Mozy + Syncback. I use Mozy for important files and folders (important meaning research, papers, adminstrative stuff) and can still come in well under the free limit. I use Syncback to backup to an external HD once a week manually. This setup has not yet had to save my bacon, but I have little doubt that someday it will.

Bubarubu

I recently tried Macrium Reflect free after seeing it mentioned on this site. It was easy and works well for my needs. I don't recommend this for file backup, only system backup.

SamburgerHandwich

Too late to vote, but Macrium Reflect (free version) is decent for disk imaging.

[www.macrium.com]

bachcottage

Adam, can we do one of these polls for Linux backups? I have not found a super great solution for Linux yet, despite trying a couple different ones.

jkrell

Can't believe you forgot to mention Jungle Disk? It's multi-platform, $20 for life, and 15 cents per gigabyte on Amazon S3 servers. It was pretty basic with version 1.0 but since they just released version 2.0 it's awesome. A lot faster than Mozy. www.jungledisk.com

marjon00

I cannot believe ShadowProtect didn't make the cut -- it is sweet, easy to use and a "set and forget" options. The only one on the list that comes close is Acronis. I cannot remember why I opted out of Acronis in favor of ShadowProtect, but I have been thrilled with its performance.

@LifesSweetDrug: I used your option for years, but I'd often get lazy and forget to back things up. It is worth $50 to me to always know my data is being backed up.

jkrell

I still prefer just using an external hard drive or other media as a back up.

LifesSweetDrug

I've been using Syncback for a while, but might give True Image a try.
Oh and of course online solutions like Live Mesh and Dropbox are very convenient

alexandr0s

I'm using my Mac as my primary machine, but back when I was on my PC, I relied on SyncBack for my bi-weekly backups. Scheduling was super easy, and I was very very happy with the $30 investment.

StrangeTikiGod

It should be mentioned that the SyncbackSE license allows use of the software on up to 5 machines for home use:

[www.2brightsparks.com]

mwb1100

There is still nothing like Apple's TimeMachine or Flyback for Windows that I can find. I'm really interested in finding a file-level backup/revisioning system that doesn't require much maintenance and has a pretty interface.

An rsync hardlink script on an external drive almost does it but NTFS does not appear to support hardlinks. Also, the interface is confusing for the users that I support. Nothing as intuitive as TimeMachine. Any suggestions?

Otherwise my tools of choice float between Syncback, rsync, rdiff-backup and clonezilla/gparted live.

whereisian

I've been using SyncBack for a while, and it's very flexible. Syncing between drives or network shares works great. SFTP support is a little wonky, though.

TheLoneIguana

@xious: I use synctoy the same way it even works on multiple computers across a lan so you can have a nas storage and a portable drive

imrcly

That Mozyhome and Carbonite look pretty interesting. I currently use an external HD with Synctoy, however I am not very good about keeping up with it. But the thing I like about that is I can have my home documents and my work documents mirrored. Can you do that with either of these options? Can I set a sync my home and work computers via these online backups? If so, then I might go ahead and give them a try.

xious

Nice to see all of the solutions, but all I really, really need is a reliable image of my machine. I go with R-Drive, though Acronis and Paragon are fine. If I am understanding the term "backup," it's different than what most folks really want or need: The ability to boot the OS and recover the entire system with all the settings, etc. A simple backup may save a file, but not a system. And since time is money, it's more than worth it to me to spend $40.00 to ensure the survival of my base system. Yes? To create an image of a 160GB drive using R-Drive takes approximately 15 minutes; verification of image takes another 10 minutes. I like to create an image once a month which includes any new programs, updates, etc.

rainbowsky

Allway Sync does the trick for me. I've set it up on both my dad & wife's computers for "set it & forget it" backups. The auto sync when device is inserted is fantastic when paired with a thumbdrive or even an external HD.

[allwaysync.com]

tstammen

Vista's built-in shadow copy is pretty darn useful. You can go forward or backward in time viewing different snapshots of a file or directory.
[www.microsoft.com]

azpat

I know its not intended to be a back-up tool, but Syncplicity effectively does secondary backup for me --going to look at these LH suggestions for primary)

For docs you can also set up something like DropBox or OpenOffice-->Google Docs as a tertiary backup.

