On the other hand, you can also decide to make backups of your photo material (as this normally is the biggest part of the backup) and only use the online backup for documents etc. I would suggest trying out Mozy, the free version and only backup those docs’

Richard

Anyway, the speeds where I live is to slow to upload GB of stuff

An online backup is NOT the same as backing up your computer once a week or so when you do not overwrite the old backup.

What I did not realize is that when I delete a file from my pc, this same file will also be deleted from the online backup after approx 30 days (that at least is the policy with Carbonite). Asking around learned me that this is rather standard procedure.

So if it is your idea that you will not loose files, that you need to reconsider this solution. If it is to have a backup in case your computer stops working GO FOR IT! It is fantastic.

Richard

I had a look at Mozy and a lot of other online backup progs as well and decided to use Carbonite.com. And up to today I LOVE it. We have had a few instances that we deleted files and once that a harddrive got corrupted, and in all instances we good get our data back.

Lessons learned:
(1) although I am not doing it (yet), a backup once a month or so on a harddrive would be helpful as it can take days to get your data back from the online services. Especially when you have a lot of data (like me) that you backup. I have all my photos etc also backuped.
(2) I am using as many online solutions as possible since that moment. I switched over to google apps for my email (instead of outlook). I am not using the excel and word version of google as I find it too slow.
(3) Do a ‘crashtest’ once in a while: sit before your computer and pretend that it is not starting up! What would be the impact? Which documents can you get to, can you get to your passwords etc etc. This is a real eyeopener for most people.

Richard

An external drive is certainly an option, but it’s important to keep a copy of your data off-site. Computer crashes are one thing, but a house fire or other unfortunate disasters would take everything on-site (computers and backup disks alike).

They weren’t able to troubleshoot and fix the issue at all?

It functions in the same way, automated, background backups. Plus it’s Mac compatible (like Mozy), which is a must for me

Another must have for me is to reliably back up just the changed components of files, something which I require as I keep all my sensitive data in a TrueCrypt volume (something others above may like to consider). This is a single file of around 2gb, generally only 2-300kb is changed on a daily basis and that is all that is backed up by JungleDisk.

I would recommend the following solution, to cover both your sensitive files, and also to ensure you have speedy access to your backup data (it’s not fun to have to wait to download your backups from a remote host…trust me!)

1) use Truecrypt to store sensitive files in an encrypted volume
2) use a local hard drive for automated local backups (I use Timemachine on OS X, for Windows, consider something like Robocopy)
3) use automated online backup such as Mozy or Jungledisk
4) sleep soundly at night

It’s GOOD to be paranoid when it comes to your data. Just use Mozy and 2nd hard drive back up system.

“I’m talking theft here. Seeing as they can essentially copy/download anything they please, how do you really know?”

The software loaded onto your PC is specific to that PC. That software encrypts the data and then uploads these files to their servers for storage. They use the same encryption technology that banks here in the U.S. use.

They can only access the files themselves NOT the data in them as the data is encrypted.

I mentioned in an earlier comment here that I upload everything to mozy that I deem “non sensitive”, which is most stuff. The remainder is backed up on external drives that I rotate and keep offsite. But then again … I’m not normal! LOL

Personally, I am VERY comfortable with Mozy as I’ve been using them for a little over a year now. A great convenience AND peace of mind.

As for “how safe is it?” … Lynn sums it up in her last comment.

Have A GREAT Week!

Rick Wilson aka CorpRebel

I dont usually keep sensitive information on my computer anyway, but you can always put it in a password protected directory and remove it from the backup option too.