Unlimited Online Storage for $4.95 a Month

I have written before about Mozy, an online backup service for Windows XP. I use this service daily and love it. When I wrote the earlier article, Mozy was offering up to two gigabytes of backup space free of charge and larger amounts of online storage on a sliding scale of charges. Now Mozy has a new announcement that I find amazing: Mozy's free offering for two gigabytes of storage space remains the same, but the company now offers UNLIMITED backup space for only $4.95 a month.

Unlimited storage space for backups? That's what the company says. You can back up 50, 100 or even 500 gigabytes of data for $4.95 a month. I don't know of any other company that offers unlimited storage for a fixed fee, much less for a fee as low as $4.95 a month. Mozy's competitors charge up to $95 a month for only 50 gigabytes. This is a very competitive offering, and I suspect that Mozy's competitors will have to scramble to match it.

The new flat rate service can be used to back up an unlimited amount of digital files: genealogy data, family photographs, your checkbook data, all sorts of documents, video, e-mail messages, anything at all. You manually back up your data when you wish, or else tell the Mozy software to automatically make backups every few hours. All data is saved at an off-site location for your protection. 

I especially like Mozy's "set it and forget it" mode of operation. You download and install a small program in your PC. You then can tell the program to automatically make backups every few hours if the computer is idle. Other options include the ability to make backups only at specified times or only when you manually tell the software to make a backup at this moment.

The first time you make a backup, all the files that you specified are encrypted and sent to Mozy's servers. After that, only the files that have changed are sent. For most people, these later incremental backups are completed quickly. In my case, the first backup required the better part of 24 hours, but my later incremental backups usually complete in a minute or less. Yet I can retrieve any or all of my files at any time.

Mozy Unlimited Backup also includes a major overhaul to its previous restore process. Users can conduct unlimited restores within Windows Explorer by right clicking on a file or folder. Users on the road can access and restore their data via the Mozy Web site. The company also now also offers consumers the option to order a copy of their data on DVD, shipped next-day air via FedEx. Note that you do pay extra charges for the DVD to cover the labor and shipping expenses.
Other standard features include private key encryption, custom backup scheduling, continuous backup options, bandwidth throttling, block level incremental backups, 30-day file version archives, support for files larger than 2 gigabytes, and automatic Microsoft Outlook file detection and backup.

Please note the phrase "private key encryption." The encryption key is stored on your computer and no place else. This means that all your data is fully encrypted on your computer before it is sent over the Internet and stored at Mozy. Your data cannot be decrypted by anyone, not even by Mozy employees. It can only be decrypted when the data is restored back to your computer and then only after you re-enter the encryption key that you originally created. Your data always remains safe and secure from prying eyes.

One downside is that the Mozy Backup Service only operates on Windows XP. Users of earlier versions of Windows or of Macintosh or Linux systems will not be able to use the service. The company's web site does not yet mention Windows Vista, but I suspect that will be added soon after Vista Home Edition is released.

A second issue is that a broadband connection is the only practical method of backing up gigabytes of files. Mozy probably will work on a dial-up connection, but you won't be happy with the results.

Finally, the Mozy Backup Services described here are only for private individuals. If your employer would like to start backing up all the PCs in the company, you need to contact Mozy for a custom price quote.

I have used Mozy for several months and have been very pleased with its operation. The new announcement is obviously going to broaden the appeal for the company's services. I don't know of any other backup service that comes close to Mozy's prices.

To sign up for the free 2 gigabytes of storage or for the $4.95/month unlimited storage option, go to http://mozy.com/?kbid=7017.

When was the last time you made an off-site backup of your critical data?

Comments

[Jennifer]

There is an excellent website for online backup information, news and articles. Check it out here:

http://www.BackupReview.info

This site lists more than 400 online backup companies and ranks the top 25 on a monthly basis.

Cheers,

[Dick Eastman]

---> There is an excellent website for online backup information, news and articles.

I notice they have copied my article and placed it on their web site.

- Dick Eastman

[Lesa]

Are the two statements below contradictory? That is how can I access my data on the road (with my laptop)if it can only be restored to my computer (in my case, my desktop) via the encryption key? Or is the encryption key transferable from one computer to another?