Christopher

Maybe a bit late but Microsoft's SyncToy is not a bad VERY basic backup. My collection of over 10,000 MP3s needed a lot of tag and album view picture editing. I sync my MP3 collection to my iPod and listen to that as I work. When I see file without album art or if I need to take a 5 minute break. Instead of hours and hours of laborious work, a couple minutes a few times a week made a big difference.

MiddleGeek

I've used SmartSync Pro for a few years. It was originally shareware, but has since gone commercial for $45. I paid $20 once it went commercial and receive free upgrades. I've tried SyncBack which is good. SyncToy is too basic for me. I use the free version of Mozy which is great. I wouldn't begrudge anyone who pays the $5 for unlimited access. I also have a WD MyBook with Ethernet port so I can access it anywhere I get Internet.

madara

EDIT: I was actually referring to Windows Complete PC Backup, the disk-imaging tool that comes with vista. Anyone have any experience with this?

SpriteMV

what, no s3 backup? Provides encrypted backup to amazons3, incrementals, and costs pennies a month...and the program itself is free.

caedus

I wish this had gotten broken into local backup software and remote backup software. Personally, I have no interest in an online backup. That seems rife with potential problems, not the least of which is that in a desperate system failure, I probably don't have the internet. Unfortunately, it seems like most of what's up there is geared toward a remote/internet backup solution.

TsuKata

@azpat: I'm upgrading to Vista Ultimate sometime in the next week or two. I'm very excited about the fact that it has shadow copy built in. Does anyone know how this compares with Acronis True Image or the other disk imaging solutions out there?

SpriteMV

@jkrell: I second that. there are some good linux backup solutions, but I would like to see what else is out there.

I am also wondering what that program is that is shown in the first screenshot. That sync option looks great.

gforster

@Maulleigh: Mozy doesn't start from scratch if you say have a system crash or have to reboot (if you -cancel- the backup you start though, I believe you have to start from scratch. I never wanted to waste my time and find out on that one.) I started backing up 60gb of data before the 4th of July weekend and at some point when I was out of town my broadband connection acted up and the upload stopped at around 15gb. When I fired Mozy back up later in the week it picked right back up registering that there was 45gb left to go.

Jason Fitzpatrick

Acronis works beautifully, worth every penny...

enileda

The software that came with my Maxtor eternal drive works fine for me.

infmom

I gotta weigh in on mozy. It's kind of a pain in the a*s and I wish I hadn't signed up for both my computers. It's always on in the background, sucking up bandwith. It takes DAYS to do a back up and if I suspend it (i.e. shut down my computer at night/when I'm at work) it becomes cranky McCrankersteins and naggy McNaggersons. It has to start all over from the beginning?

It's got about fifty applications that run with it at all times so if I need to do a taskmaster I have to shut all the mozy stuff down which is a pain.

I kind of wish I'd just bought another drive. But that's my twenty cents.

Maulleigh

Acronis>SyncBack FTW!

ThaMofo

Jungle Disk for me as well, followed by Mozy Free. I use both.

xingman

How about SugarSync - backup, remote file access, and multi-computer sync.

netsec

[mozy.com]

I use Mozy for the absolute bare essentials(family pictures, documents, etc) and S3 for backing up all my computers completely. If you sign up with the link above, you and I will both get some extra space. Give it a shot! I like it, been using it for over a year now. Set it and forget it!

milomindrbindr

Does cobian do open file backups? Sorry if this was already addressed and I missed it.

mofomon

@LifesSweetDrug: What happens to that external drive when theres a fire in your home or office? What happens to the data thats sitting on that drive? Local backups are fine, but off site backups are crucial for data thats irreplaceable, such as financial data.

Lazarus

@whereisian

AutoVer and FileHamster do what you want. I use AutoVer to watch my htdocs directory. If you have WinMerge installed AutoVer will use it to compare any current file against a revision. I liked AutoVer's history window over FileHamster's; but otherwise I haven't used FileHamster enough to comment on its features. Both use .Net. AutoVer is currently using 18MB and 0% CPU.

[beanland.net.au]
[www.mogware.com]

h3028

If you're talking about Windows backup tools then it's hard not to mention Windows Home Server. Granted it's a full OS and not just an application, I believe it to be the most robust backup solution for Windows Clients.

