accessed, whether by government or otherwise. The only way to make a system 100% secure is to disable logins. PERIOD!

19Lyds · October 10, 2011 12:31AM

<< 

<< 
Don't think that your online backed up files cannot be hacked, stolen, subpoenaed or looked at warrantlessly by the government. >>

Any data stored on any system that is accessible can be hacked, stolen or otherwise accessed, whether by government or otherwise. The only way to make a system 100% secure is to disable logins. PERIOD! >>

Actually, should that be:

The ONLY way to make a system 100% secure is to turn it off.

TomB · October 10, 2011 1:05AM

I don't feel comfortable with web-based storage and instead use two external hard drives kept in two different banks.

johnsim03 · October 10, 2011 1:49AM

I like Carbonite. No storage limits and between $50 and $60 per year. Very easy to retrieve backed-up files from anywhere.
John

telephoto1 · October 10, 2011 1:58AM

<< I don't feel comfortable with web-based storage and instead use two external hard drives kept in two different banks. >>

I'm with Tom. We have two external hard Drives for backup, both over 1 TB in size and both kept in separate locations, plus a couple smaller drives for oddball stuff we don't want to clog the main HD with.

Coins101 · October 10, 2011 2:05AM

<< 

<< 

<< I store/access my important files on a large flashdrive. No backing up, better security. Everything else can be reloaded in event of a crash. >>

What about a house fure. >>

Flash drive goes in fireproof safe right behind me when not in use. Flash drive contains document with all of my account log ins and all of my passwords. >>

What is the fire rating on this safe? I have seen some "Fireproof" safes come out of houses that burned to the ground and basically anything plastic was melted somewhat. Papers were generally fine though not like they were when they were place in there.

greghansen · October 10, 2011 2:48AM

Our small 8 man lawfirm also uses Crashplan. Recommended by our IT folks. I'm not qualified enough in IT matters to give an independent opinion on the matter.

RobertS · October 10, 2011 6:32AM

Well I am a paranoid sob and for my home I use a business grade firewall "ZonicWall" I do not think that I would sleep good at night, knowing that someone else is holding my data. However, my network consists of 7 computers and my kids used to constantly kill them with viruses until I got the Zonicwall. For a backup I found out the cheapest solution is windows home server 2011, but that is not remote. If I was to do remote back ups, I would install the server in a remote location and then create a VPN tunnel and back up that way. I tried carbonite but for other than just backing up some folders it was not worth it to me. Right now I back up close to two terabytes on my home network, I would not even want to imagine uploading or downloading that type of backup to a remote location. Strangely enough I keep a 4 Terabyte Mybook World in my home safe which is rated for 95000 BUT's for 90 Minutes. The Mybook World It is energy efficient and does not produce as much heat as some of the other backup solutions. I found out that it keeps the inside of the safe warm enough to keep the moisture out

I backup data for redundancy purposes in the Mybook World.

derryb · October 10, 2011 6:38AM

<< 

<< 

<< 

<< I store/access my important files on a large flashdrive. No backing up, better security. Everything else can be reloaded in event of a crash. >>

What about a house fure. >>

Flash drive goes in fireproof safe right behind me when not in use. Flash drive contains document with all of my account log ins and all of my passwords. >>

What is the fire rating on this safe? I have seen some "Fireproof" safes come out of houses that burned to the ground and basically anything plastic was melted somewhat. Papers were generally fine though not like they were when they were place in there. >>

127.04872895746848 minutes.

Russ · October 10, 2011 6:42AM

Ideally, one would use redundant external hard drives keeping one off-site at all times. However, in reality, most people won't do that. Many will forget, get lazy, or decide it's too much hassle. If one does choose to use off-site backup, Carbonite is very easy to use and very reliable. I have multiple clients using the service who are all happy with it. Some of these clients are AOL users, and even they figured out how to set it up.

Russ, NCNE

Coins101 · October 10, 2011 7:03AM

<< 

<< 

<< 

<< 

<< I store/access my important files on a large flashdrive. No backing up, better security. Everything else can be reloaded in event of a crash. >>

What about a house fure. >>

Flash drive goes in fireproof safe right behind me when not in use. Flash drive contains document with all of my account log ins and all of my passwords. >>

What is the fire rating on this safe? I have seen some "Fireproof" safes come out of houses that burned to the ground and basically anything plastic was melted somewhat. Papers were generally fine though not like they were when they were place in there. >>

127.04872895746848 minutes. >>

I would find someplace else to stick your thumb

drive.

A good friend of mine is a fireman and he has shown me some of these fireproof safes after a house fire. He also explained how they work by releasing moisture as they heat up to increase the point where paper will ignite as paper absorbs the moisture. However, the moisture gets very hot and that is why plastic as well as electronics don't fair very well in a fireproof safe.

