Any toughts on CrashPlan?

Hi!

I have heared of a service called CrashPlan, where you can (for $6/month) safely backup basicly unlimited amount of data.
I currently have an internel and an externel HDD both 3TB that I use for storing my pictures.
(The internal is the backup copy of the external.)

So I decided to give CrashPlan a try, (30 days free) but would be interested to see what others think of it (do you guys use it, or is it not worth it?)

Thanks.

I've been thinking of it as well as Smugmug's SmugVault service. I'm already with Smugmug but it's 9 cents per gigabyte which for me works out to $135 per month for the data I need backed up (1.5 terabytes). From my research, people seem to think that relying solely on a cloud solution isn't prudent and that a local backup to a different location is the best backup. Also the time it takes for the initial backup and if you ever had to restore is dependent on your internet speed which could take days unless you chose to use their Seeded Backup or Restore to Door options for a cost.

This being said, I'm thinking about trying it as well!

flowrider wrote in post #17335424
I've been thinking of it as well as Smugmug's SmugVault service. I'm already with Smugmug but it's 9 cents per gigabyte which for me works out to $135 per month for the data I need backed up (1.5 terabytes). From my research, people seem to think that relying solely on a cloud solution isn't prudent and that a local backup to a different location is the best backup. Also the time it takes for the initial backup and if you ever had to restore is dependent on your internet speed which could take days unless you chose to use their Seeded Backup or Restore to Door options for a cost.

This being said, I'm thinking about trying it as well!

Yepp, it seems it will take around 200 days to backup my pictures, on the other hand, if anything happens to my PC at home, it is good to know, that a backup is in the cloud.

I've been using CrashPlan personally for a few years and have installed it for dozens of others. Its pretty awesome. I love the deep version history and flexibility of the software.

mike_d wrote in post #17337049
I've been using CrashPlan personally for a few years and have installed it for dozens of others. Its pretty awesome. I love the deep version history and flexibility of the software.

Thanks Mike.

Didi you ever needed to actually use the backup files?! (Restore feature)

NemethR wrote in post #17337305
Thanks Mike.

Didi you ever needed to actually use the backup files?! (Restore feature)

I've never had to do a full restore, but I have restored individual files many times. It works great.

After realizing how long it'll take to do an online backup I gave up on it. I'll look at it again but if I do, it'll be with a seeded backup. For now I'm going to try and setup Crashplan to do an offsite backup to my work computer that way I can seed the drive first. I'll lose the versioning but it'll be quicker and won't take a year for my initial backup.

flowrider wrote in post #17337705
After realizing how long it'll take to do an online backup I gave up on it. I'll look at it again but if I do, it'll be with a seeded backup. For now I'm going to try and setup Crashplan to do an offsite backup to my work computer that way I can seed the drive first. I'll lose the versioning but it'll be quicker and won't take a year for my initial backup.

How much data do you have and what's your Internet speed?

You might consider temporarily upgrading to a faster data plan to speed initial upload.

I have

mike_d wrote in post #17337712
How much data do you have and what's your Internet speed?

You might consider temporarily upgrading to a faster data plan to speed initial upload.

1.7 terabytes to upload and a 5mbs upstream. Not the fastest but even at that fastest 20mbps upload speed it would take quite a while.

flowrider wrote in post #17337705
After realizing how long it'll take to do an online backup I gave up on it. I'll look at it again but if I do, it'll be with a seeded backup. For now I'm going to try and setup Crashplan to do an offsite backup to my work computer that way I can seed the drive first. I'll lose the versioning but it'll be quicker and won't take a year for my initial backup.

Not sure if you're referring to seeding to an external drive and then shipping it to Crashplan but if you weren't referring to that, just thought you'd like to know it's an option.

http://support.code42.​com …test/Backup/See​ded_Backup

DGStinner wrote in post #17337870
Not sure if you're referring to seeding to an external drive and then shipping it to Crashplan but if you weren't referring to that, just thought you'd like to know it's an option.

http://support.code42.​com …test/Backup/See​ded_Backup

Thanks. I did know that as well and the cost is not really prohibitive but what I'm going to try first is seeding one of my drives at home on an external then taking it to work and using it as offsite remote storage.

I've been using them for quite a while, I did use the drive they send you for initial seeding, that was the main reason for me to go with them. I did not want to wait months for my files to be backed up. Was quick and easy and well worth the money IMO. I've not had to restore anything, but occasionally check it's all there and seems to be.

Other option you might consider is Amazon prime, it now offers unlimited online photo storage. No way to send a seeder disk though, as far as I know. But if you have prime, it's included in the price.

I also backup locally just to be sure. I doubt crashplan will suddenly shut down, but who knows. Amazon is probably a bit safer there, I doubt they'll go away anytime soon.

As they are offering services to Companies, I do believe they will be there for like forever.

Crashplan works well for me - much better than Mozy which doesn't back up files sometimes. I haven't had to restore.

Key to online backups is choosing what to backup. I don't back up my large raw images, they go onto hard drives which I store at friends houses. I do back up some jpeg conversions (my best images), financial information, etc.

tim wrote in post #17338753
Crashplan works well for me - much better than Mozy which doesn't back up files sometimes. I haven't had to restore.

Key to online backups is choosing what to backup. I don't back up my large raw images, they go onto hard drives which I store at friends houses. I do back up some jpeg conversions (my best images), financial information, etc.

Why not use Dropbox then? I don't imagine that rakes up too much space.