Beware of Using Web Host Disk Space for File Backup

Over two years ago in an article on how to automate your hard drive backups, we recommended FTP’ing your files to a cheap, roomy web hosting plan’s server for off-site backup. But weblog Digital Inspiration reports that many web hosts don’t include file backup in their terms of service, and could delete your data if you use the space (you paid for to host a web site) for backup purposes. You’d think that if you pay for 500GB you should get to use 500GB the way you want—but be sure to read your host’s terms before you assume. Since those salad days of hacking together off-site backup, I’ve since signed up for Mozy—which isn’t perfect, but its whole purpose is personal file backup, and it does a pretty good job at a low price. How do you get your off-site backup going on? Let us know in the comments.