# Carbonite - Anyone use, or similar service?



## dshu82 (Jul 6, 2007)

Recently consolidated computers in my house, moving my new wife's data, etc. from her old PC to my iMac. Now I think I should start thinking about backing up regularly, as we have quite a bit of information, music, etc. between us.

Web based like Carbonite, buy Hard Drive, both?


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## Greg Alsobrook (Apr 2, 2007)

If you're using a Mac, no reason not to use Time Capsule. Does complete and hourly incremental backups. Makes rolling back for any reason a breeze. I purchased an external 1TB drive to hook to my Airport Extreme for all of my Macs to back up to. It required a small command line "hack" to get the drive to show up as a backup destination, but overall very simple. It's something you set up one time and forget about. If you're only backing up the iMac, just hook it directly to it.

As far as offsite backup services... I definitely did my due diligence on this not too long ago. As far as I see it, there are two major players. Carbonite and Mozy. They both run about $50/year... They both offer unlimited storage space... They both use serious encryption... But only Mozy will allow external hard drives to be backed up as well. (I'm not talking about the one connected to the Airport Extreme... I also have an external USB drive hooked directly to the iMac). So if you have an external hard drive hooked to the computer you want to back up, go with Mozy. If not, either one would be just fine.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

Depends on your data. How personal is it? Financial records? Business records? Family photos?

I'd go with an external HDD or two. If the data is really sensitive and valuable, make at least two backups and store one in a bank safety deposit box.

I would not trust a third party on-line backup service.


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## rudeney (May 28, 2007)

SayWhat? said:


> I would not trust a third party on-line backup service.


Why not?


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## phat78boy (Sep 12, 2007)

I would go with an external HDD as others have mentioned. I would also recommend a Windows Home Server if you have a few machines you need to back up.


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## phat78boy (Sep 12, 2007)

rudeney said:


> Why not?


What do you know about the company other then you pay them? You have no insight into how they perform backups, where they store backups, encryption used on storage, who has access to the servers, etc.

Some may call it paranoid, but after talking to a few people who have had their identity stolen or credit ruined.....it is not something you ever want to go through.


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## Greg Alsobrook (Apr 2, 2007)

phat78boy said:


> What do you know about the company other then you pay them? You have no insight into how they perform backups, where they store backups, encryption used on storage, who has access to the servers, etc.
> 
> Some may call it paranoid, but after talking to a few people who have had their identity stolen or credit ruined.....it is not something you ever want to go through.


I think this is a bit of overkill. I'm with you though. I'm the paranoid type. But let's consider a few things.

First off, both companies disclose their encryption methods. Both use 448-bit Blowfish and then transport the data over a 128-bit SSL tunnel. It's double encrypted before it ever leaves your computer, and is never unencrypted unless you restore it to your computer. Both also offer the ability to create your own encryption key, instead of using their supplied one. Of course, if you lose it, the data is history though.

Secondly, how often do you hear about this sort of data being compromised? You don't really. And Mozy is owned by EMC... a _huge_ player in corporate backup solutions. The worst you hear about is the data being lost. HDDs crash. Stuff happens. But unless you're totally unlucky, you would still have your data at home, and could just re-back it up once their services are back up and going again.

I would consider this much more safe than giving your credit card to the 18 year old server at Olive Garden to pay for dinner.


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## Ken S (Feb 13, 2007)

We have used www.backup.com for many years and it has been great. It's now owned by Symantec.

Very simple to use and the 30 revisions of your backups it keeps can be lifesavers.


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## phat78boy (Sep 12, 2007)

Greg Alsobrook said:


> I think this is a bit of overkill. I'm with you though. I'm the paranoid type. But let's consider a few things.
> 
> First off, both companies disclose their encryption methods. Both use 448-bit Blowfish and then transport the data over a 128-bit SSL tunnel. It's double encrypted before it ever leaves your computer, and is never unencrypted unless you restore it to your computer. Both also offer the ability to create your own encryption key, instead of using their supplied one. Of course, if you lose it, the data is history though.
> 
> ...


You are more then likely correct and I'm not one to tell someone their life will be ruined should they use it, but if you ask me about backing up....I'll tell you to do it yourself.

