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tech: Online backup services

Making sure your data is safe should be a priority for everyone watching. This latest breed of services handles all your data and sticks it securely, encrypted, online - with the minimum of hassle. In this episode, I’m looking at:

Mozy
Jungle Disk
.Mac

Al of these services have different good and bad points - watch the show for my take.

Cheers!

-Wil

comments

February 18th, 2008 - 2:34pm

Online backups are fine - but with UK upload speeds being slower than a snail on benzos I’ll stick to my USB drives :)

February 18th, 2008 - 6:49pm

I just wrote an article about these programs, along with Carbonite as well as Xdrive.

I’m currently using Xdrive to back up my crucial data, since it offers the first 5gigs of storage for free.

read the whole article here:
http://raad.wordpress.com/2008/02/13/xdrive-free-and-easy-automated-online-backup/

February 18th, 2008 - 11:50pm

For all online backup and storage related info, I recommend this website:

http://www.BackupReview.info

February 20th, 2008 - 11:14am

X Drive is also great as you are not restricted to the size of the file upload. It’s a great way for me to send video files of my daughter to my sister :)

Timbo
February 23rd, 2008 - 3:02am

Great info. I’ve been toying with the idea of getting into one of these services myself. Thanks for the rundown.

Incidentally, I love your wallpaper, Wil. Where did you get it?

kEENbLADE
March 19th, 2008 - 2:25am

Hey Wil, I’m with Timbo - who is that cute anime girl on the computer desktop in this episode? Where can I get it?

Richard Campbell
June 24th, 2008 - 7:53pm

Sadly I know that Anime character - she is from Neon Genesis Evangelion “Rei Ayanami” - do a google search for Evangelion images and you will find the original.

June 25th, 2008 - 8:58am

I discovered a Memopal (www.memopal.com) “cutting edge solution for online
backup”

They merged online backup, online storage and file sharing services into one product.

June 30th, 2008 - 11:30pm

You for get dropbox!!!! It is in private beta but if you want an invite, I can spare

http://www.gabejacobsblog.com/dropbox-online-storage-at-its-best-invite-giveaway

Schmung
July 1st, 2008 - 12:34am

hmm, since this seems to have come alive again, I guess I’ll comment. What worries me about these services is not so much privacy, but reliability. I had a major data loss issue a few years ago and after a fraught night managed to recover most of it from my HDs and have subsequently become a bit more careful.

Do any of these services guarantee how and where your data is stored? Is it mirrored at multiple sites etc etc

15 cents a gig and the other prices quoted are insanely cheap - I realise we’re dealing with things on a rather large scale here, but I do wonder about the resilience of the storage being used by these guys for that sort of price. There’s also the issue of accessing it - do they limit you on the amount you can transfer etc etc? Even more worrying is the download cap and traffic shaping that a lot of IPS are implementing. Unless you’re on unlimited broadband then you’re going to get stuffed when you’re restoring anything and if your ISP shapes this traffic then I’m thinking it’ll take hours and hours to do anything.

Honestly, it’s a nice idea, but I worry about the practical issues involved. Investing in a second hard drive and having it RAIDed or in an external case is certainly pricier, but it seems like the better solution to me.

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