Beyond

Problems backing up all your files? Try this new online backup service from Backblaze.

A lot of people find online backup services rather problematic. Online or offline; only six percent of computer users make regular full daily backups. Even this author is guilty of only backing up a few times a week offline.

The reason is possibly that most backup services, with the exception of Acronis True Image and a few others, make the process of backing up, particularly online, a long and complicated issue.

Personally I’m currently using Carbonite for online backup. Nevertheless I still have to tell the program in some cases which files to back up. There were certain files that it didn’t back up by default when I started using it; some of them were common file types such as .docx (Microsoft Office 2007). It took a while to educate the program - Even now it doesn’t do a full backup as the program is written to ignore certain system folders.

Backblaze doesn’t itself backup every single file on your computer; for instance the Windows directory, Recycler, etc; which contains many locked folders which would necessitate a disk dismount/restart to access and would be unrealistic to copy in real time. Other than that type of file or folder; Backblaze does back up most every file on your computer, irrespective of its location on whichever hard drive. It also ignores files that are over 4GB in size; which may be a nuisance for those people using the NTFS file system - Though not a problem for FAT32 users.

Installation is fairly routine and simple: Once the software is downloaded it begins to back up files and folders in the background. One bonus with this service is that you can order a copy of your files on USB or DVD media from this California company - Useful if most of your files are generally static and are perhaps in storage on a second internal drive; but not a realistically viable proposition if you dynamically manually or otherwise update a lot of files on a regular basis.

As with Carbonite this program has a fairly simplistic and user-friendly UI. An advantage that it has over Carbonite is the ability to back up several computers using the same account; rather than having to open a separate account for each computer.

Also; as with all other online backup services, there is the problem of the relatively slow speed in uploading files to their data-centre. With the way that things are in today’s status-quo this is unavoidable

A disadvantage of this program over its Carbonite rival is the cost: At $5 a month; $60 a year, for unlimited backup of several computers it’s a bit pricey in comparison - Although there is the option of backing up several computers rather than just the one, although each comp will cost you $5 a month. For more information I suggest that you take a look at this demo and see what you think:-

https://www.Backblaze.com/launchv1

If you don’t currently have an online backup I suggest that you try out Backblaze’s 15-day trial. Please do drop by this page again and comment on your experience with their service. Alternatively you might like to post a comment on how it compares with your current online backup service.