Though, I'm sure many want to spend hundreds on a home server.

awp0

It's a travesty that Macrium reflect Free didn't even get a mention. It works brilliantly and is much (10x) faster than DriveImage XML.

There's a review confirming this here: [rickstech.blogspot.com]

Verso1

Acronis True Image for my workstation and second (linux) PC.
MozBackup for Firefox profiles and Thunderbird profiles. Very nice, when you deleted emails or bookmarks and you want to restore them.

MrKlappstuhl

So what software is pictured at top, the one with the "Synchronisation" option as that's what I'm most interested in!?

Agathos

Bottom Line: There are a lot of excellent backup solutions. Better? Worse? Best? Maybe, but mostly just different. To each his/her own.

Gerard Sorme

@gforster: The program in the initial screen shot is SyncBack.

mljones1947

Jungledisk rocks as well. Cheap, works great, cross platform, and extremely flexible. They just upgraded to v2.0 with some great new features.

weedenbc

CrashPlan is definitely worth mentioning.

-Cross-platform (Win/Mac/Linux - since you asked)
-Automatic backup, low bandwidth (delta's only)
-Price friendly (one-time, $20 standard or $60 Pro version, free trial)
-Encrypted remote backup to another of your PC's or a friend's (no matter the OS, encrypted over the web, no charge) OR online to CrashPlan servers for a fee
-Wireless aware (starts and resumes backups when you're on the network)
-Pretty GUI (hey, someone asked for this too)
-Multiple file versions
-Simple setup

I could go on and on. Check it out.

[www.crashplan.com]

tllawrence

Windows Home Server. For $150 bucks and the old PIII with 512mb ram box you can't give away (well, and some large hard drives), it will back up every Windows box on your network daily, will mount backups for individual file retrieval, and can use JungleDisk with an add-on - as well as:
enable you to remote into any computer on your network from the internet,
allow you to stream to an Xbox or upload to Tivo (add-on.)
monitor the "health" of those computers (like having the latest AV definitions)
host your own web site.
And a lot of other things if your of the do-it-yourself bent. I've installed Virtual Server for example.

M_Hagen

Jungledisk all the way.

* Works just like a local drive (more than just backup)
* Drag and drop, copy and delete, reorganize
* Windows, Linux, Mac, PORTABLE USB
* You can backup and then delete local copy to free up space if you want and still have the copy on S3 (can't do that with Mozy/Carbonite - in essence you have to perpetually have local data the way it was when uploaded, so you can't move a file, rename a directory without it re-uploading)
* Accessible through browser
* Use its robust built-in automatic backup tool or use with 3rd party (Syncback, Synctoy, etc)
* You can create a "Compatibility bucket" where you can use with other S3 tools to manage (e.g. S3Fox), create URLs to share files.
* Reliability and performance from Amazon S3

More reasons why:
[www.jungledisk.com]

nerdly

Mozy Home is a nice tool. I've been using it for 6 months. But when I reformated, I was unable to download my files to my "new" desktop with the Mozy applet re-installed. Fortunatly I had the files backed up locally. Anybody else had problem downloading files from their server after a reformat?

PC_Pal68

@Maulleigh:

Gotta agree with you, Mozy's fine if you haven't got much data but for backup up lots of photos and music it's way too slow. Additionally I had a few problems cancelling my MozyPro account which was a but offputting.

I switched to iDrive which backs up at the full speed of my internet connection and costs about the same as MozyPro. The interface is a bit Windows 95 but it does the job.

I wrote some more about my experiences with Mozy, SyncBackSE and iDrive here: [matthall.org.uk]

...and here's the link to iDrive: [www.idrive.com]

MattHall

@SpriteMV:

You are confusing Shadow Copy with Windows Backup (both available in Vista Premium).

Shadow copy will keep "versions" of files as they are modified, so if you mess up a file you can get it back. Not a "backup" solution at all, but more of a quick and dirty "version control". If you hose your Windows system or your hard drive crashes, Shadow Copy is useless.

