I am looking for a hard drive auto backup to cloud and retrieval software for my mac. Someone recommended Carbonite. Wanted to check with Ozbargainers about other alternatives and suggestions.
I see people recommending DropBox or Backblaze. I am aware of both of them. But I am unsure if they provide automatic backup and retrieval similar to Carbonite.
Thanks I forgot to mention I am running mac
Don't Macs have built in backup software called Time Machine or something like that?
As far as I know, Time Machine allows to back up only on a local storage. I would prefer to automatically backup on a cloud that I can access anywhere. I am unsure if Time Machine offers a cloud service. There is icloud but needs manual intervention.
You didn't mention cloud in your original post. Nor that you had a Mac :-)
Dropbox :)
Carbonite kind of services provide auto-backup, retrieval and many other features. Dropbox or icloud kind of storage services don't provide those features as far as I know.
Dropbox backs up instantly
Backblaze.
Does it provide auto backup? I need to check.
Yes.
GoodSync might be a good option for you. Works with your own cloud storage too like Dropbox, S3 etc.
Arq with Wasabi
FYI Wasabi storage founders are the Carbonite folks.
https://forum.duplicacy.com/t/comparison-duplicacy-borg-rest…
The best backup solution is always the simplest one.
And of the ones you review, the most important aspect is security.
As TimeMachine is built in and the most simple, and dove-tails with supported OS recovery methods, it is usually the best. But TimeMachine also works seamlessly, plus screwing up the configuration is hard, even for novices. All these aspects are common pitfalls for many back solutions.
So when the time comes that you want to restore, you can do so across OS versions with full vendor support, and local recovery reduces downtime. Also supports full encryption. No Internet connection required to run, either.
If you want to be super-safe, maintain two time machines shares/drives with a different cadence, in case one does fail when you need it most. Easy to do by only making one drive/fileshare available to your computer at a certain time once a month or so. As soon as your computer finds it, it will begin the backup.
This way, if you and your regular backup become crypto-locked in the meantime, you will have a recent backup to return to.
Also, as it does not go over the Internet, require Cloud service, proven present and future security 'at the provider' and at your ISP, it should be at the top of your list.
Apparently Backblaze will do what you want but from what I found you need to go via a NAS.
https://help.backblaze.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000045853-Ho…
Can't advise on any more detail than that link as I do not have any of tha hardware in that link but it is somewhere to start for you.
Cloud solutions have a long way to go. At the moment most people just use the cloud for documents and perhaps photos in the main. I think OP is seeking an offsite “time machine”
Option at an affordable price which is not yet mainstream. It should be.
Exactly. Carbonite seems to do that. I wanted to know other alternatives from Ozbargainers.
Crashplan, you can set to run backup/upload check every few min (mine is every 15min)
also..
Backblaze will delete files that are no longer on your HDD after 60 days? or 30 days.
Crashplan can keep deleted files forever.
definitely NOT cheap as it's $10USD/month now.
Some feedback on Crashplan and Backblaze….
- Mac
- Used Crashplan for 4+ years… then changed to Backblaze for about 6 months now..
Reason for moving from Crashplan to Backblaze:
- Upload throughput is slow compared to Backblaze
- Crashplan higher cost USD $10 vs $5 per month
- One drawback for Backblaze: If you attach external drives to your Mac and backup those drives to Backblaze, need to re-attached at least every 30 days… otherwise deleted. There is a extra charge to increase this limit of 30 days to higher…
Other things to consider:
Crashplan: Australia data centre
Backblaze: US or Europe only
Perfect. This is very useful. Crashplan is a bit expensive nearly 200 AUD per year. Will check out Backblaze. Is there a flipside of having the data in US or Europe?
Have only used US one.
Not sure on Europe one.
The gold standard for me is Clonezilla, it has never failed, but it requires rebooting and is thus inconvenient. It can be automated with some procedures but it's a little technical. The ideal way to do it is using FOG Server but this is highly technical.
Windows has very good backup tools built in:
Control Panel -> Windows 7 Restore allows you to make system images + backup files. The advantage of this over Clonezilla is that you can retrieve files (rather than restoring the whole image to get a file), it's easily automated and it doesn't require rebooting.
Settings … File history backs up files with versioning much like Apple's Time Machine.
Make sure you have a Windows Recovery Disk.
I use Windows backup by scheduling a backup at 4AM everyday and setting the computer to wake at 3:55AM using the BIOS RTC alarm. I also use Clonezilla because I don't trust Windows but to be fair it hasn't failed me yet.