Place your thumb drive in front of the tea kettle vent for 127.04872895746848 minutes and see if it will still work.

howards · October 10, 2011 4:36PM

<< 

<< 

<< 
Don't think that your online backed up files cannot be hacked, stolen, subpoenaed or looked at warrantlessly by the government. >>

Any data stored on any system that is accessible can be hacked, stolen or otherwise accessed, whether by government or otherwise. The only way to make a system 100% secure is to disable logins. PERIOD! >>

Actually, should that be:

The ONLY way to make a system 100% secure is to turn it off. >>

Turning your system off won't make it secure. Any machine that is not physically secure (a machine that can be accessed by a malicious party who breaks into your house) is not secure. Most of us don't keep our computers secured in Fort Knox. If I don't have your logon, no problem, I'll just remove the hard disk and hook it up to another machine.

The best an individual can probably do today is encrypt all data on his computer and never use the computer on an internet connection. This will work for a few more years until better encryption breaking techniques are discovered or until your family members are threatened unless you give up your encryption key.

Staircoins · October 10, 2011 9:34PM

I am a satisfied Mozy user.

tyler267 · October 11, 2011 12:37AM

I have been looking at Mozy Pro the business version of Mozy. It is pretty inexpensive and is owned by EMC, which makes me think they will be around. We have used another (much more expensive) backup company for several years. We still do local backups but I like the idea of having the data securely stored offsite as well. The major drawback to all of these services is it takes awhile to get your data restored if you need it, especially if you are using sequel programs. The professional versions of this type of service can overnight a data disk for a fee.

tyler267 · October 11, 2011 12:44AM

<< Does anyone have any experience using Internet-based (online) backup, recovery, and access of your computer files?

What kind of vendors (e.g. Carbonite) are out there, how do they rate, what are typical storage limitations (if any), what kind of remote access do they allow, and how much do they typically cost? Is there an affordable best-of-breed vendor out there you can recommend?

I'm looking into alternatives to local external hard-drive storage. Thanks! >>

Frank

You make some great points, and I agree, certain kinds people should be careful before using this kind of a service.

But for those of us that pay our taxes and don't engage in illegal activities I think these services are pretty low risk.

Frankcoins · October 11, 2011 2:01AM

<< 

<< Does anyone have any experience using Internet-based (online) backup, recovery, and access of your computer files?

What kind of vendors (e.g. Carbonite) are out there, how do they rate, what are typical storage limitations (if any), what kind of remote access do they allow, and how much do they typically cost? Is there an affordable best-of-breed vendor out there you can recommend?

I'm looking into alternatives to local external hard-drive storage. Thanks! >>

Frank

You make some great points, and I agree, certain kinds people should be careful before using this kind of a service.

But for those of us that pay our taxes and don't engage in illegal activities I think these services are pretty low risk. >>

I pay my taxes, and I don't engage in illegal activites, so I don't appreciate that comment.

Carbonite Inc., a Boston company that backs up computer data for businesses and other organizations, is alleging that two other companies sold it more than $3 million worth of defective hardware, resulting in thousands of customers losing data.
...
Promise's hardware was meant to monitor multiple computer hard drives to assure that they were functioning properly to preserve customers' data, according to the suit. Instead, the suit charged, "Carbonite lost the backups of over 7,500 customers in a number of separate incidents, causing serious damage to Carbonite's business" ... [and] said Promise engineers were unable to fix the errors ...

mrearlygold · October 11, 2011 2:52AM

What's the most reliable brand of external hardrives? We've had 2 different externals melt down and a 3rd making ugly sounds lately indicating it's about done. The brands we've been using are western digital. They've lasted about 18 months and are now kaput.

Coins101 · October 11, 2011 3:17AM

<< What's the most reliable brand of external hardrives? We've had 2 different externals melt down and a 3rd making ugly sounds lately indicating it's about done. The brands we've been using are western digital. They've lasted about 18 months and are now kaput. >>

That is kind of like asking what is the best coin to buy. You are going to get a bunch of answers.

With that said, I have used two Maxtor OneTouch 500gb externals for several years, one to back up my files on my computer everyday (it will only backup files that are new or have changed) and one on my Dish Receiver for extra storage. Neither one gets moved around and I think this is the biggest cause for issues people have with external HDs. I will continue to use my Maxtor OneTouch 500gb until the data on my two 1tb raid drives go over 500gb. Then, I will look at a larger one and use the Maxtor OneTouch to backup my C drive/operating system with Win7 will allow it.

Go to Newegg or Amazon and read the reviews. It appears they all have issues. Even people with the Maxtor OneTouch drives have issues. I don't but some say they do. They are like any hard drives, or anyother mass produced product, some are going to fail.

clackamas · October 11, 2011 3:33AM

<< Does anyone have any experience using Internet-based (online) backup, recovery, and access of your computer files?

