Today we rely on our laptops, desktops, and handheld digital devices more so than any other time in history. Accidents and unforeseen system failures are inevitable, which requires the need for a reliable automatic online backup system to protect our documents, music files, images, and all other forms of personal and professional data to be stored in an offsite location for instant retrieval.
Any form of digital device with a hard drive has the potential to become corrupted or to begin to fail. For those without an efficient file recovery system in place, what usually follows is chaos, panic, and fear. Luckily, we now have several options available that provide significant protection against these types of unanticipated circumstances. BackBlaze, CrashPlan, MyPCBackup, Mozy, and iDrive are examples of these types of offsite file storage systems that offer a wide range of special features and benefits.
- Allows for continuous online backup
- Windows and Mac
- Can be used with external hard drives
- Free online restoration services
- Information can be restored to Flash Drives or USB hard drives
- Can read 11 different languages
- Capabilities for automatic file location
- Offers military level encryption methods
- Restore previous versions of files, up to 4 weeks
- STORAGE: Unlimited data
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PRICING: Approximately $4/mo + $5/mo per additional computer
- Allows for continuous online backup
- Backs up most recent files and photos first
- Backup files to other computers, data centers, or external hard drives
- Saves currently opened files
- Fast and easy restoration from mobile digital devices
- Pause options available for use with Wi-Fi are cases of low battery power
- Ability to save and restore recently changed files in multiple versions
- STORAGE: 10 GB and Unlimited
- PRICING: $2/mo for 10GB, $4/mo for unlimited, up to 10 computers for only $10/mo
- Allows for continuous online backup
- Access and retrieve stored information from any location
- Sync to multiple computers and devices
- Can be used with Mac, Linux, and Windows
- Offers free mobile apps
- Unlimited storage space
- Completely automated
- File encryption services similar to those of banking institutions
- Can share files and folders with friends
- STORAGE: 1GB, 75GB, 250GB, and Unlimited
- PRICING: Free for 1GB, $4.50/mo for 75GB, $5/mo for 250GB, $7/mo for Unlimited
- Allows for continuous online backup
- Live chat support and ticket requests
- Automatic file encryption
- Offers Apple and Android mobile apps
- Access files remotely from any location
- Backup multiple computers for the same cost
- Can be used for both Mac and Windows devices
- Bandwidth throttling capabilities
- Customized configurations available
- 24/7 technical support and billing assistance
- STORAGE: 2GB, 50GB , 125GB, and larger Business/Enterprise plans
- PRICING: Free for 2GB, $6/mo for 50GB, $10/mo for 125GB, and larger Business/Enterprise plans
- Allows for continuous online backup
- Can be used for both Macs and PCs Retrieve data from any location via web browser
- Recover deleted files
- Create sub-accounts for multiple users
- Mobile file recovery abilities
- Storage for multiple devices with a single account
- Allows for compressed backups of only recently modified files
- Processes instant status and activity reports
- STORAGE: 5 GB, 150GB, 500GB, 1TB, … 5TB
- PRICING: Free for 5GB, $4/mo for 150GB, $25/mo for 1TB, $250/mo for 5TB
As you can see, there are a variety of reliable online backup cloud systems available. Some offer a free basic version where no credit card information is required. These will usually begin with a storage capacity of 1-5 GB, allowing for multiple versions of upgraded versions that can begin for as low as $4 per month. While some upgrades offer unlimited storage capacities, not all of these potential data recovery systems are the same. If this is a critical concern, be sure to research your options carefully.
If you are currently using a Linux system, you will also want to make sure that the file recovery plan that you choose is compatible. While all of these options offer quick and easy online backup, some of them offer faster services than others with a more advanced method of throttling bandwidth for mobile devices. Your final selection will most typically be determined due to four factors: price, storage capacities, device support, and the possibilities of 24-hour customer support.
In the on-premises department, I want to mention Cobian. It’s incredibly easy to use and has a built in scheduler. It supports full, incrementals and differentials and has some other more advanced options.
Best part is the price tag, it’s entirely free.
Cobian looks like a viable option and whoever wants to try it out should do it fast because the whole code is up for sale on their website. This means you can’t be sure how much the thing will be free anymore. I’m going to give it a go right now and see how it does. Thanks for sharing it, nonsiccus!
Thanks for the list. It’s good to see backup services with good encryption given how people are more aware of possible attacks to their privacy and security. I might stick with the free offers for now and then I also have to find a good one for Ubuntu.
Don’t have that much data that I would really miss if they were lost. but this list is pretty detailed and I thank you for sharing these informations with us. Pretty sure there are a lot of other people who can use this.
Thanks so much for the overview of all of these backup services. I find these side-by-side comparisons of features very helpful. It’s great to see that some have automatic encryption. This is so important nowadays, as I have learned from reading many of your other informative posts on this topic.