The version of Windows Backup that is available in Vista Ultimate does indeed do about 75% of what Acronis does. It will let you schedule "image" backups of your system, which you can restore by booting from your Windows CD and restoring from the backup image (which presumably you keep on a separate physical hard drive or external drive or we are back to useless). The only real downside I can see with Windows Backup is that you can ONLY restore the entire image. You can't just restore a a file or folder that you have lost or damaged.

jsmorley

I use SyncBack weekly for my file backups, but there is no match for Acronis. When combined with Acronis Disk Director Suite, there is nothing you can't do with a hard drive. Additionally, Acronis let me back up a complete hard drive image of my Dell laptop computer, complete with Dell hidden partitions. This was after hours of trouble with DriveImage XML. I haven't seen a better disk imaging program than Acronis. Worth the money by far.

wild_bill

I should also add that for XP there is a fantastic disk imager called Drive SnapShot. It isn't free (or cheap, about $60) but it uses very little resources and is very quick.

Mozy is great for online storage, JungleDisk+S3 is nice too, but I would be paying nearly $750 a month just for storage using that option. Feasible for small(ish) stashes of data but not entire large drive backups. Mozy lets you store all you can throw up (I have over 800GB on there as we speak...)

pabster

Vista's CompletePC Backup is fantastic and all you need. Why pay for Acronis or another tool when Vista has it built right in? I've used it numerous times, even from DVD restore images, and it works FLAWLESSLY. It's fantastic.

pabster

I've used Mozy Free for years. It's seamless, and the fact that I'm always backed up even when I've gotten out of the habit has saved my bacon more than once.

The two gigs you get on the free account might well be enough for your critical files (and if you use the link below, they'll give us both an extra quarter-gig for free.)

[mozy.com]

VayaConQueso

One back-up product to avoid is part of the Microsoft OneCare (it appears to be very similar to Windows Vista's built-in back-up).

I've just spent two frustrating days, that's nearly 48 hours using this to back up around 170 GB of data to an external drive. The same process takes 3 to 4 hours using Syncback. As of this moment, there's still 40% to go, so it's time to pull the plug on the process.

I'm also disturbed by the way it selects files, rather than allowing me to, say, copy everything on my D: drive and everything in my Videos folder to the external drive, I'm expected to select "file types" which include things like 'financial'. This scares the pants off me. It's back to Syncback post haste.

billbennettnz

@pabster: Am I wrong or is Vista's CompletePC Backup only available in Vista Ultimate??

jkrell

The original post link for DriveImage XML points to the Carbonite vs. Mozy post. I assume you mean:
[lifehacker.com]

aperson

Phew. I missed the initial call for nominations, but glad COBIAN made the cut. An awesome backup program that's free!

I don't think using 'net services for wholesale HDD backup is appropriate because of limited bandwidth.

I usually don't think of imaging software (like Acronis) as being the same as file backup, but it's tempting to try it out. Is the backup image updated incrementally? Does it handle system crash WHILE the image is being updated?

@mofomon: I think so. I believe it can try several different Windows calls to copy a file if the normal copy command fails.

Posco Grubb

On the subject of file backup, sharing and storage ...

Online backup is becoming common these days. It is estimated that 70-75% of all PC's will be connected to online backup services with in the next decade.

Thousands of online backup companies exist, from one guy operating in his apartment to fortune 500 companies.

Choosing the best online backup company will be very confusing and difficult. One website I find very helpful in making a decision to pick an online backup company is:

[www.BackupReview.info]

This site lists more than 400 online backup companies in its directory and ranks the top 25 on a monthly basis.

goorsha

@jkrell:

That may be the case. I was thinking it was available under Premium editions as well but it may only be on Ultimate. I use Ultimate on all my machines so I wouldn't know for sure.

pabster

@TsuKata: Online backup may not be the handiest thing if you need to restore without an internet connection, but there's nothing to say that if you have online backup that you can't also have a local backup.

The situation where online backup can be a lifesaver is in the case where you have a true physical disaster - theft, fire or water damage that makes all of your local backups useless (or non-existent).

So, online *and* local - not one or the other.

mwb1100

Far and away, the best back-up tool I use is DriveImage XML. It's free, makes a complete clone of the hard drive and backs-up settings, files and the registry. As an added bonus, after an image is created you can still interact with the files through the DriveImage XML program. Jeez I sound like I'm an infomercial.

