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Online Backup Feedback

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Deal Addict
Aug 25, 2006
3686 posts
1007 upvotes

Online Backup Feedback

Hey, does anyone currently use Crashplan? I see they have a decent plan for families where you can backup up to 10 computers. And it looks like you can set backups to last "forever". Seems like a good start. In short, what online backup services are others using here? I am leaning towards Crashplan.

Edited: Changed the title to focus more on Online backups instead of a specific provider.
11 replies
Deal Expert
Aug 22, 2006
31271 posts
17295 upvotes
A friend of mine accidentally his entire backup based on poor advice from Crashplan.
Also their dedup breaks things so you end up uploading slower.
http://networkrockstar.ca/

I'm moving away from online backups and deploying my own services since I have a fair volume of data and no one supports a useful protocol.
I'm about to go test Google Nearline because it's cheaper than Glacier but that's on my giant list of things to do.
Even then it's only going to be storing stuff like documents and not a 1:1 mirror.

Also if it's just a backup, you could pick up Amazon Cloud Drive. It seems to be popular over at /r/datahoarder
Deal Addict
Aug 25, 2006
3686 posts
1007 upvotes
death_hawk wrote: A friend of mine accidentally his entire backup based on poor advice from Crashplan.
Also their dedup breaks things so you end up uploading slower.
http://networkrockstar.ca/

I'm moving away from online backups and deploying my own services since I have a fair volume of data and no one supports a useful protocol.
I'm about to go test Google Nearline because it's cheaper than Glacier but that's on my giant list of things to do.
Even then it's only going to be storing stuff like documents and not a 1:1 mirror.

Also if it's just a backup, you could pick up Amazon Cloud Drive. It seems to be popular over at /r/datahoarder
I have heard a few stories of Crashplan losing all data as well. That is what is holding me back.

I cannot seem to find the desktop interface to view a demo of Amazon Cloud. And what happens to the files if they are deleted on the PC. I am looking for something like Crashplan where those files are kept forever if you choose. Not sure how any company can keep track of all this data as the years go by.

There is no clear cut winner for backups is there?

Add On: I may just have to live with Backblaze and know that I can only backup the files from my PC and not keep an archive of older HDD's from external disks. Who knows a way around this? Trying to figure out a relatively low cost way to back up things locally and on the cloud. Somehow, there must be a decent way to do this without needing too much tech knowledge and more expensive gear that needs to be overly maintained. Should I just do a re-install of WHS2011 on a new rig? lol
Deal Addict
Oct 29, 2004
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I've used CrashPlan for five years now with absolutely no problems. I've had to restore data and it worked great (slow-ish restore, but easy and no issues). Swapping to a new computer and adopting the old backup worked great too.

Not sure if people who've had problems are just not following instructions properly, or if I've been lucky... but I'm going to stay with CrashPlan when my year is up next month.

Don't use online backup as your ONLY backup though... no matter who you go with. Physical offsite backups are still important (though you can do these much less frequently when you have online backup).
Deal Expert
Aug 22, 2006
31271 posts
17295 upvotes
bowmah wrote: I cannot seem to find the desktop interface to view a demo of Amazon Cloud. And what happens to the files if they are deleted on the PC. I am looking for something like Crashplan where those files are kept forever if you choose.
Most of what I hear is people using 3rd party interfaces (mostly command line) to interact with Amazon Cloud Drive and Google Apps.
Not sure how any company can keep track of all this data as the years go by.
I'm more wondering how they do it financially.
There's been a couple ads on here for someone reselling S3 storage for ridiculously cheap.
The TL;DR was that anyone storing over 50GB actually costs them money.
At least with someone like Amazon or Google you're dealing with them directly as opposed to dealing with a 3rd party.
There is no clear cut winner for backups is there?
Everyone has their favorites, but there's no clear cut winner for me since I have very unique requirements.
What i wouldn't give for someone that has rsync for a good price....

Also strangely enough I've started using my house for backups.
My ISP gives me 100mbps downloads so I may as well use it.

Now with my city getting gigabit I may just start hosting my own.
Or start my own backup business with rsync.
It's not like I don't know how to house large volumes of data on a shoe string...
slim_shady wrote: I've used CrashPlan for five years now with absolutely no problems. I've had to restore data and it worked great (slow-ish restore, but easy and no issues). Swapping to a new computer and adopting the old backup worked great too.

