Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
configuration other than entering your email address. It doesn't
copy any system files or items in your
/Applications
folder; it
also excludes certain other kinds of files by default. You can
adjust what's in and what's out in the Backblaze pane of System
Preferences. To restore files, you can download them (as a ZIP
archive) from the Web or, for an extra fee, have Backblaze send
you the files overnight on DVDs or an external hard drive.
Either way, a downside to Backblaze is that when restoring files, you
must manually move them to where they belong—it won't put them
back in place automatically. Also, if you restore an entire disk from
a different sort of backup (Time Machine, a bootable duplicate, or
whatever), Backblaze can lose track of any files it backed up in the
time since you created the backup you're restoring from.
By comparison, CrashPlan (discussed next) gives you far more
options—and more control—when it comes to both online backups
and restoration. But if ease of setup is your main consideration,
Backblaze is the one to beat.
•
CrashPlan:
I've already discussed
CrashPlan
in the context of
versioned backups (see
Choose a Versioned Backup Program
) and
provided a few general pointers (see
CrashPlan Tips
). I mention
it again here because in addition to local hard disks and network
backups, it can also back up your data to the Code 42 Software's
servers (called CrashPlan Central), as well as to friends' computers.
It's my current favorite online backup service, and I even wrote a
book about it:
Take Control of CrashPlan Backups
.
The software is free, but people who buy the optional CrashPlan+
service get additional features including automatic, continuous
backup and stronger encryption, plus online storage space. Pricing
depends on whether you purchase 10 GB of storage or unlimited
storage, the duration of your subscription, and whether you buy
storage for one Mac or all the Macs in your household—but it can
be as low as $1.46 per month, and you can save 10 percent on
CrashPlan+ with the
CrashPlan Coupon
near the end of this topic.
(Business pricing is also available.) For an extra fee, the company