What kind of vendors (e.g. Carbonite) are out there, how do they rate, what are typical storage limitations (if any), what kind of remote access do they allow, and how much do they typically cost? Is there an affordable best-of-breed vendor out there you can recommend?

I'm looking into alternatives to local external hard-drive storage. Thanks! >>

I started an internet online backup and recovery service, we only backup NetApp systems however, so we probably can't help you. I would check out Dropbox for internet storing of files, or any of the usual suspects, like Mozy or Carbonite for revision backup. If you have some offsite storage you can use Acronis to create bare metal backups so you don't loose all your software as well.

mrearlygold · October 11, 2011 5:48AM

What totally blew my mind is the same weekend a mother board went on an HP laptop that was less than 15 months old. They had to get the new motherboard, a remanufactured one at that, from CHINA.

Yups, shipped directly from the peoples republic of cheap underwear and good food. Took 3 WEEKS to get a motherboard for the HP. I will never buy another hp product.

Coins101 · October 11, 2011 6:24AM

I think they all come from there. I bet from the same factory!

Well, here a little story for ya. When I order PC & Servicers for our IT Department (Dell & HP), I have to specifically check a box saying I will not export them. When they arrive, every box is marked on the outside, "Made in China"

I have to guarantee I won't export them but yet they get imported from outside the country.

mrearlygold · October 11, 2011 12:55PM

<< I think they all come from there. I bet from the same factory!

Well, here a little story for ya. When I order PC & Servicers for our IT Department (Dell & HP), I have to specifically check a box saying I will not export them. When they arrive, every box is marked on the outside, "Made in China"

I have to guarantee I won't export them but yet they get imported from outside the country. >>

Wow, the person(s) who devised and approved these " trade agreements" should be hung.

cameron12x · October 11, 2011 1:42PM

<< 

<< I think they all come from there. I bet from the same factory!

Well, here a little story for ya. When I order PC & Servicers for our IT Department (Dell & HP), I have to specifically check a box saying I will not export them. When they arrive, every box is marked on the outside, "Made in China"

I have to guarantee I won't export them but yet they get imported from outside the country. >>

Wow, the person(s) who devised and approved these " trade agreements" should be hung. >>

The fleecing of America and the "American Dream" continues unabated.

telephoto1 · October 12, 2011 2:55AM

<< I pay my taxes, and I don't engage in illegal activites, so I don't appreciate that comment.

Carbonite Inc., a Boston company that backs up computer data for businesses and other organizations, is alleging that two other companies sold it more than $3 million worth of defective hardware, resulting in thousands of customers losing data.
...
Promise's hardware was meant to monitor multiple computer hard drives to assure that they were functioning properly to preserve customers' data, according to the suit. Instead, the suit charged, "Carbonite lost the backups of over 7,500 customers in a number of separate incidents, causing serious damage to Carbonite's business" ... [and] said Promise engineers were unable to fix the errors ... >>

I'm personally not a big fan of online backup but feel the need to point out that this story (from 2009 by the way- and the actual incident happened a year prior) is NOT accurate. 7500 people had backups affected but 7500 people did NOT lose their data.
From the CEO of Carbonite's personal blog:

"I would like to further clarify two points with regard to Carbonite’s lawsuit against Promise Technologies:
1.This event happened over a year ago. We do not say this to minimize the matter. But we do want to point out that this has not happened in a long time and is not an ongoing problem.
2.The total number of Carbonite customers who were unable to retrieve their data was 54, not 7,500.

Here is what happened: The Promise servers that we were purchasing in 2006 and 2007 use RAID technology to spread data redundantly across 15 disk drives so that if any one disk drive fails, you don't lose any data. The RAID software that makes all this work is embedded as "firmware" in the storage servers. In this case, we believe that the firmware on the servers had bugs that caused the servers to crash. Carbonite automatically restarted all 7,500 backups and more than 99% of these were completely restored without incident. Statistically, about 2 out of every 1,000 consumer hard drives will crash every week, so 54 of these customers had their PCs crash before their re-started backups were complete. Since they weren’t completely backed up when their PCs crashed, these customers were unable to restore all of their files from Carbonite. Most of the 54 got some or most of their data back. We took full responsibility for what happened and I did my best to call each of these customers personally to apologize.

As a result of our problems with the Promise servers, we switched to a popular Dell server that uses RAID6 – an improved RAID that allows for the loss of 3 of the 15 drives simultaneously before you lose any data. This configuration is in theory 36 million times more reliable than a single disk drive — the chances of 3 out of 15 drives failing at the same time are almost nil.

So far, Promise has refused to accept responsibility for their equipment’s failures, so now we are suing them to get our money back. The Dell RAID servers have been flawless and we're extremely happy with them. Dave Friend, CEO Carbonite, Inc."

Online Backup/Recovery/Access of Computer Files

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