With the program, in conjunction with a BartPE disk I can feel safe that even if my harddrive gets toasted, all I have to do is plug in a new one and clone all the data back and it's like nothing ever happend.

wstraynor

I use a combination of SyncBack and AllWay Sync.
SyncBack
1. use windows scheduler to wake up PC at 2am and run a batch file that mounts a hidden network drive locked in my basement
2. a minute later, windows scheduler opens syncback and runs the backup profile to that drive
3. syncback runs a batch file when it's done that dismounts the network drive, waits a few seconds, and then puts the computer back to sleep

AllWay Sync
Runs as a background service and syncs chosen parts of My Documents with my thumbdrive automatically anytime I plug in my thumbdrive. This way, I can use PortableApps on the thumbdrive and know it is in sync with my PC at home

adoucette

Check out CrashPlan! C-net gave us 5 stars - carbonite 4 - mozy 3.5 stars. We're faster, more secure, and if you use your own servers - no monthly fees!

dornquast

I'd like to register an objection to the current use of the word "shareware" (and yes, I know it fits the definition, but "share" implies NOT paying, as in "I'll share my lunch with you." Call it "payware.")

For me, ye olde "copy and paste" works well as a backup. External drive. Full copy of "My documents" -- or whichever folders you're most interested in.

The backup drive goes with me, or sits in a separate location while I'm on trips.

saintseminole

@SpriteMV: yeah, as you pointed out shadow copy is different than the image tool. The image tool, if I understand it correctly, makes a vhd file, along with some extra info. I think you can even load the .vhd file in a VM if you're fancy and get at stuff in it from your main os. That's also different from system restore, which I've played with. It does a good job of reversing system stuff without messing with programs and data. I've managed to revert some bad driver installs using it.

azpat

@Posco Grubb: I usually don't think of imaging software (like Acronis) as being the same as file backup, but it's tempting to try it out. Is the backup image updated incrementally? Does it handle system crash WHILE the image is being updated?

******

That's a possible shortcoming of the "image" solution. I did have one time when it was in the middle of making the image, and Windows Update decided that I REALLY needed some security update which it installed and rebooted the PC. I noticed the next day that I had more space on my second hard drive then usual, and found that Acronis had opened the backup .TIB file, then was interrupted by the reboot and left just a 0-byte file.

jsmorley

Is the backup supplied with Windows sufficient for automated backup on a scheduled basis? In other words, what can be with the tools shipped in the basic XP system?

TimHare

Acronis has saved my bacon several times. The latest is with my laptop. Its a Compaq and the original hard drive started going out. I couldn't even run the Windows error checking utility on it to fix the bad areas of the disk. The really bad part is I never made a set of restore discs with the system utility that it asks you to do when you first get it. I removed the drive from the laptop, put it in a usb enclosure and made an image of the drive from another computer including the windows partition, the locked and hidden factory partition and the MBR. I restored this image to a brand new hard drive, ran the factory restore program and bingo! Data in perfect condition and I didn't even have to order restore discs from Compaq! I have found Acronis to be feature packed as well.

selgado

@jrs:
One further note: I'm using ElephantDrive plus Foldershare for a backup/sync solution.

Elephantdrive is interactive storage, just like Syncplicity. Have been using it for a couple of weeks, and it works very well so far. Keeps file versions and archives. It also lets you mount the drive if you like, and/or access your files over the web. Downloads are pretty quick (also using S3). $5/mo unlimited storage for one machine, $10/mo for up to 4 machines. I've got about 160gb of personal documents and photos.

I was really looking forward to replacing ED and FS with Syncplicity… wonderful implementation. But since I can get everything I need for $5 a month, why would I pay $40? I love what you are doing… you're ahead of the pack. But 8X the price just won't seal the deal.

jrs

@Christopher: Syncplicity offers all the key features under one roof - backup, sync, versioning and autoarchiving. But their pricing is out of what with most of the other offerings.

I have reviewed features and tested Sugarsync, Syncplicity, Crashplan, Dropbox, ElephantDrive, Jungledisk, Humyo, Carbonite, Mozy, LiveDrive, Foldershare and the now dead MediaMax. A couple of them have fatal flaws (like Mozy's inability to do a practical large scale restore). But many of them have or are planning to release feature sets identical to Syncplicity, and are already cross platform. Many are also using S3 as a primary or partial backbone. And I wouldn't yet count out the long delayed GDrive or LiveDrive.