Not sure if people who've had problems are just not following instructions properly, or if I've been lucky... but I'm going to stay with CrashPlan when my year is up next month.
I'm sure most people don't have issues, but it's how a company fixes those few people that DO have issues is what's key.
In the case above, my friend (which is who I call upon for tech support) can't figure it out, there's something wrong.
He also figured out why uploads were dog slow on CrashPlan and publicized a fix that actually worked.
Don't use online backup as your ONLY backup though... no matter who you go with. Physical offsite backups are still important (though you can do these much less frequently when you have online backup).
This.
This is also why I somewhat advocate the use of something like Glacier.
It's dirt cheap to store larger volumes of data but potentially bank breaking if you ever have to restore it.
But if you're in the situation where your local backups are toast and this is the last remaining copy of your data, you may be inclined to pay more to get it back.
Deal Addict
Aug 25, 2006
3686 posts
1007 upvotes
death_hawk wrote: Now with my city getting gigabit I may just start hosting my own.
Or start my own backup business with rsync.
It's not like I don't know how to house large volumes of data on a shoe string...
I have a feeling we spoke about this very issue a few months back... when I was also looking for an online backup plan of some sort. This is getting ridiculous. My best course of action may be to keep using WHS2011 for full backups as well as file backups. Then use Crashplan as an offsite. There may be no getting around NOT having a large server at home these days! I know for sure you will not be able to survive if that was the case lol
Sr. Member
Oct 9, 2006
715 posts
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GTA
I use BackBlaze. Seems to be good.
With Rogers Gigabit Internet, i was able to finish the initial upload of 330GB in about a day.
Deal Addict
Aug 25, 2006
3686 posts
1007 upvotes
It's between Blackblaze and Crashplan I think. Crashplan because there is a family plan for up to 10 PC's, keeps files forever. Backblaze seems to have less complaints about losing entire backup but they do not keep files forever. They have a few weeks or months where if you do not plug in your external drive, they delete those backups. Crazy!

I am actually a little skeptical about Crashplan's keeping data forever. You will get a few people where they will upload data from 10 PC's and expect to be able to retrieve that in the future. How can a company keep this type of service up?
Deal Expert
Aug 22, 2006
31271 posts
17295 upvotes
bowmah wrote: I have a feeling we spoke about this very issue a few months back... when I was also looking for an online backup plan of some sort. This is getting ridiculous. My best course of action may be to keep using WHS2011 for full backups as well as file backups. Then use Crashplan as an offsite. There may be no getting around NOT having a large server at home these days! I know for sure you will not be able to survive if that was the case lol
Oh probably. I stick my head in most storage threads with my strong opinions.
I've always been the type to "if I can't find it, I'll do it myself" and this has applied to backups as well.

For me, I have a location I can stick a server with decent download speeds so I'm just going to push what I need there.
It's not like I don't have a spare file server...
Nevyn wrote: I use BackBlaze. Seems to be good.
With Rogers Gigabit Internet, i was able to finish the initial upload of 330GB in about a day.
That's pretty bad actually. Only works out to about 30mbps.
Granted... that's still FAR above most peoples' upload speed.
bowmah wrote: It's between Blackblaze and Crashplan I think. Crashplan because there is a family plan for up to 10 PC's, keeps files forever.
I can't speak about anyone else, but I personally wouldn't care about the number of devices.
For me, everything important is stored centrally anyway so I only have to back up "one" computer since all my other ones are stored there.
Backblaze seems to have less complaints about losing entire backup but they do not keep files forever. They have a few weeks or months where if you do not plug in your external drive, they delete those backups. Crazy!

I am actually a little skeptical about Crashplan's keeping data forever. You will get a few people where they will upload data from 10 PC's and expect to be able to retrieve that in the future. How can a company keep this type of service up?
Yeah data retention seems to be a big thing.
This is why I'm tempted to use something like Amazon or Google's cloud offerings.
Deal Addict
Aug 25, 2006
3686 posts
1007 upvotes
death_hawk wrote: Yeah data retention seems to be a big thing.
This is why I'm tempted to use something like Amazon or Google's cloud offerings.
Data retention is important for me as well. With Amazon, their FAQ is pretty simplistic. Storing photos and video files and some data files. What if I want to dump other file types like .php . txt .m2ts etc...

If you do find out if Google or Amazon offers lifetime storage of backups, please do share.
Deal Expert
Aug 22, 2006
31271 posts
17295 upvotes
bowmah wrote: If you do find out if Google or Amazon offers lifetime storage of backups, please do share.
"Lifetime"

That said, Google or Amazon is going to have a FAR longer lifetime than some of these fly by night operations.
Not to say that Crashplan or Backblaze are fly by night (I'm referring to others) but it seems that you're far more "flexible" with your data with a pay per use provider than one that offers unlimited storage.
"flexible" in this case might mean backups of something not constantly plugged in, certain data types, UI, etc.
Deal Addict
Aug 25, 2006
3686 posts
1007 upvotes
death_hawk wrote: "Lifetime"

That said, Google or Amazon is going to have a FAR longer lifetime than some of these fly by night operations.
Not to say that Crashplan or Backblaze are fly by night (I'm referring to others) but it seems that you're far more "flexible" with your data with a pay per use provider than one that offers unlimited storage.
"flexible" in this case might mean backups of something not constantly plugged in, certain data types, UI, etc.
I agree. I am at the point where I am going to try to find a suitable online storage provider. I would love it if Amazon offered a similar plan to Crashplan. I would pay for that no questions asked.

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