Anybody using online backup?

Is anyone out there using online backup? Is it safe? How does it work? Any good companies out there? Thanks!

i'll assume this isn't a precursor to some spamming so will answer with my opinions.

nope and i never will, no security,no privacy, no guarantee you'll ever be able to retrieve it again either if they have problems.

much better off having 2 backups at home, cheaper too in the long run.



here's a link to an online backup review of a few different solutions. :- http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/online-backup

another:- http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2288745,00.asp

While cloud computing and storage may make sense for some businesses, I have never been attracted to and fail to see any benefit to the home computer and small business computer.

Sure, apps can run super-fast in the cloud, but those applications can be rented as and when needed and that isn't the same as entrusting some or all of your valued materials to the care of others. And while application use may be phenomenal, upload and download may not be.

My major objection to online storage:

Security
Speed
Expense

Security
Some of the early entries to Cloud backup providing service went out of business quickly after finding that they could not afford the server overhead.
Most gave customers adequate warning sufficient to retrieve their files, but some didn't. Bummer for users that lost out.

I've been unhappy with reports of major corporations performing their security development and testing in non-secured publicly rented cloud space.
Again, sure the apps can run super-fast, but the user may have little control over who else has access.

A couple of days ago ZDnet reported incidents of lost data caused by the owning company canceling the access of the user due to supposed violation of terms of use. Since the owner controls terms of use and actual use, there may be little recourse if you loose access to your stuff.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/why-you…860?tag=nl.e539

Speed
It may take hours and even a few days to back up all of your stuff to the Cloud, particularly because upload/download speed may be effected by the speed of your internet connection, the speed and robustness of the Cloud providers service, and the amount of traffic during your upload or download.

I can take a full hard disk .iso image backup locally in less than 25 minutes, and restore in even less.
I would not be willing to wait for hours or days to restore my materials in the event of local catastrophic loss.

Expense
For the cost of annual subscription, I may be able to purchase one or more local external HDs to accomplish the same purpose, and have the process under my own control at all times. Basic cloud storage size limits may provide limited backup and access, but many folks and certainly myself would have to purchase additional or premium service to accommodate full back up.
To expensive for me.

Is anyone out there using online backup? Is it safe? How does it work? Any good companies out there? Thanks!

At home on your PC, auto backup is the easiest thing in the world. Considering all the negitive points outlined by Doug and Terry, why even consider online backup "spin".

Set up your PC right !
1) Create two partions, a small one for your OS (30GB is plenty for any OS).
2) C: partition for your OS
3) D: partition for Data (backup). The rest of the space on your HDD.
4) Auto re-direct "My Documents" to D:
(Right-click on the "My Documents" desktop icon, go to "Properties > move…" and browse to the folder that you want to be your new "My Docs" folder (create one in D:), click OK, then it will ask if you want to move all your existing documents into this new folder or leave them where they are. Make your choice, click OK and you're done. Now your desktop "My Documents" icon will point to your new folder and auto re-direct to D: ) You will "see" and can use My Docs. on C: as normal, but it just won't really be there. It will all be all safe and sound on D:

Backup problem solved.

For a really secure backup (just in case your HDD goes belly up), regularly back up the D: "My Docs" folder to an external USB Drive..

Cheers,
Lee

PS edit:
Even if your whole Hard Drive is just one partition, it can be divided into two partitions without effecting your OS.
There is a free program called Easeus Partition Master (freeware) that has worked faultlessly on a heap of PC's here for me to create two partitions to set up as I described above. Available here.

it's not really a back up if it's on the same drive even if on a separate partition, lee. how would you get your data back if your pc was pinched? if you want to backup in your pc use a separate hard drive not a separate partition just in case your hard drive failed like you mentioned. i have 3 copies of my important data on 3 separate hard drives.(1 copy is of course on the hard drive with the os in the pc, 2nd is on a different hard drive in the pc and 3rd is stored away safely just in case the pc got nicked. ) i used to use 1 hard drive and dvd's for my backups but the data is to much now to realistically use dvd's any more.

Most people only have one car, one house, one wife, one pc and one HDD. OK, one wife is enough but 2 or 3 of everything else is better including an external HDD and no, I don't rely on one HDD. I have 2 in my PC and a couple of externals. For the average Joe / Jean with one only HDD on their one only PC, using a D: partition is safer than everything on C: The common PC HDD problem is a hosed OS, not a housed HDD ..and nor a PC blaze. No personal data on the OS partition is 99% safer than having it on the OS partition. If they want to go 100% safe, sure I'll give them all your advice Terry

agreed it's safer to have 2 partitions one for os and 1 for data, that's the way linux is usually installed, but that still doesn't make it a "backup" of your data, just a safer way to keep it on your hard drive.

Online backup services are a good way to have an offsite backup, but you must have a local backup too especially with large files because it might take several hours to recover your data in case of a hard drive crash. I use *************************************** , the service is reliable and not expensive.

many sites provide online back up but it would be best if u prefer your own country company

Hi aaiden william, and welcome to the WTT forums As your first post here has responded to a topic that is 6 months old and you have included an active link to a paid for on line back up utility in your forum signature…. I have removed the active link for you… Regards paws

Is anyone out there using online backup? Is it safe? How does it work? Any good companies out there? Thanks!

Well there are a lot of online backup companies now offerring good products, well is very easy to backup online, basically you have to dowload a software install it on the PC you want to backup, then it will give you an option to choose the folders with the files or data you want to protect and it will upload them as long as you have internet connection.

I started I with Norton, I bought this for my parents and myself. I opted for the Norton Backup Online because it allowed up to 5 PCs per account and 25 GB of storage. The amount of storage was not the issue for this setup but the # of PCs to keep cost down. The software works and backups up data online successfully. The problem is the online restore process is HORRIBLE. The website is very slow to respond and takes forever to navigate and is also confusing. Restoring data can take HOURS too. My mother's PC died and I started a restore of all of her data. It was not a large amount of data but it still took over 24 hours to get back because their data storage system takes forever to gather the data. This was not the only case of it being slow but every restore I've tried to do even if just a single recent file takes forever. I shiched to zenok online backup, because it doesnt slow my computer and the restore process is very easy to do I can even share my date to emails with other and get latest versions.

There are huges lists of online backup providors where you can find further information about it.