"Users on the road can access and restore their data via the Mozy Web site."

"Your data cannot be decrypted by anyone, not even by Mozy employees. It can only be decrypted when the data is restored back to your computer and then only after you re-enter the encryption key that you originally created."

Lesa!

[Trish Lewis]

I'm looking for a service that will do more than backup data. I want a service that will mirror my entire hard drive so it's simple to restore my entire image if my hard drive crashes. I have a multitude of programs, and data is only one piece of the complex puzzle in restoration...

[Jason Presley]

Sounds like you just need something like Symantec Ghost or Paragon Drive Copy and an external hard drive big enough to hold all of your data. Then you could just periodically create an image of your drive to the external and restore it whenever you wanted.

Ghost
http://tinyurl.com/l8nnn

Drive Copy
http://www.drive-copy.de/eng/

[Dick Eastman]

---> Are the two statements below contradictory? That is how can I access my data on the road (with my laptop)if it can only be restored to my computer (in my case, my desktop) via the encryption key? Or is the encryption key transferable from one computer to another?

The encryption key is something that you carry in your memory. You can enter when you go to restore data to a different computer.

- Dick Eastman

[Dick Eastman]

--> Sounds like you just need something like Symantec Ghost or Paragon Drive Copy and an external hard drive big enough to hold all of your data.

That is an excellent solution for LOCAL storage of your backup data. In fact, I also do something similar to that. However, the big advantage of Mozy and its competitors is that you get off-site protection of your data.

Most computer security experts will advise you to always keep an off-site copy of your most important data. Ask anyone who lost their computers and their homes in the recent hurricanes, tornados or major forest fires. A backup copy stored at home will likely be destroyed in any major catastrophe. An off-site backup copy is cheap insurance.

- Dick Eastman

[Dick Eastman]

---> I'm looking for a service that will do more than backup data. I want a service that will mirror my entire hard drive so it's simple to restore my entire image if my hard drive crashes.

For OFF-SITE storage, look at http://www.connected.com. It is more expensive but has an excellent reputation. One of the options available is to back up EVERYTHING, including the boot record and Windows Registry.

If you are willing to make LOCAL copies you can find a number of disk mirroring tools that will do that, such as Norton Ghost. Someone posted URLs to several of the highly-rated products in an earlier message here. Scroll up to read it.

- Dick Eastman

[Susan Daily]

--> "The encryption key is something that you carry in your memory. You can enter when you go to restore data to a different computer."

I, too, was wondering about this. Let's say a tornado does destroy your house, and your computer. Does that mean your data is completely lost to you? Should you be carrying this encryption key written down on a piece of paper in your wallet (which you hopefully grab in an emergency) or send it in a snail-mail to someone you trust so you can restore your data when you eventually get a replacement computer? Is it small enough to remember? (Is that the memory you were referring to, or computer memory?) Thanks - I checked the "Learn More" section of their web site but didn't find an answer.

[Elaine]

When you wrote about Mozy a month or two ago, I checked them out and signed up for the free 2Gigabyte offer. It's the best decision I've made in some time. I recently installed a new hard drive and some of the data I'd backed up on CD got corrupted and if not for what I had stored on Mozy, I'd have been up the proverbial creek. I plan to sign up for the $4.95 per month offer soon. My only complaint is that it, at least not the free version, won't go into "Program files" to save anything. I use both FamilyTreeMaker and Legacy. Legacy loads by default to C:\Legacy, whereas FTM stores it's files in C:\Program Files\FTW\, and when I went to configure Mozy I could not find a way to get it to go into Program Files to back up my FTW files. Now perhaps when I sign up for the $4.95 offer it will be able to go more places.
But in spite of that small shortcoming, I have to thank you profusely for informing us of this great service.

[Dick Eastman]

---> (Is that the memory you were referring to, or computer memory?)

Ah, good question! In my previous post I was referring to personal (human) memory but now I see that I never stated that.

Yes, the key can be a series of letters and words that you can remember. For instance, a key could be "MyNameIsJackAndMyDogIsNamedSpot" or anything else that you can remember.

