Online data backup reviews
Carbonite offers unlimited backup storage valid for a single computer at a good price, but choosing from one, two or three year plans will lower the cost even more.
The system´s performance does not slow down when backups are quietly running in the background.
This service offers a free 15 days trial where you won´t have to input your credit card to begin the trial.
One of his excellent features is the ability to perform automatic backups. By using the scheduler application, your system will be backed up at the time and date you want. You may decide to back up on hourly or daily basis if you need. Furthermore, you can also configure it not to run backups so that it would not use your Internet transfer speed when you are online.
Your data is highly secured with this utility as it encrypts the information twice before it leaves your computer. Data will remain encrypted when it gets to the servers and only you, and not even Carbonite´s staff can access it with a password that you create.
Restoring files is easy from any computer with internet access. It has recently introduced mobile device applications for Apple iOS, Android and Blackberry so that you can access specific files and email them to others.
There is abundant information available on their support site: FAQ, video, tutorials and knowledge base articles. Additionally, you will also be given access to phone and chat support.
Carbonite´s interface can be improved much more. They lack of very good features like file sharing, file archiving and sub accounts that other providers have.
While it has a good scheduler, it only backs up the most recent version of each file. Future versions might support file versioning and offer achieve folders so that you can preserve previous versions of files.
Another drawback with Carbonite is that it does not support backing up to external hard drives, USB drives or network drives. They seem to limit the user to backup to their servers only.
IDrive, unlike Carbonite, offers more than an unlimited option for backups. You can sign up for a 5GB free account which will not need any credit card to be activated, and then upgrade to a family plan with 500GB of space , which allows you to back up 5PCs using the same account. They have a policy where if you go over your storage limit, you’ll be charged 50 cents per MB per month. There is available an unlimited backup plan for one computer only at an affordable price.
On an overall, the backup tools are very solid, and the interface itself is clean and easy to use, similar to Windows 7 interface. However, first time users may prefer even simpler options.
Similar to Carbonite, IDrive allows users to easily schedule backups by the day, week and month, at whichever time of day they choose, including files on mapped drives such as external devices connected to your computer and network drives.
You can easily run a data restore from a specific time, and not just from the most recent backup, and even set up bandwidth usage which is useful for the computer not to slow down if it starts backing up while you are connected to internet.
With IDrive, you are limited to back up only one time every day, however, with a feature called “Continuous data protection”, which you can enable or disable as you please, you´ll be able to back up specific files (50MB and smaller) every 10 minutes if they are changed. This works as an incremental backup, and only applies to the computer itself and not mapped drives.
The service does not present any file sharing capability, however, the best feature of IDrive is the ability for file archiving allowing you to restore data from old backups no matter how long ago they were saved. You may access achieved files on any computer with an internet connection or from an IPhone, BlackBerry or Android; and as I mention these devices, there is a mobile application that lets you backup and restores contacts.
It also has an advanced versioning tool that will save up to 30 versions of a file, along with files deleted from your local hard disk drive for 30 days, so if you by accident deleted data, you can recover it.
IDrive will back up files that are open and in use like an Outlook data file. Also, if your connection to internet gets interrupted or your system gets restarted, the backup will not be affected.
If you sign up for IDrive Pro, you will be able to manage multiple individual accounts with a single account, allowing great availability to files and creating a more efficient data storage system. Beside this, you can set up the system to work through a connection via a proxy network.
Regarding support options, IDrive has a fairly good team which can be reached by phone, email or chat. Their site also contains user manuals, demo and FAQs which is broken down into specific help sections that would help you to find topics and answers to your concerns.
The subscription cost could definitely be more affordable since other similar online backup providers are cheaper than theirs.
SugarSync is a backup, file sync, and file sharing tool that students, consumers and businesses can use.
While this service has awesome futures, it is highly secure and very easy to use, you´ll need to sign up for a business account if you want phone support.
The backup service contains a scheduler to run backups automatically and set incremental backups that will only store new files and changes that have been made since your last upload.
It offers archiving capabilities where you can save numerous versions of your files and entire system so you can access previous versions in case of data loss.
One unique feature is that unlike other providers, data on several computers can be backed up to the same account.
With SugarSync when you upload the files they will be constantly synchronized and backed up to your account. Once the files are edited, the changes are backed up to their servers.
It automatically stores the previous five versions of every file available without additional actions from the user. If you upload pictures, they will be ordered into albums which will allow you to easily find and share them.
These and any files can be turned into public links which you can post online or email to friends. They will be able to download them using a direct link to your file without having to register with this provider. These links can be eliminated at any time. Entire folders can also be shared so that selected friends or coworkers can change or have access to certain data.