I used Mozy for several years. I started out with the free option until I reached capacity and I switched to the paid plan. Currently I use Carbonite for automatic backup. I may consider switching if I find that one of these services has more robust features than what I have.
Very nice list, thanks!
I’m a Linux user myself, and sometimes it’s very frustrating to find a compatible solution. Ubuntu One and Dropbox are 2 that work fine on such systems – but there are plenty of others as well (as you can see in the list above!).
Another nifty solution for those that have some (web)hosting space available is a program called “FTPbox” that allows you to sync your files with your own FTP server… although this is a bit more technical, it might offer some advantages for those who already have a webhosting plan (space available and cost being two of them).
Day after day, the need to have a backup of your files becomes something necessary. One way or another, it is important to spend some of our time to generate a backup of our sensitive files from our PC or device. However, we face against a particular situation: the average user doesn’t know which software or service rely on. I am one of those users who are a little lost with this issue.
The options that you offer in this article have some similarities, but each has a distinctive feature. These alternatives are tailored to a user without pretensions and also to a person who uses the PC in a professionally way or has a fluid and massive movement of files.
Cool article, but I’d love it more had it included my Cloud software of choice ; Zoolz. I think it deserves more recognition especially with its introduction of the unlimited plan 🙂 Cheers
Thanks for mentioning Zoolz. I hadn’t heard of this one. It’s good to have an ever-expanding list of options, I think. Plus added redundancy — especially when it’s free — is very helpful. This may encourage people to do the backups. Sometimes it’s just a matter of finding a service you feel comfortable with; that has features and a user interface that you will use regularly.
I still remember years ago when we didn’t have such online options, and it was back then, that I did lose data even though I had thought I had all of it backed up on CDs — yes, this was a while ago. It’s easy to overlook something crucial when you’re doing such piecemeal backing up. So I am a strong believer in redundancy!
I actually use iDrive and it’s pretty good. The service is not completely free obviously. But 5GB is more than enough for me currently.
Really worth a try in my opinion. It’s quite good actually.
Fair enough. Lots of services can offer a small chunk of space for free. I’m pretty sure one could even use DropBox for this type of small-grade backup. Sometimes, I’ve even resorted to backing up small amounts of data with Gmail attachments, since Google gives it’s users a rather large amount of inbox space. There really are a lot of choices for the small-scale.
Thanks for this list, there are a couple that I really like the look of. This goes hand in hand with another comment I made to do with backing up. People need to be educated that these tools are out there and they really are not hard to use. Data protection is easy once you know a bit about it.
This list looks to be very useful. I’m horrendous at loosing files and hoarding my download folder until I can not actually clear out files I don’t want in under 24 hours of constant work. So been able to host my files off-site would be great as I could just wipe my download folder and be done. Also it will come in handy with my website. I’m notorious at forgetting to back up my sites and it often comes back to bite me so with a tool that automatically backs up my site, there may still be hope next time I have a hosting problem.
These things would be great for people like me. I have been wanting to back up all my stuff for a long time. I think Backblaze and Crashplan have the best deals though I think I have to study why they are relatively inexpensive compared to the others. The others have different fees for different amounts of space but Backblaze and Crashplan only charge $4.00 for unlimited space. A rather big discrepancy don’t you think?
I never actually thought of using a cloud service for continuous back up; however, I just lost a bunch of data due to my external hard drive failing. I’m glad to see that there’s some free options that I can try out and hopefully I won’t lose everything again.
This is the common problem I’m facing these days and I lost almost all my important files so far. I’m going through the ones which would be quite beneficial for me to avoid such problems and finally I found one such blog in which I almost got perfect quick fix for my problem. Thanks to all fellow mates who had been perfect in their advises. I found a couple of these interesting and I should surely try the best one out of them.
I don’t think I really possess any use for these type of programs. I never have a lot of files on my computer at any given time that would be too precious to lose. Plus I’ve heard stories surrounding these kind of sites and how your information may not exactly be all that safe or private, no matter what kind of encryption exists. Still, good to see you provided a list for people more interested to consider.
I normally use iDrive to back up my files. It is fast and easy for me. You have mentioned some other great options and I will have to check them out to see which is best. I have heard of MyPCBackup and I know some friends that use it. They said that it was not such a great strange for their files.
I use BackBlaze and I love it but I’ve long switched to Carbonite because of a friend. But I don’t really use any of the automatic backing up feature not unless I’m in some serious peril with my drives.
I use iDrive a lot. I’m only using the free account though since I’m only backing up major files that won’t take up that much space to begin with.
All of the above software are very reliable. However I like the My PC Backup software. The customer support is very good and assist you very well.
Thanks for the My PC backup Team !!