Digital Home Thoughts

Digital Home Thoughts - News & Reviews for the Digital Home

Register in our forums so you're ready for our next giveaway contest...


Zune Thoughts

Loading feed...

Apple Thoughts

Loading feed...

Laptop Thoughts

Loading feed...




Go Back   Thoughts Media Forums > DIGITAL HOME THOUGHTS > Digital Home Software

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 09-17-2008, 08:00 PM
Chris Gohlke
Contributing Editor Emeritus
Chris Gohlke's Avatar
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,291
Default CrashPlan Offers Off-site Backup with No Monthly Fees

http://www.crashplan.com/home.vtl

"Easy and Automatic - No buttons to push or CDs to burn. Simply install CrashPlan and it quietly runs in the background protecting your files without slowing you down. No Monthly Fees - With CrashPlan and your own destination, there are no fees or extra charges like other off-site backup products and no limits on how much you can back up. Off-site Security - Your files are encrypted, off-site and at multiple destinations of your choosing. Only off-site backup protects your files from theft, fire, and other local disasters. CrashPlan insures your privacy by encrypting your files before they are sent, keeping personal files personal. Cross Platform (Mac, PC, Linux) - CrashPlan gives you freedom in choosing your backup destinations. Back up your new Mac to your old PC, your laptop to a friend's desktop, whichever you want. Worried about using too much space on a friend's computer? No problem! CrashPlan will use an attached USB drive to hold your files."

Even the best laid backup plans often leave out the off-site backup component.  This is especially true for home users.  The off-site options out there have often had certain limitations.  Most involve a monthly fee and require you to actually trust the company you are backing up to.  My off-site plan has been to rotate USB drives to an off-site location once every few weeks along with daily at home backups within my network.  For the importance I place on my data, I think this is adequate, but if your needs require something a little more robust and you have a friend you can backup to, a $24.99 one-time fee is all it takes.

 
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 09-17-2008, 08:20 PM
michael
Ponderer
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 103

I wonder if I have a Windows Home Server and a friend has a WHS we can each buy this and install it on the WHS boxes to do mutual off-site backups of data stored in a Drive Extender folder.
 
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 09-17-2008, 09:45 PM
Chris Gohlke
Contributing Editor Emeritus
Chris Gohlke's Avatar
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,291

You could probably grab the trial version and give it a shot. If you do, let us know.
 
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 09-17-2008, 09:46 PM
mikehilton
Neophyte
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 3
Default CrashPlan versus Foldershare

How is this much different from Foldershare which is free?
 
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 09-17-2008, 10:07 PM
michael
Ponderer
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 103

I haven't used FolderShare, but I thought it just copied the files as is and they would be viewable at the backup destination. Whereas this sends your data off-site to a buddy's computer, but it is encrypted and not accessible by your buddy.
 
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 09-17-2008, 10:20 PM
Chris Gohlke
Contributing Editor Emeritus
Chris Gohlke's Avatar
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,291

Exactly, I might trust a buddy enough to store an encrypted backup at his house, but I sure would not want to give them read access, much the less update access to my personal files.
 
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 09-18-2008, 07:46 PM
Jason Dunn
Executive Editor
Jason Dunn's Avatar
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160

Seems like a pretty neat solution, especially when you factor in how big hard drives are. Although with the off site backup, whether it's to a server or to a friend's computer, you're still limited by the upstream speed of your backup. Overall, this solution seems really flexible though...if I hadn't paid for a two year contract with Mozy, I might give this a try.
__________________
Want to contact me personally? Use this. Want to read my personal blog? Check it out. Want to follow me on Twitter? Here you go.
 
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 09-18-2008, 07:48 PM
Jason Dunn
Executive Editor
Jason Dunn's Avatar
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160

Quote:
Originally Posted by michael View Post
I wonder if I have a Windows Home Server and a friend has a WHS we can each buy this and install it on the WHS boxes to do mutual off-site backups of data stored in a Drive Extender folder.
The problem with that may be that the software probably wouldn't be aware of the shared folders...you could really only point it at one of the hard drives. That's the problem I've had with FolderShare at any rate...but let me know if it works.
__________________
Want to contact me personally? Use this. Want to read my personal blog? Check it out. Want to follow me on Twitter? Here you go.
 
Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 09:33 PM.