Question about Carbonite, Mozy, and others

MikeFairbanks wrote in post #10057974
This might help: http://online-data-backup-review.toptenreviews.c​om/

Nice review. Mozy or Carbonite seem best for large data bases for private users.

This type of backup is a good third line defense. These servers are generally more secure then any home users system/method with multiple sites mirroring the data.
The password used and it's storage(if any) is another issue all together... nothing is foolproof or devilproof.

blackhawk wrote in post #10062456
...nothing is foolproof or devilproof.

Exactly. No one method is perfect. All will have their pros and cons, and even what is pro or con will vary depending on individual needs.

But I still like threads like these where people discuss what is good (or not) for them. It allows me to think about my needs, and maybe someone mentions an aspect that didn't occur to me but it would indeed be important. That's good. Helps insure I don't miss anything.

bkburns wrote in post #10062384
Mozy, which I use, has an option to have youre restore sent to you on DVD.

Hmmm, 500GB on DVD. That's a lot of disks, especially posted transatlantic.

photoguy6405 wrote in post #10062626
Exactly. No one method is perfect. All will have their pros and cons, and even what is pro or con will vary depending on individual needs.

But I still like threads like these where people discuss what is good (or not) for them. It allows me to think about my needs, and maybe someone mentions an aspect that didn't occur to me but it would indeed be important. That's good. Helps insure I don't miss anything.

Yeah, hindsight is so wonderfully clear... never can have too much data backup!
Ba-ha-ha-ha, "my laptop drive was my only backup"... sure don't ever want to say that!

meanwood_tom wrote in post #10056545
Not in a lossy way, no. I imagine they use alsorts of data dedupe magik, but you get back - byte for byte - what you put in.

Personally, i can't recommend mozy highly enough. Their support is absolutely stupidly good for $50/yr., and the product is great. Few minor niggles, but client side, which is where the potential for real pain lives, it is bang on.

Have you ever tried to do a restore from Mozy? Quite simply put, it doesn't work about 90% of the time, and you're stuck downloading chunks of 4GB archives which don't work half of the time or having them send you DVDs. This wasn't just my experience, snoop around Google a bit. I signed up with them, backed up about 10 GB worth of data and tried to do a restore and it just choked. It backs up just fine though.

I personally back up directly to Amazon S3. I pay a bit for storage; 15 cents/gig, but I control my data and I know I can get it back. JungleDisk is a product that'll do this as well and I'd recommend it.

Thalagyrt wrote in post #10067478
backed up about 10 GB worth of data and tried to do a restore and it just choked. It backs up just fine though.

Not much point to a backup service if you can't restore

Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode with the rental car reservation. They have no problems taking the reservation. But they can't seem to honor the reservation

egordon99 wrote in post #10067545
Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode with the rental car reservation. They have no problems taking the reservation. But they can't seem to honor the reservation

Any time you can whip in a valid Seinfeld analogy, then you have done your job well.

photoguy6405 wrote in post #10067599


Any time you can whip in a valid Seinfeld analogy, then you have done your job well.

It's a given that pretty much ANY situation that arises can "relate" to either a Simpsons or Seinfeld episode.

egordon99 wrote in post #10067622
It's a given that pretty much ANY situation that arises can "relate" to either a Simpsons or Seinfeld episode.

Pretty much.

I've restored a few bits - the web interface does choke on big data, true, but the other modes of access (virtual drive, or restore with the client are ok IME). Never had to restore huge amounts though.

There is no *perfect* solution, but bkburns has done a good job assessing things I feel - which of us are disciplined enough to use the USB-HD method, and still be protected from fire/flood/theft?

I signed up for Carbonite last year, and while starting the backup, I discovered (hidden in a FAQ file on their web site) that they only backed up the drives organic to the computer (ie-the "C" drive, and and second drive in the computer case itself, if you had one), and NOT any external (USB or Firewire) drives. This was a significant problem, since I kept program files on the "C" drive, and all data files on various external drives.

Needless to say, I was not happy, and cancelled my subscription. I bought a 1.5GB Firewire drive to back up the entire computer, and keep it in a fireproof safe. Problem is, I have been sorely lacking in the disclipline to actually drag it out and do the routine back ups. (This is where the on-line option really shines, since it keeps you backed up real-time, all the time). I would rather pay for an on-line service (even if over two years or so I could have purchased an external HD) and know that the data is always backed up. Hard drives fail too.

Having said this, I believe that Carbonate had plans to expand their back-up options to include external drives. I simply don't know if that has been done yet, and my experience is 1 year stale.

golfecho wrote in post #10069547
I signed up for Carbonite last year, and while starting the backup, I discovered (hidden in a FAQ file on their web site) that they only backed up the drives organic to the computer (ie-the "C" drive, and and second drive in the computer case itself, if you had one), and NOT any external (USB or Firewire) drives. This was a significant problem, since I kept program files on the "C" drive, and all data files on various external drives.

Needless to say, I was not happy, and cancelled my subscription. I bought a 1.5GB Firewire drive to back up the entire computer, and keep it in a fireproof safe. Problem is, I have been sorely lacking in the disclipline to actually drag it out and do the routine back ups. (This is where the on-line option really shines, since it keeps you backed up real-time, all the time). I would rather pay for an on-line service (even if over two years or so I could have purchased an external HD) and know that the data is always backed up. Hard drives fail too.

Having said this, I believe that Carbonate had plans to expand their back-up options to include external drives. I simply don't know if that has been done yet, and my experience is 1 year stale.

I think it is unreasonable to expect full backups of all storage including external drives for $50/yr. It would really get out of hand. It is pretty significant that I can conceivably backup all 2.5TB of my internal storage, though. They have to limit it somehow. Your use of external drives for all data is not their fault. I believe their new corporate targeted "Carbonite Pro" service will backup from external USB drives.

The beauty of this system is that you don't even have to think about it. Just set your target directory, and it updates the backup with any changes automatically in the background.

Guapo wrote in post #10069677
I think it is unreasonable to expect full backups of all storage including external drives for $50/yr. It would really get out of hand. It is pretty significant that I can conceivably backup all 2.5TB of my internal storage, though. They have to limit it somehow. Your use of external drives for all data is not their fault. I believe their new corporate targeted "Carbonite Pro" service will backup from external USB drives.

The beauty of this system is that you don't even have to think about it. Just set your target directory, and it updates the backup with any changes automatically in the background.

Will they limit files to 2 internal HDs, or is that just for auto backups?
With eight active SATA ports and more one 1 TB HDs... well you get the idea.

Agreed it isn't reasonable to let the system back up *anything* as some could be networked drives from other machines, and that would not help their business model. Mozy lets you back up external sources, but your backups will be deleted if they're not "seen" once every 30 days AFAIK.

meanwood_tom wrote in post #10073709
Agreed it isn't reasonable to let the system back up *anything* as some could be networked drives from other machines, and that would not help their business model. Mozy lets you back up external sources, but your backups will be deleted if they're not "seen" once every 30 days AFAIK.

So if you're mobile, and on the road without access to the main machine for more than a month, those files will be deleted?
Do you need two accounts then?