In this context, what kind of premium can Syncplicity command? I'm guessing their planned 200% to 500% premium can't last, or it will kill Syncplicity. The vast majority of users will be sticking their toes into the water to see how these services really work, and that means pricing will be a major factor in their decision. I've been doing product introductions for 25 years, and this is a pretty standard pattern.

I imagine that Syncplicity may be worried about the number of high volume customers showing up in their beta. As they open to the mass market, they may find what most other online services found - that beta users are typically the geeks and super-geeks who have huge numbers of files. The top 3-5% of the customer base. Most customers will fall into a 1-20gb range. But if they want good reviews and word of mouth, Syncplicity needs to make the service accessible not only to the newB, but also to the expert users.

Final thoughts: the big boys will eventually bundle this feature set into their main offerings and sell it cheap - Google/Microsoft at minimum will do this. Thus there is a relatively limited time window for Syncplicity to build up their subscriber base to become either the rare independent survivor or a nice acquisition target. Like it or not, pricing will be a major element of their success/failure. My suggestion to them is to look at the always falling cost of storage, and risk some storage related losses in the near term to establish Syncplicity as a category leader. If they don't listen, though, no skin off my back - there are a half dozen others close on their tail.

jrs

This is very useful content, both in the original post and the comments. I detect a fairly consistent grammatical error, though:

"Your data is your life..."

"Data" are plural, whereas "datum" is singular. One should always write or say, "data are (such and such)."

Rob Davis

@Rob Davis:

That is technically true, but the word has evolved in common usage. "Data" has come to have a dual meaning, adding the sense of a collection of "datum", much like a "herd" is a collection of "cows". In this context, where the "data" referred to is a collection of files and folders on a personal computer, only an editor for The New Yorker is going to object to the very common use of the word "data" in the singular.

In any case your last statement is wrong. When you say "Data are plural, whereas datum is singular", you are referring to "Data" the WORD in comparison to "datum" the WORD, so it should be "Data is plural", just as you would say "Eagles is plural".

Now can we stop this kind of internet grammar and spelling correction please? It's so 1990's. ;-)

jsmorley

@saintseminole:

LOL

jsmorley

@jsmorley: "1990s" doesn't need an apostrophe. (Sorry, I had to.) ;-)

saintseminole

Petit-bourgeois person!!!

Firax

None of the software I use is in this list ;)
I recommend the very much unknown but very feature-rich russian freeware vuBrief. It does full synchronization to any kind of media. I admit, it looks complicated and is not in active development anymore, but it is the best free tool I have found so far.

If you are looking for an up-to-date solution try out DeltaCopy. It's an rsync for Windows with a nice and easy GUI but it's intended for Windows-only environments.

rawfan

It's time to think about the operating system that you use. I use Acronis 11 on Vista Premium and Acronis 10 on Windows XP. I have had to do full restores with both on several occasions and never had a hitch. Acronis is worth every penny in my book.

SocalDad

Acronis on all my client's pc's including servers. I've restored entire server RAID images with it, flawlessly. And selective restore from an image file beats vista's image backup.

Dabbler

@Agathos: That's SyncBack in the title image.

CheGordito

@saintseminole: I agree with the shareware objection. That term is misleading for commercial software you pay for. Historically shareware was software you used with the stipulation that you donate to the author if it was helpful.

meyersmp

The biggest pain in the butt and show stopper with Mozy for me is that if your system crashes and have to do a format/install, you cannot resume backing up and keeping in sync from what's already on their servers, but rather have to start from scratch again since the newly reformatted computer gets recognized as a new system by Mozy.

Mythokia

Personally I'm very happy with ntbackup by Microsoft.

With a little configuration I have automatic incremental backups every evening. It even wakes my pc up from standby to perform them and (with a little batch magic) puts it back to sleep.

bonaparte

Problem: Syncback does not support Eastern / Asian characters in filenames.

This made me sad, since half of my files have asian characters in them.

(For the record other backup programs don't support east / asian characters EITHER...)

Kashell

Acronis is my go-to program. I've probably used it 10 times to upgrade hard drives via the disk imaging utility, it's always worked without a flaw. This isn't a backup per se but it could be used as such.