My issue with offloading your data is you trust them and their software to do what they say they will do. So with that mindset, do you know how they do backups? Do you know what happens when they need to add more HDD space? What happens if the client side software on an update or mistake disables encryption? What happens if the server side because of an upgrade stops encryption? Being "in the business", I see it way too much for my taste. Take for instance how T-Mobile and Microsoft just lost everyone's data for every sidekick out there.

With all that said, I would not want my financial and personal info uploaded to servers which I know nothing about. I would be less stringent if it was just pictures or files, but I do keep personal information on my main computer in case I have a problem with my hard copies. So if Joe gets my card information from Olive garden or steals my card...its a quick call and the harm is over. If Joe gets my bank account numbers, 401K, number, SS, home and work address, birthday information, etc......it could take years to clean up.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

phat78boy said:


> My issue with offloading your data is you trust them and their software to do what they say they will do. So with that mindset, do you know how they do backups? Do you know what happens when they need to add more HDD space? What happens if the client side software on an update or mistake disables encryption? What happens if the server side because of an upgrade stops encryption? Being "in the business", I see it way too much for my taste. Take for instance how T-Mobile and Microsoft just lost everyone's data for every sidekick out there.


I've seen too many website go down and be unrecoverable because the host lost the main data, the primary backup and the secondary backup.


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## rudeney (May 28, 2007)

phat78boy said:


> What do you know about the company other then you pay them? You have no insight into how they perform backups, where they store backups, encryption used on storage, who has access to the servers, etc.
> 
> Some may call it paranoid, but after talking to a few people who have had their identity stolen or credit ruined.....it is not something you ever want to go through.


According to Carbonite's website, data is encrypted on the customer's computer before it is shipped to their servers. They claim than only the customer has access based on a private encryption key. I have no reason to disbelieve their claims.


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## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

I use both onsite and offsite backup for all my Macs.

My onsite backup is a Time Capsule running Time Machine (but any external drive will work).

My offsite is Carbonite. It's always a good idea to have a offsite backup. If your house should get robbed or burned to the ground, your data will be safe.

Remember, if there is no backup, the data may as well not exist.


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## pfp (Apr 28, 2009)

At $5/mo I'm thinking it would be stupid of me not to try one of these guys. I havd no idea this was available so inexpensively.


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## funhouse69 (Mar 26, 2007)

I've been using Carbonite for just about 2 years now... Since it is on a "Per PC" Basis what I did was create a share on that PC that I deposit all of my important data in to. This allows me to back up all of my computers important data without having to get a subscription for each one. 

I have almost 100GB of date up there which is mostly photographs since I am an avid photographer. Occasionally I will restore some files just to make sure it works and so far so good.

That said Carbonite for me is my offsite backup as I am using 2 different RAID 5's as my primary storage, I have all of my document folders moved & sync to the RAID Systems...

If your interested I believe I can give you a discount referral code for carbonite


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## dshu82 (Jul 6, 2007)

Great information everyone, thanks. My primary stuff is photos and music, with some documents. I am now leaning towards the "double" with an HDD at home and offsite service.

Mac Users: What do you like about the Time Capsule versus other HDD's?


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## Greg Alsobrook (Apr 2, 2007)

Yep.. I decided to do onsite and offsite backups as well... Like Chris said, if your house gets robbed or burns down, everything is still gone.

How many Macs are you going to be backing up? If it's just the iMac... then buy this.

If you're going to do multiple Macs, then the Time Capsule may be a better option. You can do an Airport Extreme and the above linked drive for around $279... or do the Time Capsule for $299. Either way would be fine. Just keep in mind that the Airport & drive route requires a small command line "hack". Takes about 30 seconds to do and I can link you to the article on the Apple forums if you need it.


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## Go Beavs (Nov 18, 2008)

dshu82 said:


> Great information everyone, thanks. My primary stuff is photos and music, with some documents. I am now leaning towards the "double" with an HDD at home and offsite service.
> 
> Mac Users: What do you like about the Time Capsule versus other HDD's?


In don't have a Time Capsule, but I have a new (2009) Airport Extreme with an external hard drive connected. It didn't require any hack to enable the backup via Time Machine and works quite well for all the machines in the household.

