Big Cache for Small Cash With Online Data Storage

07 Jan 2007 5:13 (Edited: 07 Jan 2007 5:13)

If there is one New Year's resolution even more likely to fail than "I vow to lose weight," it's "I vow to start backing up my computer."

After all, setting up and remembering to use a backup system is a huge hassle. The odds are good that you don't have an up-to-date backup at this very moment. Fortunately, 2007 may turn out to be "The Year of the Backup." Both Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Latest News about Microsoft and Apple Computer (Nasdaq: AAPL) Latest News about Apple have built automated backup software into the latest versions of their operating systems; both make their debuts this year.

At the same time, an option that was once complex, limited and expensive is suddenly becoming effortless, capacious and even free: online backups, where your files are shuttled off to the Internet Free How-To Guide for Small Business Web Strategies - from domain name selection to site promotion. for safekeeping.

Online backup means never having to buy or manage backup disks. You can have access to your files from any computer anywhere. Above all, your files are safe even if disaster should befall your office -- whether it's fire, flood, burglary or marauding children.
Inexpensive Alternatives

As it turns out, the Web is seething with backup services wooing customers. Most of them, however, offer only one or two gigabytes of free storage. You can pay for more storage, of course, but the prices have traditionally been outrageous. At DataDepositBox.com, for example, backing up 50 GB of data Free Trial - Way Beyond CRM � Learn how Landslide can help you. will cost you US$1,200 a year.

Nobody yet offers unlimited free storage; but lately, some have gotten a lot closer. Two companies -- Xdrive and MediaMax -- offer as much as 25 GB of free backups; two others -- Mozy and Carbonite -- offer unlimited storage for less than $55 a year.
Xdrive: Set It and Forget It

Xdrive, owned by AOL, offers 5 GB of free storage. It is polished, easy to use and as fully fledged as they come. Right on the Web site, you can back up entire lists of folders at a time, a method that works on Macintosh Latest News about Macintosh, Windows or Unix.

If you use Windows, however, an even better backup system awaits. You can download Xdrive Desktop, a full-blown, unattended backup program. It quietly backs up your computer on a schedule that you specify, without any additional thought or input from you.

Better yet, a new disk icon appears on your PC that represents your stuff on the Web. You can open and use its contents as if it were an ordinary, if slowish, hard drive. A Mac version of Xdrive Desktop is in the works.

As a bonus, you can share certain backed-up folders so that other people can reach them from their Macs or PCs -- if they sign up for their own free Xdrive accounts. You can view your backed-up photos as an online slide show, or organize and play your backed-up music files right on the Web page. Upgrading your storage to 50 GB costs $100 a year, which is not such a good deal. However, if your Documents folder fits into 5 GB, then congratulations -- you've got yourself a free, effortless, automatic backup system. Happy New Year.
Carbonite: $50 Gets as Much as You Want

Carbonite is a pure backup play; there is no folder sharing, photo viewing or music organizing. The Windows-only backup software is completely automatic and stays entirely out of your way, quietly backing up whenever you are not working. You get no free storage and the service costs $50 a year. However, you do get something that few others offer: an unlimited amount of backup storage. Carbonite is aimed at nontechnical users. It is sold in places like computer and office supply stores and is the easiest online backup software to use.

At the moment, Carbonite does not back up individual files that are larger than 2 GB. It also does not back up pieces of files, so if your 500 MB Outlook e-mail Email Marketing Software - Free Demo database changes, the whole database must be backed up again. Finally, there is no Macintosh version. The company stated that a version due in April will wipe out all three of these drawbacks.
Mozy: 30-Day Grace Period

In many regards, the recently introduced Mozy is a Carbonite copycat. The price is $55 a year, storage is unlimited, an automated background Windows program keeps your PC continuously backed up and a Mac version is planned.

Mozy, however, offers 2 GB of backup at no charge. If you're willing to do the company's marketing for it, you can nab another free gig for every four people you persuade to sign up. Mozy is more flexible too -- and more technical. For example, it can already back up only changed portions of files. You can specify times and dates for backups, instead of having only the continuous option, as on Carbonite. You can view 30 days' worth of backups, too, a feature that prevents you from deleting a file from your PC accidentally and then finding its deletion mirrored in your latest backup.
Mediamax: Big Bytes, Bare Bones

Talk about value. How does 25 GB of free storage strike you? Mediamax began life with an emphasis on organizing and sharing photos, video and music -- which it still does well. In addition, however, its new Windows backup program -- now in beta testing -- adds automated unattended backups of everyday computer files (just like its rivals). It's pretty bare-bones. For example, it offers no continuous real-time backup, no choice of weekdays -- only a "Back up every __ days" option. You can back up folders only, not individual files or file types.

In times of disaster, Mediamax will give you your files back but won't put them in their original folders. More important, the free account lets you download or share only 1 GB of data a month. That pretty much means that to restore your hard drive after a crash, you would have to upgrade to a paid account.
Data Lasts Only as Long as the Company

There are some disadvantages to all of these services. One of them is time -- even with a high-speed Internet connection, the first backup literally can take days to complete. Maintaining your backup is much faster, of course, because only new or changed files are uploaded to the Web. However, if disaster ever strikes, retrieving your files can also take days.

Then there is security. All four companies insist that your files are encrypted before they even leave your computer. However, if you still cannot shake the image of backup-company employees rooting through your files and laughing their heads off, then this may not be the backup method for you.

Corporate longevity may be a more realistic worry. Since the Internet itself is very young, no Web-based outfit has a particularly impressive track record. Any of these services could be discontinued or sold at any time, which makes it wise to make the occasional on-site backup, too. In any case, the main thing is to have some kind of backup. After all, there are only two kinds of people: those who back up their computers, and those who will.

Big Cache for Small Cash With Online Data Storage

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