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Safe Storage Online Safe Storage OnlineHow Online Backup Services Stack UpYou know how important backing up your data is-especially if you've had to learn the hard way. But thumb-sized flash drives are so little and easy to lose. And full-sized external hard drives can get damaged or lost in a fire. When you back up all of your important information via the Web, however, you will oftentimes have more storage space, and you won't have to worry about physical damage to backup hardware. There are many options to choose from, but the bottom line is that you won't go wrong choosing any of the following online backup services. Carbonite 3.5 Bottom Line: Carbonite is simple to use, and the updated version includes several new features that make it an even more competitive product. Carbonite does what it needs to do-and does it well. Carbonite 3.5, released in January, puts Carbonite right on par with its competitors. It added useful services such as a file migration wizard that makes it easier to transfer your files onto a new computer (even from Windows XP to Vista) and file versioning, which means different versions of the same file will be retained by Carbonite. It also adds support for external hard drives. Incremental backup is perhaps the most useful, time-saving new feature. For example, with incremental backup enabled, if you have a cell in an Excel spreadsheet that is updated, Carbonite will simply back up the cell, rather than resaving the entire spreadsheet, which would take longer. Carbonite's Web site doesn't let users access information quite as easily as some services. It's primarily geared toward restoring data, which is the point of an online backup service. But other services have enabled customers to use the Web-based components to meet other needs, such as remote access. As long as Carbonite is installed, the program will automatically back up all of the information in your Documents And Settings folder, which generally includes any music, photos, and emails you have stored. It doesn't, however, back up installed programs, system files, or temporary files. This means that if, for instance, you have Adobe InDesign installed, the files you've created with InDesign will be saved if disaster strikes, but the InDesign program itself will not. Carbonite provides you unlimited overall backup, but it won't back up a single file that is more than 4GB automatically. It's especially important to keep this in mind if you commonly store large files (such as video files), as you'll have to instruct Carbonite to back those up manually. If you accidentally delete a file, retrieving it is relatively simple. Just open the Carbonite icon on your Desktop, click the link to Backed Up Files, and find the file you want to restore. If you have a complete loss of data, simply launch the Restore Wizard and you're on your way to returning all the missing files to their original locations. Carbonite's software doesn't hide in the background, either. You will always know which files have been backed up, which haven't, and which ones are pending through the dots in the left-hand corner of the files. A green dot indicates a file has been backed up, a yellow dot signifies a pending backup, and no dot means that a file has not been backed up. Carbonite won't keep you from being able to do your work due to timed backups that start just as you're in the middle of working on a big project. The software detects when your computer is not in use and does its backups then. Additionally, you can schedule backups on your own. If you need to shut down your computer during a backup, Carbonite will just pick up where it left off when you restart. Iron Mountain Connected Backup For PC Bottom Line: Don't lose the manual. Connected Backup For PC is easy to use for the basics, but it gets trickier when dealing with its more advanced options. Connected Backup For PC has more features than first meets the eye and is a bit trickier to use, too. The interface is basic, with the basics front and center. This is great for most users. If you look deeper into the different options, however, you will find that this program offers almost as many features as the other programs reviewed in this article. And you can purchase added protection for multiple PCs; prices vary depending on the number of systems you want to include in the plan. Connected Backup For PC has the basics: automatic and manual backup, easy data recovery, and tight security. Additionally, Connected Backup For PC offers the MyRoam feature, which enables remote access to stored files. Retrieving files, such as photographs, from MyRoam was not quite as seamless as it was with IDrive Explorer, as it required a few extra steps, but it was still very useful. With Connected Backup For PC, you not only have the ability to recover lost files, but to repair damaged files, as well, with its Heal tool. And if online storage doesn't ease your nerves, you can order CDs and DVDs that contain backup data. Some of the extra features of Connected Backup For PC include bandwidth throttling, file search capabilities, and the option for mirror path restoration. You can choose to save a restored file in a different location, and you can rename that file, as well. Also, you can use the Advanced Rules window to view rules, manage user-created rules, or add drive exclusions. Rules in the Connected Backup For PC program determine how it will decide which programs to back up and which to heal. You must also have permission from the Agent. The Agent, as termed by Iron Mountain, is the software application installed on your computer. ElephantDrive Home Edition Bottom Line: This is the best product for more advanced users because it offers a lot of control over backup preferences, but it does offer easy automatic backup, too. ElephantDrive, suited toward more advanced users, is one of the more comprehensive online backup services we reviewed. It has three components-Elephant Desktop, TrunkExplorer, and TrunkDrive-that give users complete control over their backup and restoration needs. But for less-advanced users, there are set-it-and-forget-it options, as well. Elephant Desktop is used to create and manage scheduled backups and to upload, download, and share information from the Trunk. You can back up information by folder or by type of document. Through the Trunk Manager tool, you can drag and drop files and folders between your Trunk and your computer. TrunkExplorer is ElephantDrive's Web manager. TrunkExplorer provides access to all of your files and the option to upload, download, and share files