- Dick Eastman

[Bart Hansen]

From the FAQs at Connected.com -

"The DataProtector service is intended to protect your critical data files, not the commercial software that you install from disk or CD. If you were to have a system crash you would be better off re-installing your software so that essential information could be written back into the Windows registry database that is part of your operating system."

This seems to indicate that they discourage full backups needed by Lesa.

Has anyone found a place that will accept your entire hard drive as Lesa asks?

[Francie]

An external drive will backup your C: drive. It makes a complete copy. I also use Mozy for specific files.

I have just had a couple of crashes and found it equally easy to restore from Mozy or the Maxtor hard drive.
Francie

[Stewart Millar]

It would seem that Mozy has been galvanised into action by a competitor - Carbonite - see http://www.carbonite.com/ - similar product with slightly different tailored approach (& the same price! - the Mozy comparrison chart is biased - of course - and needs to be more closely analysed) - recommended approach (default) is to not back up system and program files as their restoration could cause XP problems - but this can be overrode at the users discretion.

[John Graham]

Before you dive in to any online backup arrangement, be it with Mozy or any other supplier, it is important to work out whether or not the arrangement is suitable for you.

Online backup works well where you have lots of small files, with minimal change. Unless you change many of them each day, the daily incremental backup will run quickly enough so as not to cause you inconvenience.

If, however, you have a small number of large files, and most of them are changed every day, then you will find online backup to be a real PITA. You may also find that, if you ever need to recover the files, that they are not consistent with each other.

Looking specifically at the way Mozy works, it first encodes the selected files, then transmits the encoded files to the mozy server. Unfortunately all files are not encoded at the same time (known technically as "point in time backup") - files may be encoded many hours apart.

Having a small number of large files, most of which are changed each day, means each of the changed files must be backed up by Mozy each day. In some cases, you may find yourself spending as much time each day running mozy as you did the first time, when it took a full backup. When you couple this with the timing of encoding, you run the big risk of having one or more linked files changed after an earlier file has been encoded. This is a recipe for disaster in terms of backup.

The only way to avoid such consistency problems is to not use the application while Mozy is performing its encoding - a completely impractical solution.

In my own example, I backed up 800Mb initially. It took 20 hours. Each use of the specific application I backed up (and which I use numerous times each day) changes the four largest files, which together are 720Mb. So I can expect Mozy to take 18 hrs each day to carry out an incremental backup.

Compare that with the 15 mins it takes me (using ZipBackup) to run a full backup of this application to a USB stick, which lives in my pocket.

Like any product, it comes down to whether or not Mozy suits you and the way you work.

John

[Dick Eastman]

I think you overlooked one thing. Mozy makes block level incremental backups, the same as most major online backup services. That means that when a file is changed, Mozy backs up only the changes, not the entire file. Technically, it only backs up the blocks that have changed. That is a a small part of a big file.

All files are stored on the disk as blocks. A tiny file may only fill part of one block. A large file can fill hundreds or even thousands of blocks. Mozy and most other professional-grade backup services back up the whole file once, then after that they only back up the blocks that have changed.

Let's say that you have a 50 megabyte file and every day you change one megabyte in the file. On the first backup (the "baseline"), your computer sends 50 megabytes to Mozy. The next day, after there has been a one megabyte change, your computer sends one megabyte to Mozy plus a few more bytes of overhead that contains block addresses. You computer does not send the entire 50 megabytes again. Mozy then takes that one megabyte of changes and applies it to the 50-megabyte file already stored on Mozy's servers. This works well even though the file is encrypted.

When you specify a restore, Mozy's servers combine the first backup's file plus all the incremental changes to create one new file that is 100% identical to the file that was last stored on your computer.

The same technology is used by Mozy, Connected.com, Iron Mountain Digital, and several other top-rated backup services that perform block level backups instead of backing up the entire file for every change.

- Dick Eastman

[Einay]

i recommend using esnips- its 1 GB of free storage and it has a lot of unique features that make uploading really easy and fast among a lot of other things.
did i mention its free and fantastic?
Einat :)

www.esnips.com

[Cary W. Tucker]

What if we have a Macintosh computer at home?

