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Slant community chat on Discourse| 31 Recommended Products | Recommendations | Platforms | Versioning | Differential |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 CrashPlan· · · | 20 | 3 | Windows; Linux; OSX; Android; iOS | Yes | Yes |
| #2 Google Drive· · · | 22 | 5 | Windows; OSX; Linux | Yes | No |
| #3 Dropbox· · · | 16 | 4 | Windows, Linux, OSX, Android, iOS, Windows Phone | Yes | – |
| #4 Backblaze· · · | 15 | 2 | Windows; OSX; Android; iOS | Yes | Yes |
| #5 SpiderOak· · · | 6 | 0 | Windows; Linux; OSX; Android; iOS | – | – |
| #6 Arq· · · | 4 | 0 | Windows; OSX | Yes | – |
Pro Unintrusive
You set it up once and from then it runs in the background whenever you are not using your computers (or at specified times).
Pro Unlimited online storage
The $5/mo individual plan and the $12.50/mo family plan gets you unlimited cloud storage.
Pro Differential and incremental file backup
CrashPlan updates only that part of the file that has changed, saving bandwidth and time.
Con Heavy client
The BackupClient is based on Java and therefore a lot more memory-intensive than most other backup solutions
Pro Generous free plan
The free plan offers 15GB of space and has no limitations in terms of functionality. This space is shared across Drive, Gmail & Picasa.
Pro Can also be used to backup and view photos and videos
Can make use of the storage space to back up photos, see and share them via Google Photos which is a lot more than just viewing files.
Con Syncs just one folder
Once set up on your computer, Google Drive will create a folder that will sync with the cloud storage. Only files and folders within that folder will be backed up to the cloud and there's no way to change that.
Con Behaviour can't be customized
There's no way to, for example, change how and when backups happen.
Pro Has an API/works nicely with other apps
Many mobile apps can and do use Dropbox for storage. This means not just that your files are accessible on the go, but that those apps automatically get live syncing with your desktop and the web.
Pro Allows selective sync
Selective Sync is a feature of the Dropbox desktop application that allows you to select only the folders you want to be synced to your computer.
Con Privacy concerns
Although data is encrypted between your computer and Dropbox, Dropbox staff (and anyone they grant access to) can view any of your files. Some services encrypt files before they are uploaded to the cloud, Dropbox does not.
Pro Beginner-friendly defaults
The default configuration includes everything except for system files to be backed up. That also includes external USB drives. This will work for most people. It can of course be customized to each persons liking.
Pro Excellent restoration performance
Backblaze creates a zip file of all your files for you to download, thus decreasing the amount of data you need to download and increasing the speed of the download since it's one connection instead of multiple that need to be opened and closed for a list of files.
Con Backblaze does not support network (NAS) drives
If you use a thing like Drobo, Backblaze will not back it up.
Con No Linux support
There's no Linux client for Backblaze.
Pro Zero knowledge
Data is locally encrypted before uploading to Spideroak. They cannot recover your data even if they wanted to since it is stored in encrypted state on their servers.
Pro Combines cloud syncing, storage service and backup client
Thus you have a single service for all of the things instead of having to use multiple clients or services.
Con Sharing is unintuitve
The way that sharing is done is a bit backwards as you have to select "new" in the options to then go through a few boxes of selections to then finally pick what file to share.
Pro Only you know the encryption password
No privacy concerns.
Pro Open document format backups
Unlike other backup programs that store data in proprietary formats, Arq stores them in an open document format allowing for easy viewing.
Con Complicated setup
When it comes to ease of use most cloud backup service are pretty easy as it is just one signup, with Arc you need to download install and activate it to then register for an Amazon account, this extra step may be troublesome to some people or just annoying.
Pro Your data is stored in Norway
Norway has rigorous data protection laws. Governments or judicial authorities should not be able to have a look at your data through legal means.
Con Your data is not stored encrypted
While your data is uploaded on a secure SSL connection, it is stored in plain text on the server. It is not the most secure cloud backup.
Pro Extermely low-cost
$0.007 per gigabyte per month is comparatively cheap and allows for large amounts of cloud storage.
Con Data transfer out >1GB costs money
Retrieving a backup over 1GB costs money starting at $0.090 for 10GB.
Con Can't get to data instantly
Data retrieval can take several hours to initiate.
Pro Prevents from social engineering attacks
Mozy end-users are not susceptible to social engineering. At Mozy, there is no one person who can authorize the deletion of a given individual’s data. Our process of cleaning and deleting a customer’s data is a very structured and automated process, and you can’t call us up and short circuit...
