This week I have been testing the various online backup services, both paid and free, and here’s a summary of how these service compare against each other.
Why use an online backup service?
While it is easy to create a local backup of userr computer, the physical media where user are storing the backups, like the DVDs or external disk, may not be very reliable in the long term. The other disadvantage is that local backups don’t always happen in real-time.
It is therefore recommended that user switch to an online backup service – these are inexpensive and will automatically copy userr computer’s data over the Internet to a more secure off-site location (aka the data center) in near real-time without userr involvement.
Online Backup Services with Free Storage
If user only have a limited amount of data (< 2 GB) on userr computer that user want to store in the cloud, any of the following backup services should solve userr problem without user having to shell out a penny.
All the above online backup services (except for SkyDrive) work in a similar way – user get a small client to userr desktop, mark the local folders that user want to backup online and the tool will automatically monitor and upload files from these folders to the cloud. Once userr files are backed up, user can also access them online except in Mozy.
Of all these services, my favorites are SugarSync and ZumoDrive. They offer almost an identical set of features and are extremely easy to configure. SugarSync is available for Mac and Windows while ZumoDrive also offers a Linux client.
While Dropbox is also an awesome service for file synchronization and online backup, it has one major limitation – it will only backup files and folders that are placed inside the Dropbox folder. Hopefully this will change in future versions.
Subscription Based Online Backup Services
When 2 GB is insufficient to store the massive number of photographs, emails, documents and other important files that are piled up on userr hard drive, user can go for a subscription based service. Here are some good options along with their pros and cons.
- Extremely easy to setup. The service will automatically backup userr entire computer excluding folders that contain the OS and userr applications.
- If user create a new folder on userr computer, user don’t have to remember to add it to the backup queue.
- The option to restore files from the backup could have been a bit simpler.
- Colored dots on userr files and folders indicate the status of userr backup at a glance. No dot means the file is not selected for backup.
- You can remote access userr backups from anywhere using the browser and there are apps for iPhone and BlackBerry.
- The restore function in Carbonite is done pretty nicely and user can recover files using Windows Explorer itself.
- Carbonite’s web interface is clean but their desktop client looks old and a bit untidy.
- Mozy will automatically group userr files and folders into “sets” like documents, emails, photos, music, etc. so it becomes easy for user to select stuff that user want to backup online.
- In addition to online backup, the more recent version of Mozy can also back up userr data to an external disk.
- Mozy offers quite a few easy ways to restore files from the backup.
- When user start iDrive, it offers a folder tree of userr computer – just select the folders that user want to backup online and user’re done.
- You can also add files and folders to the backup queue with a simple right click inside Windows Explorer.
- You can restore data through the iDrive desktop client. Individual files and folders can also be recovered from iDrive’s website.
- Their Family plan can help user backup multiple computers to a single IDrive account.
- With CrashPlan, user can easily backup userr files to multiple locations including the cloud, to another folder on the same hard-disk, to other computer on userr home network or to any other Internet connected computer (social backup).
- The desktop client is intuitive and won’t confuse user with a plethora of options.
- CrashPlan is among the very few online backup services that’s available on all platforms including Windows, Mac and Linux.
6. Jungle Disk (tour) – Metered online storage
- Jungle Disk uses Amazon S3 for data storage.
- You can use a single license to backup multiple computers.
- Jungle Disk supports Windows, Mac and Linux.
- SugarSync works in near real-time and will immediately back up any file changes that are made in one of the monitored folders.
- You can easily access userr backups over the web or from any of userr mobile devices through apps.
- SugarSync is not integrated with Windows Explorer and therefore it is a bit cumbersome to add new folders for backup.
- ZumoDrive is extremely easy to configure – just right click any folder on userr computer and add it to the ZumoDrive cloud.
- Restoring files from ZumoDrive may involve some effort. It offers ZIP archives of userr folders that user’ll have to manually extract to the right locations.
Online Backup Services Compared
The following chart compares the cost, available storage and other essential features of all the previously mentioned online backup services.
Which Online Backup Service Should You Use?
If user are looking for an extremely simple way to backup userr entire Mac or Windows PC without having to select individual files and folders, go with BackBlaze. It offers unlimited storage and requires no configuration but restoring data from BackBlaze is not very convenient.
SugarSync is another brilliant option for creating online backups as it works across multiple computers (and platforms) and user can access userr data on a variety of devices. However, if user have loads of data to backup, SugarSync can get a bit pricey.
The backup service that has impressed me the most is CrashPlan – it’s available for Mac, Windows and Linux. What’s unique about CrashPlan is that it also can create local backups on other computers that are either owned by user or userr friends. Thus data restoration will become extremely fast in the event of a hard disk failure because user won’t have to get backups from the Internet.
The downside with CrashPlan is that it doesn’t offer web access to userr backups. If user see this as a limitation, go with Carbonite. It integrates very nicely with Windows Explorer, user can backup any file or folder with a simple right-click and all userr files can accessed over the web anytime, anywhere. Data restoration is also easy with Carbonite.
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