Filed under: Internet, Security, Macintosh, Commercial
Carbonite launches online backup for Mac
by Brad Linder Mar 17th 2009 at 3:00PM
Here's how it works. For $54.95 a year, Carbonite provides you with unlimited online storage space to backup all the important files on your computer. At regular intervals, the program will scan the folders you designate and copy any new or changed files to the server. If you're using your internet connection to download files, watch online videos, or do other things, Carbonite will adjust its upload speeds so it doesn't interfere with your other activities.
In the event that your computer crashes, or if you need to recover some files you accidentally deleted, you can use Carbonite's tools to restore the data to your Mac.
Carbonite isn't the first service to offer online backup for Mac users. Mozy also has a Mac client which offers up to 2GB of storage space for free, or unlimited storage for $4.95 per month (or $59.40 per year).
[via Yahoo!]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
DAJ said 3:30PM on 3-17-2009
All these services are great, but for the average user at home the upload speed of your internet connection is far slower than the download speed. I currently have a 20Mb download and 1Mb upload. To backup my Mac would take a couple of days the first time!
Reply
Brad Linder said 3:34PM on 3-17-2009
Yup, that's exactly how long it takes. But after your first backup, daily backups are incremental, meaning it can be done in just a few minutes or hours depending on how many changes there have been to your data.
THJ said 4:25PM on 3-17-2009
Yeah, my first Mozy backup took nearly a week over 15/2 internet. Granted, I probably didn't need 500 gigs of video to be backed up in the cloud.
Peter said 6:10PM on 3-17-2009
Mozy caps their uploads at 1 Mb anyway, so a faster upload speed is kind of irrelevant.
Mysterius said 7:32AM on 3-18-2009
> "Mozy also has a Mac client which offers up to 2GB of storage space
for free, or unlimited storage for $4.95 per month (or $59.40 per
year)."
Only if you pay for the year month-by-month. If you sign up for a
year, you get a month's worth free, or 3-months free if you sign up
for 2-years.
Which works out to $54.45/year for unlimited storage, or $51.975/year
if you sign up for 2 ($103.95 for 2 years).
On the other hand, Carbonite offers $54.95/1-year, $99.95/2-years, or
$129.95/3-years.
So, overall, Carbonite is somewhat cheaper over the long term but Mozy is cheaper in the short-to-medium term and has more flexible pricing.
I only use Mozy's free service myself. While Carbonite provides a 15-day trial, Mozy's free 2GB is enough for all the files I want to back up on this computer, though I've since vastly increased the storage limit through referrals. Mozy's feature-set is also a bit superior, IMHO, though the two are pretty comparable.
Carbonite 15-day trial: http://www.carbonite.com/
Mozy 2GB free sign-up: https://mozy.com/registration/free
Mozy 2.25 GB free sign-up (via referral): https://mozy.com/?code=SAXV67
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Alicia Raye said 2:58PM on 3-24-2009
Unfortunately Carbonite just lost data for 7500 customers.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/23/online-backup-company-carbonite-loses-customers-data-blames-and-sues-suppliers/
I personally use http://www.myotherdrive.com for all my online backup and my online file sharing.
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EilisW said 12:23PM on 3-25-2009
Can Carbonite survive a computer disaster?
I don't know! I prefer Memopal because:
-I can have several computers for a single account!
-If a file is deleted from my PC I can sleep peacefully, Memopal takes care of my file forever!
http://www.memopal.com/en/easter.htm
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ryanbr said 7:59AM on 4-01-2009
I also heard about the Carbonite fiasco, though I wouldn't blame all online backup businesses for insecurity for that matter.
I prefer Remote Backup by Novosoft for their advanced security, for the ease of use, and for 24h support. But I am not this over confident as the Carbonite customers, because I take care of my local backup as well. Cheap DVDs are well suited for this. They can generally keep my data secure for several years, and then I can switch them for new ones or get cheaper by then multigigabyte flash drive.
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