Basic Online Backup

Best basic online backup services

Mozy and Carbonite are the most well known online backup providers, and both offer basic services intended for home users. While Mozy is also highly rated, Carbonite (*Est. $55 per year for unlimited storage) earns more recommendations this year, and it wins awards from Which? magazine, Web User and PC Authority (Australia). Stuart Andrews at PC Authority says Carbonite is "still the most hassle-free and effective online home backup system."

Reviewers say Carbonite is very easy to use. After a quick installation, you can choose specific files to back up or the Carbonite client will begin the online backup process based on its default settings (MS Office documents, music files, photos and the like). Reviewers like the unobtrusive backup process, which runs in the background when your computer is idle. They also appreciate the clear marking of each file's backup status, indicating which files are backed up and which are not.

The editors of Web User prefer the Mozy interface, but say Carbonite is "simpler to use and a little bit cheaper." Glenn Fleishman at Macworld agrees that the Carbonite interface is simple and relatively intuitive, but he finds other drawbacks. With Carbonite, you can't choose your own backup schedule or designate when it should stop backing up. "Carbonite automatically throttles back its efforts when the computer is in use, but you can't change its notion of what in use means," says Fleishman. Several reviewers also note that Carbonite takes a long time to perform the initial online backup -- it took three weeks for one reviewer -- but too many factors are involved to determine whether this will be true for all users. In addition, several reviewers note that Mozy has more customization options for advanced users. Unlike Mozy, there is no free version, but Carbonite offers a 15-day free trial and you can get a discount by prepaying for two or three years.

Carbonite supports both PC and Macintosh computers (support for the just-released OS X 10.6, otherwise known as Snow Leopard, will be available in October). Christopher Phin at MacFormat, one of the magazines that posts its online content at Britain's TechRadar.com, says the Mac version is quite impressive. The Mac version installs quickly, and the interface fits in well with the Apple "look." Phin finds that the automatic backup decreases battery life, but he didn't notice any slowdown in his MacBook Pro's performance. Chris Hall at Pocket-lint.com also tests the Mac version and gives it a thumbs-up for "sheer simplicity and ease of use."

Unlike Carbonite, Mozy does offer a free online backup package for users who don't need a lot of storage space. MozyHome Free offers up to 2 GB of free online storage; if you decide you need more, MozyHome Unlimited's paid packages are available (*Est. $4.95 and up per month for unlimited storage). A business version called MozyPro (*Est. $3.95 per month plus 50 cents per GB of storage) is also offered. Reviewers say the free version will suit most casual users who only need to make online backups of some photos and documents. Jon Jacobi at PC World says he "recommends it highly and often," although he notes that MozyHome's initial backup can take quite a while. Ben Pitt at Computer Shopper (U.K.) gives MozyHome online backup a Best Buy award.

Several reviewers, like Michael Muchmore at PCMag.com, say that Mozy is not as user-friendly as other online backup services, since some of its settings can be rather complicated. This can be a blessing or a curse -- techies will love the many configuration and restoration options, but Muchmore believes they will confuse most average users. Mozy encrypts your files before they are backed up, and users have the option to set an additional password for their data. This is great for data security, but Glenn Fleishman at Macworld notes a serious downside -- if you forget your password, you can't restore your data.

Like Carbonite, MozyHome is available for PCs as well as computers running Mac OS X. Tom Gorham at Mac User (U.K.) says the Mac version works well, although the initial online backup is slow. Susie Ochs at MacLife agrees, but notes that subsequent online data backups go much faster. MozyHome earns an Editors' Choice award from MacLife.

CrashPlan Central (*Est. $54 per year for unlimited storage) also allows users to set a private data key for greater security -- just make sure you won't forget it. If you have multiple computers, CrashPlan also offers an unlimited storage plan (*Est. $100 per year) that covers every computer owned by you or your immediate family. This online backup service receives one of the highest scores in Macworld's test of seven online backup providers: "CrashPlan gets the highest marks for interface design, simplicity, options, and cost for two or more computers," says Glenn Fleishman. CrashPlan offers a good number of backup options, but Fleishman says the interface is still simple and easy to use. His biggest complaint is that CrashPlan doesn't allow you to set up separate schedules for different types of data.

If you want that feature, Jungle Disk (*Est. $2 per month plus $0.15 per GB) may be worth a look. Among the seven services tested by Macworld, Jungle Disk is the only one that allows for separate backup sets. Files are stored using Rackspace Cloud or Amazon S3. Jungle Disk offers a great deal of customization, including the ability to easily select or exclude files, but Glenn Fleishman thinks Jungle Disk has "too many options." Still, he thinks it's a good choice for those with only small amounts of data, since you'll have to pay for each gigabyte of storage as well as transferring fees if you use Amazon S3 (*Est. $0.10 per GB of data uploaded; $0.17 per GB of data downloaded). Jungle Disk is available for Windows (2000, XP, Vista and Server 2003/2008), Mac (OS X 10.4 or later) and Linux (x86 with KDE or GNOME desktop) computers.

Fabrik Ultimate Backup (*Est. $5 per month for unlimited storage) works much like Carbonite and Mozy. The installed software performs continuous backups of your data, which then is stored on Fabrik's off-site servers. To restore lost data, you visit Fabrik's web interface to download all or some of your files. Bandwidth and backup speed are adjustable so you can minimize performance drag on your computer.

Jon Jacobi at PC World says he's been using Fabrik Ultimate Backup for years and "if there's a downside, we've yet to find it." Jacobi notes that Fabrik is incredibly similar to Mozy. Since the price is the same, choosing between the two may come down to which interface you prefer. Like Mozy, Fabrik Ultimate Backup also offers a free account with 2 GB of storage. However, Fabrik only supports Windows Vista, XP and 2000 platforms, so Mac users are out of luck.