The Old Joel on Software Forum: Part 4 (of 5) - A halfway decent online backup

A halfway decent online backup

I've almost given up looking for a halfway decent online backup service. Basically, something that an individual can afford (read, less than $250/yr), yet doesn't do something stupid (like Connected.com, which, if you erase a file of your drive, assumes you don't want it anymore, and so erases the backups of it as well!), and doesn't look like it was set up by a couple of drunken hackers.

Anyone with any experience/recommendations?

anonymous
Sunday, March 21, 2004

$250/year is less than $25/month.

Your data is worth less than $25/month?

Philo

Philo
Sunday, March 21, 2004

Set up a P2P server, setting the root of the archive to the root of your directory structure.

.
Sunday, March 21, 2004

> Your data is worth less than $25/month?

If my data was worth $1,000,000/month it wouldn't follow that I'd want to spend $1,000,000/month on backup software.

Joe
Sunday, March 21, 2004

I have been using IBackup at http://www.ibackup.com for a couple of months now and am really pleased, less than $10 a month for half a gig of storage space.

Tony Edgecombe
Sunday, March 21, 2004

Um, connected.com's file retention policy:-

The most recent 10 versions of each file backed up are retained on the Data Centers for 90 days.
Files you delete from your computer are retained on the Data Centers for 90 days.
Files you de-select from your backup set are retained on the Data Centers for 7 days.

That sounds reasonable to me, although some level of configuration would be nice.

r1ch
Sunday, March 21, 2004

Err... well, I never would have guessed it, but the Slashdot affect has taken over this board as well. Four of the five responses were primarily bickering. I don't want to be number five, so:

Thanks, Tony, for the recommendation of IBackup. My concern with them is that their site is so poorly designed, and makes it so hard to find real info, that I'm a bit concerned about their product.

Things like:
How many versions do they store?
What happens if I delete a file locally?
Can they back up open files?
Can they burn a CD?

are almost impossible to find. (Maybe there buried in that annoying flash movie... someone should send these guys a link to alertbox.com)

Anyone have any expereince with http://firstbackup.com ? Their site seems to have a lot of detailed info. My only concern is that they are obviously a couple of offshorers who didn't think to hire a native English speaker proofreader, and we all know that sometimes those companies don't last that long.

anonymous
Sunday, March 21, 2004

I've used both XDrive and IBackup for my notebook, and they're both OK.

IBackup is very unobtrusive -- just use the Windows client app to mark what folders you want backed up, and it performs the backups automagically in the background. The web interface (for downloading or deleting backed-up data) is fairly good. My only quibble is that the Windows client app is rather clunky -- it feels like an old Windows 3.1 application. I never notice when it's performing the backups, other than noticing that my CPU utilization is a bit higher than normal.

XDrive has more features (like the ability to use drag-and drop copying to/from your archive from the Windows desktop), and feels a bit more polished. The downsides are that by default, it only backs up your data once per week, and when it's doing the backup it opens up a console window -- which I found annoying.

Overall, I prefer IBackup for basic set-it-and-forget-it backups, but both are fine. My advice is to compare several different services using their free trials.

Robert Jacobson
Sunday, March 21, 2004

Oh, regarding your questions, IBackup will retain files that you've deleted. (I just checked my archive, and see files that I deleted from my notebook months ago.) Don't know about your other questions.

Robert Jacobson
Sunday, March 21, 2004

I did a lot of research on this topic (online backup) and the best thing that i have seen is Novastor's.

This is the online service:
http://services.online-backup.com/index.asp

and this is the product (client&server) that you can use on your own server:
http://www.online-backup.com/index.asp

Speaking of Connected, I cannot belive that such a hack was considered the market leader- I have even saw it getting 5 stars from PCMag. That half-baked software was doing a complete HDD scanning everytime it was started. Highly unrecomended!

Cristian Cheran
Sunday, March 21, 2004

From the screenshots of firstbackup I can tell you that they are using Novastor's software (NovaWEB). So at least on this side you can be sure of- it doesn't solve the reliability and availability of their servers & network though.

Cristian Cheran
Sunday, March 21, 2004

I've used connected for a while now and generally like it. My only concern is I've had trouble figuring out whether connected has access to my data. I have a password and an encryption key but I'm not sure if they have copies of both on their servers.

backup user
Monday, March 22, 2004

> I've used connected for a while now and generally like it

Can you live with that startup hack called "scan-all-HDD"?

Cristian Cheran
Monday, March 22, 2004

I've been using @Backup for ages and have nothing but good things to say about them. I recommend them to all my clients, friends, and relatives.

http://www.backup.com/

Ron Porter
Monday, March 22, 2004

In response to the www.firstbackup.com service, I have actually used them for over a year. I am not sure what you mean by offshorers since they are actually based in IOWA! ( http://www.firstbackup.com/Company/Contact_Us/ ) I called their technical support a couple times and they actually spoke very good English that was based out of their Iowa office. I have had really good luck with them.

anonymous
Thursday, April 8, 2004

Hello, I am the person who developed most of the content for www.firstbackup.com. In our continued efforts to provide the best customer experience possible, please direct me to the pages you find english-challenged. I will be happy to make any necessary grammer or content improvements.

To address some of the issues raised: Yes, FirstBackup utilizes the NovaNet-Web Client/Server. By default, FirstBackup will leave deleted files on the server as long as you own your account. However, you can easily configure your client to automatically delete files off the server after 30 days. FirstBackup is highly configurable for complex networks and server environments, yet simple enough for Notebook and SOHO users. Although we would never access a subscriber's data, you can ensure total security by using the client-side Secret Encryption Key which is maintained ONLY on your computer and never transfered to us. FirstBackup utilizes the industry's best 448-bit encryption security for all data transfer and storage. Best of all, FirstBackup is much less expensive than the competition. Please contact us at 866.627.2722 or info@firstbackup.com or visit http://www.firstbackup.com/Product/Works/default.asp for more information. Our sales and support staff will work hard to earn your business.

Bob
Thursday, April 8, 2004