Yesterday, one of the best cloud backup services, CrashPlan, announced it was ending support for consumers. CrashPlan for Home will be put to rest on 23 October 2018. While the option to sign up for or renew your CrashPlan for Home subscription is gone, current CrashPlan for Home users will receive an extra 60 days of backup service gratis.

A simple insurance policy should a tech disaster strike your home, Google's free cloud sync tool has some great new features.

Traditionally the simplest way to protect your important files like digital photos, school assignments and business reports was to copy them to a USB drive, or perhaps to a Network Attached Storage drive tucked away in the spare room.

If you're not prepped to handle an unexpected loss of your personal data, Google has you covered. It finally released its Backup & Sync service, which lets you upload and sync files from any folder on your computer or connected drives to Google Drive without moving them around. It won't replace a comprehensive backup service such as Crashplan, but is definitely something to look into if you have no real backup plan.

March 31 is World Backup Day - an annual event geared towards backing up all your personal data. Whether you work with digital files for a living or just have a bunch of photos sitting on your smartphone, you need to put systems in place to insure against data loss - right now. Here are ten helpful guides to help you on your backup journey: from saving your Windows' Start Menu layout to backing up your kid's iPad.

Everyone's got at least one horror data loss story to tell. Computer errors and hard drive crashes can hit at any time -- usually when it's going to be the most inconvenient -- so it's worthwhile to look into an online backup service to keep all your precious memories and valuable information safe.

If you're backing up your data but you're not saving it offsite, you're putting it at risk. If something happens to your home or equipment, all that data could be lost. That's where online backup services that send your data to the cloud for backup are so invaluable. This week we're going to look at five of the best, based on your nominations.

Crashplan, the backup provider that recently expanded to Australia, is holding a pretty insane sale right now. It's currently offering 91 per cent off its plans, but every two hours over the next 76 hours that percentage will decrease until it hits 42 per cent, which it will stay at until the sale ends on Monday, November 26 just before midnight CST (4am on November 27 EST).

Windows: Backing up to an external USB drive is fast, but backing up to a web-based server is (literally) fireproof. Mozy 2.0 aims to split the difference, offering both faster cloud-based system backup and a new USB drive backup tool.

Local backup is a useful and necessary part of securing your data against catastrophe, but with the advent of broadband and inexpensive online storage, you've got little reason to not backup critical files to the cloud, as well.

All platforms with the Java runtime: Social online storage webapp Wuala is now out of closed alpha and into public beta and ready for you to upload and share files using it. Register for a free account at Wuala to backup and stow files away in the cloud; you get 1GB free to start. Then, share your files with your friends, create groups, and browse public files while you're there. I've just created a "Lifehacker Fun File Swap" group (search for it in Groups, it's public) which you can join and trade photos, documents, downloads, and videos. Go ahead and add some files to the group, but keep it clean and work-safe, please. Thanks, DarianEliotitis!

Wuala

Dropbox, the free, web-based backup service previously available only for Windows and Mac computers, has added a free, open-source client for Linux to its offerings. Installing Dropbox puts a folder named "Dropbox" in your Home directory (which can be moved or renamed), and anything dropped in that folder gets backed up to your Dropbox account. The service also adds a control widget to your system panel, letting you see what's in your 2GB of free space and control bandwidth usage. Dropbox is still technically a closed beta, but installing the Linux client let me set up a new account without any invite. Dropbox is a free download for Linux systems. Dropbox

Windows/Mac/Linux (All platforms): Online backup utility SpiderOak is notable for its true cross-platform availability, but it also offers (like Mozy) 2 GB of non-expiring free storage space and the ability to run in the background, making persistent backups as you change the contents of any folders you want to watch. The creators boast of a compression algorithm that speeds up both uploads and restoration, and unlimited bandwidth for paying customers, but its real value comes in its simple interface and set-and-forget nature. For any user—but especially Linux newcomers—who doesn't quite feel comfortable setting up their own automated backups, SpiderOak is a viable option. SpiderOak is free to download and create a 2 GB account; each 10 GB increment after that costs about $US5/month.

SpiderOak

Mac only: Online backup service Mozy has released the final, 1.0 version of their Mac client, which doesn't have all the options that the PC side does, but still gets the job done. Choose which folders you want to back up on Mozy's servers over an encrypted connection, or simply back up your entire home directory, or pre-suggested sets of files (like your Address Book, iCal, Application Preferences, etc). I've actually plunked down the $5 a month unlimited storage at Mozy costs, and I use it on both my Mac and PC. Overall the service helps me sleep better at night knowing I've got off-site backup and and doesn't slow down my computer or work too much. I've only got one complaint.