I have to admit: I tend to be rather careless with my data. But after experiencing a crash of a lifetime (when all my contacts, writing and documents got destroyed in a matter of seconds) I’ve realized one thing – this is not something to take lightly.
Having read an interesting article on LifeHacker the other day, I would like to share some of the most popular online backup tools.
So, without further delay, here they are:
If you go with the FREE plan, you will be able to perform local backups on your computer/home network/friend’s computer (if they also have CrashPlan).
There are no free introductory plans for online storage – the rate for unlimited personal account is $4.50/month.
Once you install Mozy it will back up any files you specify at the frequency you specify. Mozy can back up files while they are open. So if you are working on that important presentation and something happens – don’t worry. It will be packed up even while you are working on it. In addition to restoring all your files by downloading them, you can also order a backup on physical media for free.
Once you install the software, you will see a folder “My Dropbox” in the Documents area of your computer. Anything you put in the folder will be synced with your Dropbox account. All your files will also be accessible via the Dropbox website, which is great when you are using a computer where Dropbox is not installed.
Dropbox doesn’t have an unlimited option like the rest, but if you only want to backup important documents, it certainly works as off-site backup.
Jungle Disk takes a bit of a different approach to backup. Rather than offering a flat rate pricing for unlimited storage, Jungle Disk operates on a fee system. You pay $2/month per account plus a fee per GB of data used. A bonus for small-volume users is that you’ll pay less for small amounts of data and you’ll pay less per month than other backup solutions.
Carbonite have a simple pricing plan: $54.95 for a year of unlimited storage for a single computer. You can access your files through web when you are away from home and you can use Carbonite to back up all or some of your files at any time (but no hard copy option).