Changes to files can be synced with any web browser using the WebSync option on your account. File changes are also synchronized to your other devices once you have finished editing them, so you really don’t need to have a network set up, because it lets you sync the data with all devices, including computers, phones and mobile devices that are not connected to the internet or turned off. Once they come online the changes you have made from a different computer, phone or mobile device will be synchronized. This service works on MAC´s, PC´s and mobile devices.
Mobile applications are also available for Android, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Symbian and Blackberry, so you don’t have to store all media, photos and files on these devices, you can access them from your SugarSync account without you having to download them. Actually, you can stream to your music you have stored without downloading it.
You are offered several types of accounts. You can get started with a free 30 day trial, or choose 30,60,100 or 250GB storage space where you are able to save from 3,000 to 25,000 documents, from 6,000 to 40,000 pictures and from 6,000 to 30,000 songs. Additionally you may opt for 500GB storage space if you need even more space. Businesses can go for 100 GB for 3 users and can add more space and users when needed.
All your information is highly encrypted using 128-bit AES technology which is used by banks and financial institutions, and backed up to several data center facilities, which means that high redundancy is provided in the event of failure in one of these locations.
Data synchronization, file sharing and backup is made simple and flexible with SugarSync and they offer a great amount of tutorials, information and quick start guides for your learning. Additional inquiries can be attended to via phone, chat support, however they could add more customers if they offered better or cheaper phone support.
Mozy is part of EMC, which is the largest provider of data storage platforms in the world, and offers an unlimited backup space for home users to use with one computer, and another one for business users for multiple computers with a limit on data storage space.
You can access data backup with this provider from any computer in the world with an internet connection.
File sharing isn’t a strong feature of this provider, even though you can share files or download them onto any computer.
Their low costs seems to outstand over other providers, but achieved data is only kept on their servers for 30 days, so you are not able to restore your data from any point in time. Incremental backup is available such as with other providers which will let the system save changes to files that were edited since the last backup.
They have recently introduced mobile apps for iPhone or Android, but would need to widen their support to other devices to keep up with the competition.
Users can set automatic backups and choose to upload important files each time the computer is not in use, daily or weekly. Additionally you can configure it to reduce resources when the computer is connected to internet. That way a user will notice less that backups are running.
They provide 128-bit SSL encryption to your data, which is also password protected. If you need higher encryption, you can subscribe to MozyPro designed for business that use military grade 256-bit-AES encryption. Consumer uses would usually not go for this one.
You can begin with a free 2GB account to backup files an access them anywhere. Most people will go for this option and stick with it, unless they require more storage space. They have available a program for unlimited backup space.
On an overall, Mozy is easy to navigate, and a great option for backing up files online.
MyPC Backup includes several backup features such as automatic, incremental and selective backups so that the user can be more exact regarding the files they want to save. If while backing up the computer becomes unresponsive and needs to restart, or a power outage occurs the service will automatically restart the backup from the same place the error occurred and will continue backing up files.
MyPc Backup includes a nice scheduler which includes alerts to inform the user if backup completed successfully and if errors occurred. You´ll be able to back up data every hour, day week or month. All the data is saved on a history log which you can easily and quickly access.
Synchronizing files and folders between different systems is another feature included with this service. This way you can sync data from your business computer to another computer where you need to work from. Be aware that it will not be able to back up files that are opened, so you´ll have to close them before backup starts.
As many other online tools, it will allow you to gain access to data from any place by simply having a computer with internet connection. Furthermore, the service will let you work on files and folders even without having an internet connection. The changes made to these files will synchronize to the computer whenever the connection to internet becomes available again.
It also has applications for you to access your data with mobile devices such as Android, iPhone, Blackberry, however, there is sort of a limitation on these features since users cannot share photo albums neither can they set permission for certain users to see only specific files. The tool itself didn’t include a photo organizer where you can easily manage pictures and images.
Using MyPC Backup is save since they use encryption methods used by that banks. In fact, when backing up, files are not only saved to their secure servers, but also to a folder on the user´s computer.
They have no file size limit on documents you need to back up, and you can save music, movies, documents or any type of data. There is no restriction on the file type. You are also able to backup information on USB flash drives and external hard drives.
If you are a complete novice to computers or running backups, you might have to click here and there to fully understand the interface; however, it is very easy to use, especially for regular computer users. The backup will run very quick and can finish just within minutes. Obviously, the initial backup will take longer, but from there on, you can configure the system to do incremental backups.
Regarding support, they seem to have email support available, but would do great if they include chat and phone support. On their webpage you´ll find extensive knowledge base articles, frequent ask questions and video tutorials for your learning.
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