Backblazeīackblaze has long been one of the more popular cloud backup services, offering useful features at affordable prices. Extra space is $2/month per 20GB, extra devices are $2/month each. (2) Mozy has two options: a 50GB storage limit for 1 device, or 125GB for three devices. (1) Carbonite also has a “Prime” plan, but the extra feature (sending you a hard drive to speed up large restores) isn’t worth the $150 annual cost for most travelers. Only backs up certain file types by default Paid service, and depends on data center location.Ĭan receive a drive for faster initial backup (“seeding”)? Paid service, but reimbursed if drive returned. Yes, if on external drive disconnected for 30+ daysĬontinuous (but can be slow to pick up changes)Ĭan manually control resource usage (CPU, bandwidth, etc)? Yes, if on external drive disconnected for 30+ days, or after six months of no backups Yes, kept for up to 90 days (Windows only) Partial (just operating system and apps, Windows only) Windows, Mac, Linux, browser, iOS, Android It’s a little complicated, but I guess that’s the nature of these kinds of products. So, to start with, I put together a matrix of the aspects that matter to at least some travelers to see how each service fared against the others. Features that are vital for one person may be irrelevant to someone else. We all use backup software in different ways, and the needs of a professional travel videographer are very different from those of someone who takes a few photos on vacation each year. Backblaze vs Mozy vs Carbonite vs Crashplanīackblaze vs Mozy vs Carbonite vs Crashplan If you’re just after the recommendations, you can skip to the end. I wanted real-world rather than best-case tests, so these suited my needs perfectly. Similarly, my laptop is approaching three years old, so it runs fine but isn’t the latest and greatest. At 13Mbps download / 4Mbps upload, the speeds were acceptable but not high. My internet connection was about what you’d expect to find in a decent hotel while traveling. While doing so, I also tracked how easy the software was to sign up for, download, install, and use, on both desktop (Windows 10) and mobile (an Android phone). I then selected a 1.7GB subset of approximately 1000 files from the backup and measured how long they took to restore. In each case, I measured how long it took for the backup to complete as well as the system resources consumed in the process. To that end, I created a set of roughly 20,000 photos, videos, documents, and other files totaling around 10GB in size, and used each of the apps to upload them to its company’s servers. I discounted other services that were too limited, too expensive, or offered fewer features for the money than the competition.Ĭomparing features is one thing, and I do that below, but I needed to properly test the services as well. I did some digging, ultimately settling on three other contenders. With competing products as little as half the cost, are the benefits of Crashplan worth the money? Is there a more affordable service out there that fits the needs of travelers just as well? That’s expensive, especially since for most individual customers there’s nothing extra in the Small Business plan that benefits them. After that, though, or for new users? It’s ten bucks a month, per device. The company is offering a sweetener to entice customers to switch to a Small Business plan, knocking 75% off the price for a year after their current subscription runs out. Depending on how long was left on their subscription, Home customers had between two and fourteen months to find an alternative.Īfter that? Their data would be deleted off the company’s servers, and in October next year, the app will stop working entirely. Effective immediately, it was switching focus to the more lucrative business market. Last week, however, the company dropped a bombshell. Crashplan Home offered the best combination of features and price, and I’ve been using and recommending it to travelers for years. Until recently, it was easy for travelers to choose a cloud backup service.
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