The only downside I can see with this setup is that the data transfer rate is limited by the Airport hardware to 5MB/sec. About 10 times slower than the USB 2 standard.

An external hard drive and a new Airport Extreme are cheaper than the equivalent time capsule...

_Ahh, Greg beat me to this post. The price difference is not as much as I thought..._


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## 1980ws (Mar 18, 2008)

I have a large external drive and I used Carbonite also. Just last month I had a hard drive fail on my one laptop. It contained the normal stuff, and my daughters I-Tunes. All told about 50GB. Popped in a new hard drive, and about 8 hours or less it was all back in place. I have this service for my comfort, as my external can fail, it can be stolen & in could be destroyed in a fire. Priceless.


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## djlong (Jul 8, 2002)

In a fire, I grab my Windows Home Server box.

The backups it performs are *fast*. The restores are FAST. I did a bare-metal restore of my laptop in an hour.

If you lose your data, how long will it take you to download it over the web? Are you more likely to lose your whole machine (part failure, corruption, etc) or just some of your data?


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## Ken S (Feb 13, 2007)

djlong said:


> In a fire, I grab my Windows Home Server box.
> 
> The backups it performs are *fast*. The restores are FAST. I did a bare-metal restore of my laptop in an hour.
> 
> If you lose your data, how long will it take you to download it over the web? Are you more likely to lose your whole machine (part failure, corruption, etc) or just some of your data?


The problem happens when someone else takes your WHS. Sometimes it's just safer to have important data stored elsewhere.


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## phat78boy (Sep 12, 2007)

Ken S said:


> The problem happens when someone else takes your WHS. Sometimes it's just safer to have important data stored elsewhere.


Agreed. I archive my "can't loose" stuff once a quarter and keep a copy offsite and another copy local in a fireproof safe. TB HDD's are so inexpensive its easy enough to do.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

I use Mozy myself, but it isn't my only backup.

It's happened where data has been lost, Carbonite lost data earlier this year. It may not have been Carbonite's fault, but the end user certainly doesn't care. All they know is they lost the data.

http://www.boston.com/business/tech...1/data_backup_firm_sues_2_hardware_suppliers/


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## Ken S (Feb 13, 2007)

phat78boy said:


> Agreed. I archive my "can't loose" stuff once a quarter and keep a copy offsite and another copy local in a fireproof safe. TB HDD's are so inexpensive its easy enough to do.


Be careful with fireproof safes...if you have a fire any HD in it will probably be destroyed. A fireproof safe generally becomes a very nice wood burning oven during a fire....good for pizzas not so great for valuable contents .


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

djlong said:


> In a fire, I grab my Windows Home Server box.
> 
> The backups it performs are *fast*. The restores are FAST. I did a bare-metal restore of my laptop in an hour.
> 
> If you lose your data, how long will it take you to download it over the web? Are you more likely to lose your whole machine (part failure, corruption, etc) or just some of your data?


What if you're not home when the fire starts? What if you wake up and it's burning so quickly all you can do is get out?

All I know is that "Windows Home Server" of "Life?' .. Life wins.

Mozy has a DVD service .. Perhaps not as instant as copy/paste, but it will remove the frustration of recovery over the network.


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## rudeney (May 28, 2007)

Ken S said:


> Be careful with fireproof safes...if you have a fire any HD in it will probably be destroyed. A fireproof safe generally becomes a very nice wood burning oven during a fire....good for pizzas not so great for valuable contents .


Ken, that's a good point. In fact, most fire safes are not designed to protect anything but paper. Any sort of plastic, magnetic media, or photographic negatives are not going to be protected unless the safe is specifically rated.