without having to install software on the client computer. TrunkExplorer also provides an option to share files through links sent via email, which is similar to Xdrive. TrunkDrive is used in conjunction with Elephant Desktop and lets you use your ElephantDrive remote storage server as a local file system, similar to a disk drive. With this feature, you can transfer and copy files while taking advantage of having the security of storing information on ElephantDrive. One of the features that makes Elephant-Drive stand out-but also makes it a program more suited for advanced users-is IntelligentBackup. This feature determines the most common files and folders on your system and lets you specify whether to back them up by choosing a Mode. When you select the Only Common Directories Mode, which is the most selective option, only the most commonly used files and folders will be backed up. Exclude Inefficient Mode excludes rarely used files and folders from the backup process. Everything Mode directs ElephantDrive to back up everything. And if you're just looking for something basic, Elephant Drive has an Open Edition that offers 1GB of storage for free. With this plan, you'll also have access to your files through the Web, scheduled backup, and mapped network drive. AOL Xdrive Bottom Line: The mobile capabilities of Xdrive make this program stand out from the rest. It's easy to use and is a great asset for anyone with large multimedia files. AOL's Xdrive is a free alternative to other online backup services. Xdrive offers 5GB of free storage; you can upgrade to 50GB for $9.99 per month. Xdrive includes a Web interface for managing your back-ups, but you can also download free Xdrive Desktop or Xdrive Desktop Lite applications, which provide additional backup tools. Xdrive Desktop is client software that's easy to use as long as you don't mind that it installs with add-ons to other programs, such as Microsoft Office. Once you've installed Xdrive, just click the Xdrive icon on the Desktop and check the files you want backed up. The Xdrive tab will show you how much space is used and how much is free. With just a few clicks, you can restore all files to their original locations. Xdrive Desktop Lite lets you drag and drop files from your hard drive to your Xdrive storage account without the add-ons that come with the full version of Xdrive Desktop. With Web-based Xdrive, you can send links to files via email, replacing emails with huge attachments, which is similar to ElephantDrive. You can also share folders, create photo shows, manage and play music collections, and keep track of bookmarks. One of the most useful components of Xdrive is Xdrive Mobile. With Xdrive Mobile, you can log on to your account through a Web-enabled cell phone, smartphone, or PDA in order to view photos or play music. You can even select a file to fax from the site. You can't, however, upload any content from your mobile device onto Xdrive. Mozy MozyHome Bottom Line: MozyHome is the easiest program to use out of the bunch and has a robust package of features. MozyHome is easy to install and begins backing up files immediately after installation. You have the ability to decide which files you want to back up, or you can back up your entire local drive. Like other services, MozyHome can be configured to start back-ups as often as you'd like. Also, if you have just finished a big project and want to make sure it's backed up, you can manually start the process. MozyHome also alerts you if it has been a long time since the last backup. If you're accustomed to lengthy, bandwidth-consuming backups that are best started at the end of the day, you'll appreciate how MozyHome lets you specify bandwidth use. You can set it to a low speed and continue to use your computer; the backup will take longer but won't disrupt your work on other projects. You can restore single files, a handful of files, or your entire hard drive with a few different options. To restore one or a few files, simply log on to your Mozy account via the Mozy Web page and right-click what you need restored. If you are restoring files to a computer that does not have MozyHome installed, you can choose Web Restore, which will restore up to 20GB. When you need to restore an entire drive, select Virtual Drive Restore. Finally, you can order DVDs containing all of your stored information, useful for a total restoration or PC-to-PC transfer. MozyHome isn't without its limitations, however. Like Carbonite, it doesn't back up any of your system or application files (a good reason to always keep your original installation CDs handy). Also, MozyHome won't back up files located on a network server unless Mozy is downloaded on the server. It does, however, back up external hard drives. Pro Softnet IDrive Bottom Line: Great for moderately tech-savvy users, IDrive is more advanced than some but not as complex as Connected Backup For PC. IDrive's user interface is fairly simple, but it has a few more features than Carbonite and MozyHome. With IDrive, you receive 2GB of free storage and 50GB of storage for $49.50, which is slightly more affordable than some of its peers considering what you get for your money. IDrive features mapped drive support, which is important for many professional environments. You can remotely access all of your backed up and restored information from the IDrive Web site. Versioning is supported by IDrive, allowing retention of up to 30 backed up file versions, identified through dates and times. IDrive has two distinct interfaces: IDrive Classic and IDrive Explorer. IDrive Classic has all the basic backup features, including automatic, manual, and scheduled backups; mirror path storage (putting files back where they were upon restoration); and both automatic and manual file selection. IDrive also has a Sync tool that makes the content in your IDrive account and My Computer pane match each other. This is useful if you have made a lot of changes or deleted some unnecessary and unused files in your local drive. IDrive Explorer is a virtual drive that mirrors your local drive and is accessible via the Web. It has the same look and feel as the traditional Windows Explorer, but you can't edit any files with IDrive Explorer. You can, however, restore your files onto your computer with drag-and-drop capabilities and use them on your client PC. Additionally, IDrive lets you quickly search for files to restore thanks to the search pane located right on the main interface of IDrive Classic. IDrive offers both incremental and continuous backup. It also has idle backup and an option to select bandwidth. by Tessa Warner Breneman |