But it's really come through for me 3x when hard drives started giving me trouble. Most recently this weekend, when my Dell laptop decided it didn't want to boot anymore. So I booted off the Acronis 11 CD, told it to backup the whole C: partition (as opposed to imaging the drive), restored the backup to a new HD, and voila, I'm cooking w/ gas again.

I'm not saying Acronis is better/worse/different than other solutions, I'm just saying it's easy to use, it's always worked for me, and I have no reason right now to change.

BrianH

will have to try a few of those.

Internet-TV

With regards to online services, what about privacy and security? I presume that the services use encryption on the link to upload the files to the backup servers? What about the data on the servers, presumably it's stored in an encrypted form? Who has access to the keys, just the customer? Does the backup company have keys? Could/would the company (or one of it's employees) access your data? What about a request from Law Enforcement, would they turn over your data, encrypted or not, would a warrant of some description be needed?

Digitalwanderer

I originally posted in favor of SyncBack, on the call-for page. But checked out Cobian after seeing it here, and I'm pretty impressed. I believe I may have just found a replacement for SyncBack. Cobian's a little more complicated to set up, but anyone reading this blog probably isn't going to find it too daunting. And it's pretty feature-rich. I'm liking.

spoko

To answer the queries regarding Linux backup, I've never found anything better than BackupPC--for any platform. It's a sledgehammer of a backup solution, but it's scalable from one to one thousand machines. Backup histories are available on a per-file basis, and repeated copies do not take up any more space (and aren't even transferred).

I'm not too familiar with this new wave of personalized backup tools, but, for me, BackupPC was the ultimate liberation from tapes and backup programs for tapes with disk storage bolted on (e.g. Veritas, Amanda, Tapeware).

The downside is that BackupPC has a barrier to entry in the form of complex configuration files. The defaults have improved over the years, but nailing down scheduling is still a challenge--partially because it accepts any level of recursion, not just day-to-day or hour-to-hour. In my opinion, the ~10 hours of initial research and experimentation have wrought a return of thousands of dollars in data savings.

At my workplace, BackupPC has turned some potential disasters into minor annoyances. The service never fails on its own accord (for about 800 days since I originally set it up); if a backup isn't taken it's because something is wrong with the target.

(For the data integrity nuts, the BackupPC machine is located in a separate building and connected via entrenched CAT5. I wanted to place a mirrored copy in one of the bigwig's houses to synchronize via vpn/ssh, but my "budget" ran out.)

Whelkman

I've posted this on a Carbonite vs. Mozy page but this one seems more current, so here are my thoughts...

I've just had some issues with Mozy after being a happy customer for a few months. I'm hoping someone here will be able to address them or share their experiences or perhaps alternatives.

First, Mozy doesn't easily allow you to reinstall their software if your PC crashes and your original installation is lost. I contacted support and they came back with three options: registry hack to make the new computer look like the old one, delete my account and re-add it (with the risk that my data would be lost, depending on whether my data was in the new facility or old facility...why should I have to care?), or have them add a new account as a replacement for the old one (temporarily charging me but then reversing the fee). Reinstalling the application as the result of a crash seems like a common scenario to me. I don't understand why they don't have a more elegant solution. Why should I need to contact support when, to me, I am using the application in one of its intended uses (a restore of a crashed computer)?

Second, and this one really bugs me: if Mozy doesn't see an external drive connected, it automatically assumes that the data has been deleted and removes it from their servers. I'd imagine that many users have external drives for the sake of convenience and not having to have them powered on 24/7. This also seems very short-sighted. The Mozy app should be able to tell if a drive is external vs internal and shouldn't just assume that data can be deleted if the external drive is disconnected.

Now don't get me wrong. I was very impressed with Mozy when I was backing up my data. I set the directories for it to monitor and it seemed to do a good job. However when I needed it it really fell short for me. I'm left feeling like I have to babysit Mozy, which is the exact opposite of why I signed up.