There are some safes that are specifically designed for hard drives. Some have a "pocket" to hold a 3.5" USB drive, complete with the cabling for it, while others are actually hard drives encased in fire and waterproof housings.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

> What is the difference between a data or media safe and a regular fireproof safe?
> A standard fireproof safe will protect anything made of paper products such as money, documents, and folders. A media safe will protect anything made of plastic, anything containing magnetic or digital information, photographs, or basically anything that is not made of paper. If it's not a paper product and you aren't certain, please contact us before purchasing.
> 
> What is the difference between 1, 2, and 3 hour ratings? Is 2 hour twice as good as 1?
> ...


http://www.keystoneoffice.com/safes/faq.html



> 1. What does it mean when it says "media" safe?
> 
> When the term media is used in describing a fireproof safe or cabinet it is referring to the material that is stored inside. Media is anything from computer disks to microfilm. Anything in this category needs to carry the UL 125 fireproof rating to be protected.
> 
> ...


http://www.klsecurity.com/fire_proof_questions.htm

This is why I said any data back-up needs to be kept off-site.


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## cadet502 (Jun 17, 2005)

My ISP (Cincinnati Bell) has offsite storage available as part of their package. Last time I talked to them about bundling prices, they bumped up the storage. I burn DVD's regularly, but I'm going to check them out further to see what is involved.


.


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

I back up my hard drive monthly to another hard drive with an image copy.

In addition, I back up to DVD quarterly (image and key files both), and rotate that storage offsite in my safety deposit box.

The extra hard drive cost me $59, the DVD's about $20 per year, and the safety deposit box $35 per year (which I have anyway for other papers, documents, etc.).

Having now made the hard drive investment, and using the safety deposit box for other purposes anyway....

My annual cost for 2 locations and types of full image and key file backup is less than $25 per year. I can get to and use those backups if and when ever needed. 

Despite the claims to the contrary....online storage to me, seems like a security risk - one I'm not willing to take.


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## djlong (Jul 8, 2002)

Even over my fiber link, I cn't imagine how long it would take to restore my 5TB server.


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

djlong said:


> Even over my fiber link, I cn't imagine how long it would take to restore my 5TB server.


:eek2::eek2::eek2:

No kidding...that's alot of data!


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## rudeney (May 28, 2007)

SayWhat? said:


> [url]http://www.klsecurity.com/fire_proof_questions.htm
> 
> This is why I said any data back-up needs to be kept off-site.


You might want to check that KL Security website again. Some of their ioSafe products are rated much higher - up to 1700F for an hour. Even their $150 500MB unit is rated at 1550F for 30 minutes.


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## pfp (Apr 28, 2009)

djlong said:


> Even over my fiber link, I cn't imagine how long it would take to restore my 5TB server.


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## TBlazer07 (Feb 5, 2009)

I use Mozy Free .... they give you 2 gigs for free. Been using it since they started. That's plenty for what I need to store offsite. I also use 1 NAS and 1 eSata in case either one crashes (which is the downside to using hard-drives).

I also automatically image my entire hard-drive to my eSata every night alternating between Ghost and Acronis every other night. THAT has saved my arse more then once and I always have 10 days total of backups.


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## itguy05 (Oct 24, 2007)

I've been using Crashplan (www.crashplan.com) as it covers all the platforms - Linux, OS X, and Windows. Works great, no throttling, and I can get unlimited storage for 3 years for $180.

Took about 3 weeks to get all computers uploaded (around a TB) and now it just sits there as my off-site backups for our Macs. Time Machine for local and CP for offisite.

For those that think they will grab your server in the event of a fire, think again. In 2005 we had a fire start while we were away from our FISH TANK (apparently it's common). Would have burnt the whole house down if we didn't have the windows closed and the AC on. Luckily it put itself out and we just had LOTS of smoke damage. Got me thinking of offsite backups. It was a HD in a Safe Deposit box until earlier this year, updated whenever I remembered)

So Offsite backups are important. Crashplan has 128/448 bit encryption, you can choose the key, password, etc and I feel safe my data is OK. It may take me a month to get my data from the Internet but at least I can still get at it. Which wouldn't have happened had our house burned down.....


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

pfp said:


>


:bang :crying: :eek2: :nono2:


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## Hansen (Jan 1, 2006)

Anyone try Carbonite with WHS, and if so, how did you set up Carbonite on the WHS?

I'm currently using Amazon S3 in conjunction with the WHS add-in Jungle Disk but the cost is not nearly as effective as what it appears to cost for Carbonite per year.


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## Greg Alsobrook (Apr 2, 2007)

If anyone is interested, I found a 15% off promo code for Mozy. It's "REVIEW15".


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