Pro Shared folder with Stash
Stash is a local sync folder similar in functionality to Dropbox.
Con No unlimited storage plan
Every plan for Mozy has a limit on the storage meaning there is no price one can pay for piece of mind of unlimited storage.
Pro Focus on encryption and deduplication
Encryption allows the use to access their files with only their own keys and the deduplication saves on costs of storage as any duplicate file will be removed automatically. So not only is the platform safety minded but cost is taken into account for the user as well.
Con No automatic deletion of old backups
Users will have to manually delete their old backups as there is no way to set a threshold of when older backups should be removed.
Pro Cheap (about $0.01/GB/Month)
Same price a Google Drive, but more flexible as you pay for what you use (Google Drive you have to jump from 100 MB to 1 TB for example). Also supports larger backups.
Pro Optionally supports versioning
Versioning can be enabled at no extra cost so you may retrieve older versions or deleted files.
Know any negative aspects of this option?
Pro Users can order a physical copy of their data
For users in the US there is a option to receive their backup data on external media, meaning not only is there a backup in the cloud but you can order hard backups anytime.
Pro Intuitive software
Does not require deep system knowledge to operate Carbonite's software.
Con They've lost data before
There have been occasions where a paid subscriber was not ever able to get back their data.
Con No external hard drive support in the $59.99/yr plan
You need to upgrade to the HomePlus $99.99/yr plan to back up external drives.
Pro Free 50 GB of storage
Everyone with an account will get 50 GB of online storage. It is a simple sign up, just a minute's work.
Pro Multi-platform support
The user can access the stored files or upload new files using the browser. Additionally they can use their phones or tablets (Android and iOS devices). On windows MegaSync is provided for automatic backup and safer file access. To further improve access security, there is also an extension availa...
Con Has a transfer limit
Both for free and paid accounts, there are monthly transfer limits. That is, the user can only upload/download a certain amount in one month. For instance, it is 10 GB/month for free users. The transfer limits, maximum and current can be viewed in the user's account page.
Con Compatibility for browsers are limited
According to Mega, the service is known to work perfectly on Chrome and Firefox browsers. However, it has a "memory leak" problem in Internet Explorer 10, that requires the user to restart the browser after every few hundred MB of transfer.
Pro Collaboration via Office 365
If you use Office 365 with OneDrive, you can share a file to edit collaboratively in real time.
Pro Automatic photo uploads from phone
When Android, iOS and Windows Phone users shoot a photo with their phone it is automatically uploaded to OneDrive via app.
Con Strictest code of conduct
Terms of Service forbid any kind of nudity, or that incites, advocates, or expresses pornography or racism among other things.
Con Becomes slower when it picks up a "Linux" user-agent
This may be intentional by Microsoft to force OneDrive users to use Windows. When OneDrive picks up a "Linux" user-agent it becomes slow whereas when from the same computer and browser it picks up a "Windows" user-agent it becomes considerably faster.
Pro Backups can be performed on systems that reside on-premise or cloud
User can choose to backup to their own private cloud as well as a public cloud such as AWS. This choice allows for piece of mind as to where ones data is residing.
Pro Elastic storage
Elasticity in the pricing allows for users to only pay for what they use in data, this way there is no overcharging when ones limit wasn't hit. This also allows for users to constantly change their backup usage without fear of being charged too much or having to constantly switch their plans.
Know any negative aspects of this option?
Pro Extendable via plugins
There are plug-ins for applications that allow interactions with Box.
Pro Sharing and privacy features built for business and IT users
Such as advanced sharing options, task assignment, notifications.
Con Missing collaborative apps
Not being able to easily back up office works through an integrated office suite can be a set back when comparing to backup apps like Drive. While you can set certain apps to save their files to the Box folder, it is not as easy as using something like Google Docs, which not only saves while you a...
Pro Synchronisation and backup services
iCloud syncs a users settings and files across a range of Apple hardware making for a simple solution to backup and sync data across ones Apple devices.
Pro Documents in the Cloud
Integrates different office tools such as Keynote or Pages for writing and presentations, etc with iCloud.
Con Certain file restrictions
Does not allow uploading certain file types.
Pro File versioning
You can access an older version of a file if necessary, basically a history of ones files that allows for you to go back in time to retrieve something that may have been written over but has changes that you do not want.
Pro Client-side encryption
Transferring as well as storing ones files allows for 256bit encryption, making sure ones files are always secure.
Con Unreliable
Multiple reports of service stopping for no reasons and showing a lot more used space than should.
Con Unsafe
Very prone to data loss.
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