Anyone else have similar stories or frustrations? Mozy, are you listening?

timclymer

SyncToy does the trick for me. I just backup the most crucial content of the My Documents folder, so SyncToy is enough for that.

apocalypsofacto

I did A LOT of research on online backup providers and landed with Elephant Drive. I took a long hard look at Mozy and Carbonite and, here's the thing. If you're backing up one computer drive (or set of drives) that is ALWAYS consistent, then they're worth a look. If, however, like me, you have external drives that are sometimes there, sometimes not - both Mozy and Carbonite will delete the data from your backup when they scan and see the data not there. an always synched mentality. Elephant Drive is definitely the best going if you want to back up an external drive that may or may not be attached at any given point PLUS the ability to remotely mount the drive allows for things like SyncBack or BeyondCompare utilities to manage your data even more.

iamsid

Thing is, I like Mozy itself. But I hate receiving those stupid email newsletters from their CEO or whoever talking about completely random stupid shit.

I mean, I'm a paying customer. I'd rather be more interested in things like how Mozy will protect my data if the company goes down, etc than be interested on his thoughts about Canada, robots, or anything.

Devil

Mozy is the only backup software I have used so can't really compare ad haven't had to face a crash yet so can't say how will it hold up.

@timclymer: They are definitely paying attention to this poll as they sent me a link asking to vote for them.

@Devil: You mean the mail I just received. I kind of find it amusing, so have put it on my blog. Everyone is invited to take a look if interested.
[iidrandom.blogspot.com]

rohitdas

@jrs:

agreed Synclplicity kind of going off the deep end with their recently announced pricing scheme. For me, though, it gets me by for the MyDocs folder which is less than 2GB -- ie. free on Syncplicity.
For pictures, music, etc. its straight to the external HD.

Lots of good thoughts in your post - I agree that its only a matter of time before Google and Msoft offer the storage platform (heck, we're already getting 7GB email + 1GB photos from Google)

Christopher

So that explains why Mozy is suddenly running away with the votes, along with Carbonite (who are also, undoubtedly, trying to rig the thing). I've been really liking these Hive Five things, but there's going to have to be some mechanism for avoiding this kind of voting slam, or the whole thing will be meaningless.

spoko

I like Syncplicity because it's fast, easy, and my files get synced to my other computers as well, not just their servers. Well, and Facebook and GDocs, the two sites they work with today.

I've used Mozy before but it took forever to get to my files online. I can get to them right away on the Syncplicity site.

I also like that it:
- Lets me get to my files on my iPhone.
- Keeps revisions of files and deleted files indefinitely.
- Gives me a URL to any file on my computer I can send around.
- Lets me share entire folders with people.

They're good enough with their backup, I don't need anything more advanced, and the other features are a killer for me.

DaveRod

A few months ago, I had to do a destructive Windows reinstall, and came across the same frustration as did timclymer regarding reinstalling Mozy after a "crash"....

After I restored my data, I had to delete my computer (account) and then re-add it.

I then ran a back up (~17G), which suprisingly took less than 12 hours..... Been fine ever since...

To be honest, it really wasn't too much of a big deal, although at the time, I was pretty perturbed at Mozy for not discussing the issues one might face when a computer crashes, or in my case, a Windows reinstall.

poetlisa

I have used Mozy for the past year and was very happy with it until about 3 months ago. Last April backup performance dropped dramatically, and Mozy support indicated there were some "software upgrades" slowing things down for a "week or two". Not so - for 3 months my throughput dropped to almost zero because the connect time - the time the Mozy software was successfully talking to its server - dropped to less than 1% of the time, and usually crashed after a few hours. While contacting Mozy support, they gave me advice that led to wiping out all the local information on my past year's worth of backup; the files were still online but I would have to now tediously rebuild a year's worth of backup sets, by hand, one at a time, with the software almost never connecting to the server. Needless to say, I cancelled my subscription, as the Mozy backup became largely useless at that point.
I should point out that I had accumulated about 750 Gb of data backed up at Mozy, so it is entirely possible that they decided to throttle my account (support denied this, but performance was so bad I would not be surprised). If this is true, be aware that the 'unlimited' backup is NOT. If this is not true, then Mozy's performance is so bad that it may take years for you to actually get a complete backup. I calculated it would take 15 years to redo what I had done, at current rates. So if you go with Mozy, watch closely to see if you are getting what you think you should be.

JoeKr

IDrive seems interesting. Thankfully I'm on a Mac, so no win95 nightmare GUI here.

pshizzy