Online Backup Review

Options for online backup and storage

Experts agree that all computer owners should use some kind of backup solution to protect against data loss or corruption. Online backup services can be a good alternative to backups on CDs, DVDs, flash drives or external hard drives, all of which are subject to physical damage and may involve a time-consuming backup process. Online backup services allow users to store their most important or bloated files (such as music and videos) on a secure remote server. Some even allow file sharing with other people, or allow you to sync files across multiple computers. Reviews warn that online backup is not a replacement for traditional backup strategies, but it can be good secondary protection against unforeseen issues such as fire, theft or sudden hardware failures.

We found a number of good reviews for online backup services, but details can get outdated quickly. The most comprehensive and recent reviews come from Macworld and British publications like Web User, PC Pro and Mac User. These sources have detailed reviews based on testing, and the majority of their information is comparative in nature. Macworld in particular has a very detailed test of seven online backup services from a Macintosh user's perspective Publications like PC World and PCMag.com are also helpful, but they have fewer recent reviews of online backup services. ConsumerReports.org makes a few recommendations about online backup, but they don't put online backup services through their usual rigorous testing. Which? magazine, the British equivalent of ConsumerReports.org, conducts independent testing of numerous backup programs, but only a few online services are included.

We didn't find many user reviews for online backup services, since most of these services aren't sold by third-party retailers (meaning there are few places to post user reviews). In addition, recent events indicate that traditional user-review sites may not be the most credible way to evaluate these services.

Earlier this year, Carbonite was caught faking owner-written reviews on Amazon.com. David Pogue at The New York Times reported on the work of a disgruntled customer who uncovered that employees for Carbonite -- including the vice president of marketing and a senior software engineer -- wrote positive, five-star reviews on Amazon.com while neglecting to mention that they were employed by the company. The reviews have since been removed from Amazon.com. Carbonite's CEO apologized for the fake reviews and explained to The New York Times that they had occurred several years ago, before Carbonite instituted new policies requiring proper identification when posting on blogs or review sites.