Comments on: Online backup services

Question: Online backup services

bove — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:25:27 -0800

What is the best online backup service?

I have two computers that I would like to backup (work and home). They share some files, but not others. Ideally I would like one solution that would allow me to backup all of the files online as well as sync the files that are shared on both machines.

Right now my preference is for online so I don't have to worry about a loss because of theft, or fire, etc. of an external drive. Also using an external drive for both of my machines requires me to lug it back and forth every day.

I am willing to pay, but cheaper is better. In total with music and pictures I probably have around 25GB of files total.

BTW, this was prompted by this earlier question.

By: lilkeith07

lilkeith07 — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:38:13 -0800

Dropbox will allow you to sync the files as well as online. You get 5 GB to start with and then can be upgraded to 50GB for $9.99 a month or $99 a year. The only downside is that you have to put the files in the "dropbox" folder.

By: dmd

dmd — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:39:53 -0800

Dropbox.

And there are ways around the dropbox-folder thing.

By: bove

bove — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:44:42 -0800

Any personal experience with Mozy or Carbonite? Is there a reason Dropbox is better than one of them?

By: jtfowl0

jtfowl0 — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:13:48 -0800

I like Mozy, but I've never tried any other service. It just works and getting access to your backups is relatively painless. You would have to pay for that much space, though--I think you get 2GB free.

Microsoft SkyDrive just went live and gives you 25gb of space free. Haven't tried it, but planning to--I've used their Office Live workspace and Foldershare apps and liked both, so no reason to think SkyDrive wouldn't be equally as functional (or disfunctional, depending on your personal feelings about Microsoft).

By: jtfowl0

jtfowl0 — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:16:49 -0800

Oops...sorry. SkyDrive doesn't seem to be a backup service so much as just storage space where you have to upload files yourself. Still could be useful for a music and picture collection, though.

By: stupidsexyFlanders

stupidsexyFlanders — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:27:15 -0800

Check Lifehacker, they did a Mozy v. Carbonite nerd-off and there's a lot of good observations there. You can search for it.

By: stupidsexyFlanders

stupidsexyFlanders — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:29:20 -0800

Also, when you posted this question I think you saw a link to this related question from seven months ago. it's the same one you're asking now.

By: miss tea

miss tea — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:36:43 -0800

I've been using JungleDisk based on the previous rec and love it.

By: MattS

MattS — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:15:50 -0800

I've been using Mozy for a while now and like it quite a bit, but I think SugarSync is what you're looking for.

By: bru

bru — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:46:05 -0800

I use Data Deposit Box for my data (my photos are on smugmug and flickr). Very reliable for years.

By: bove

bove — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:20:05 -0800

Yes, I had seen the previous post, but I wasn't sure if Mozy would work for my syncing needs as well as just backup. SugarSync looks really intriguing on both the features and price front.

By: bonaldi

bonaldi — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 19:57:08 -0800

Dropbox, though if you're using a Mac forget it for backup, as it drops resource forks and mangles packages.

By: Freaky

Freaky — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:04:15 -0800

How sensitive is your data? Would you feel better if it was encrypted with a key only you have access to, or would you really not care if it's just dumped unencrypted on some random bunch of disks somewhere provided it's somewhere rather safe from data loss?

By: bove

bove — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:18:37 -0800

I ended up going with Dropbox. SugarSync was a little cheaper but Dropbox had the best combination of features and price (as well as an active community for support).

I signed up for their expanded account and so far have nothing but praise for the service. I have especially been impressed by the speed with which everything worked.