Online Data Backup - a good idea for personal use?

[basketb]

I just came across this Lenovo blog that talks about an online backup solution from Lenovo based on an EMC offering. (For anyone not wanting to read through the complete blog, here is the direct link to the Lenovo offering). Though geared towards small businesses, to me this seems also "perfect" for personal use (max $100 for unlimited storage for one year, less if your max storage is 50GB, 25GB or only 10GB). The major advantage I see is to have a(n easily accessible) backup outside of my home (i.e., it works while traveling, as well as in case there is a catastrophic event at home destroying all equipment).
What do people think? What other alternatives are out there? (I've to admit, I didn't do any google search for alternatives).

[Marin85]

Hm, looks indeed very interesting... Yet, depending on one´s paranoia level, one might have privacy concerns...

Marin

[dsvochak]

With the current state of software and the cost of backup media, recovering from a “catastrophic event” at home or on the road is significantly easier than it once was.

When, for example, for less than $100 one could carry around a duplicate hard drive, I’m not sure on line storage has any advantages in the event of a catastrophe on the road. Similarly, backing up onto a couple of hard drives in external enclosures which are placed in a bank safe deposit box covers a catastrophe at home.

The trick is to do the backups on a regular basis. There are insurers offering a reduction in premiums for “off site” storage of backups, particularly where the backup is an automatic system. If an online backup solution includes automatic backups, it may be worth the money.

[mpcook]

I am using Jungle Disk which is a front end to Amazon Web Services (their cloud). It is very simple to use, and very inexpensive. I have about 10 GB online for under $2 per month. I do daily backups to an external drive, then weekly to AWS via Jungle Disk. The software has good backup capabilities including backing to/from multiple computers. Once you get through the first complete backup, updates are fairly quick.

Mike

[basketb]

With the current state of software and the cost of backup media, recovering from a “catastrophic event” at home or on the road is significantly easier than it once was.

When, for example, for less than $100 one could carry around a duplicate hard drive, I’m not sure on line storage has any advantages in the event of a catastrophe on the road.

The most catastrophic event while being on the road that can happen is that the laptop (and any external drives) are lost (stolen, taking a dive in the water, dropped, etc.). So I do see an advantage in having a backup that is fairly easily accessible, yet not physically with you.

Similarly, backing up onto a couple of hard drives in external enclosures which are placed in a bank safe deposit box covers a catastrophe at home.

Yes, but considering the time it takes to drive to the bank compared to pushing a button at home, I'd choose the latter.

The trick is to do the backups on a regular basis. There are insurers offering a reduction in premiums for “off site” storage of backups, particularly where the backup is an automatic system. If an online backup solution includes automatic backups, it may be worth the money.

If I understood Lenovo's offering correctly, it allows for automatic backups.

I am using Jungle Disk which is a front end to Amazon Web Services (their cloud). It is very simple to use, and very inexpensive. I have about 10 GB online for under $2 per month. I do daily backups to an external drive, then weekly to AWS via Jungle Disk. The software has good backup capabilities including backing to/from multiple computers. Once you get through the first complete backup, updates are fairly quick.

Mike

Thanks for the pointer to Jungle Disk. I'll check it out.

[hart22]

Try this comparison site also:

http://online-storage-service-review.toptenreviews.com/

Lists a ranking of their top 10 online storage/backup solutions. I like Mozy, which offers unlimited space for $4.95 per month.

They offer a 2 GB service for free, in case you want to try before you buy.

P.S.: Upon further research it seems like Mozy is also an EMC-based company. Given that a yearly unlimited account, when paid upfront, costs ~50% less than the Lenovo-EMC option with applicable discounts and coupons, Mozy seems like a better alternative. And online reviews seem to give it the edge as well.

[mattbiernat]

im suprised nobody mentioned MS skydrive - 25GB of storage for free.

[Marin85]

I guess online backups also require some good internet connection... I can well imagine backing up 300+ GB music and 200+ GB e-library with my somewhat unstable wireless connection that maxes out at 92 KB/s for upload