I can look at the BackupReview website of course, though I'm wondering if anyone else uses a Mac for storing genealogy data and has had good results with a specific off-site backup service for Apple computers?

[Dick Eastman]

---> ...off-site backup service for Apple computers?

I have not used it but I know that BackJack is a popular off-site backup service for Macintosh systems. Info can be found at http://www.backjack.com/.

[Find professional genealogists, ancestry and family tree researchers]

Thanks for the great article Dick.

Doubt I'd ever use it myself (Between my USB Thumbdrive and the 100 or so free Gigs on my web server), but I can definitely see the appeal for such a service.

Ralph Link
genealogyPro Professional Genealogy Services
Web Site Development, Hosting and Promotions
http://genealogyPro.com

[SHELIA]

sounds interesting

[Bill]

Hi, Trish, take a look at IBackup (http://www.ibackup./com), a feature-rich online service that helps you to do hassle-free backups and restores of files and folders.

Besides interactive and scheduled backup operations of your important files and folders to your online account with IBackup for Windows, you can drag and drop files to back them up or to restore them. IBackup for Windows transfers only modified portions of your files to ensure a quick backup with compression/ decompression on the fly.

You have the option to keep the 'Mirror Path' (default) so that the entire source path can be duplicated for your backups to avoid any overwriting. Mirroring of files helps you to mirror the source directory structure. In other words, it maintains 'absolute path' of the source file. If you backup the same file without the ‘Mirroring’, then the file will be backed up with 'relative path' concept. That is depending on the destination folder chosen, and depending on the source context, the file will be backed up.

To make things easy, they have ‘IDrive’ an application that on installation can map your online IBackup account as a network drive on your computer. You can then drag and drop files to the IBackup account from the Windows explorer. You can also manage all your multimedia content like video and audio files. Simply move your music and video files into your IBackup account and double-click on your multimedia files, it will open up your media player and plays the multimedia file.

[Dick Eastman]

iBackup.com charges $9.95 a month (or $99.95 a year) for only 5 gigabytes of storage. Mozy charges $4.95 a month for unlimited storage, has easy backups and restores of files and folders, and transfers only the modified parts of your files.

iBackup won the PC Magazine Editors' Choice award in 2004 while Mozy won the same award in 2006.

iBackup has one major advantage over Mozy: it works on both Windows and Macintosh.

I'd suggest comparing these two and several other backup services side-by-side to see which one meets your needs the best.

- Dick Eastman

[Will]

Great post - and I've really enjoyed reading all the comments. I run a small blog that is dedicated to Online Data Backup. Check it out if interested. Thanks for the great post.

[John Graham]

Dick, what you said re block level incremental backups in your response to mine of Dec 20th sounds fine in theory, but it's not the way Mozy is working for me.

It is now almost a month since I set up Mozy. In that time I have updated my files every day, sometimes twice a day, and have mozy set to check every two hours and backup if necessary. On at least five occasions during the month, Mozy has decided that it will back up all 720Mb of data, and has proceeded to do so unless I cancelled it (which has happened when I can't afford the overhead). On other occasions, it clearly only backed up 20Mb or so, presumably when it was working as it should have.

I am at a loss as to why so many full backups are necessary, but they have now reached the "very annoying" stage.

I'm sorry, but I wouldn't recommend Mozy to my mother-in-law.

[Dick Eastman]

That is interesting. I have been using Mozy on several computers now for about six months and the only big backups I have ever seen are the initial "baseline" backups performed when adding a new computer. Everything after that I have seen has been very quick incremental backups.

I suppose it is possible that a big backup was made when I wasn't seated at the computer. If so, I wouldn't know about it. However, every one that I know of has been short.

Have you asked the support folks at Mozy.com? In my (limited) experience, they have been quick to answer and have given accurate advice.

- Dick Eastman

[michelle79]

I discovered a Memopal (www.memopal.com) "cutting edge solution for online
backup"

They merged online backup, online storage and file sharing services into one product.