Recommended: Carbonite Unlimited Online Backup

I take my computer backups pretty seriously. While I've backed up religiously for as long as I've been in the IT industry, about 5 years ago I got caught with my backups down.

My trusty laptop's disk, without any warning at all, completely died. I mean dead-as-a-doornail. I was quoted $500 to recover it, but I felt my weekly data backups and email routines were enough, so I started the recovery process.

What I found out was that, just because I was able to recover most all of my files, that didn't mean recovery was going to be easy or quick.

At that time, I was archiving copies onto data CDs and DVDs, copying important files to my servers, and using Windows Backup to snapshot the important directories on my laptop (saving the BAK file onto the server).

Keeping up with this backup routine was tedious and required a commitment that most people are unwilling to make to snapshot monthly, archive regularly, and manually keep track of everything. But, especially given that I hound my clients to keep up with backups, I felt it was worth it.

When disaster struck, I wasn't too worried. I simply purchased a replacement drive (taking the opportunity to purchase a larger one), then started the re-install of EVERYTHING. I've discussed this disaster previously in this article: http://www.mojocode.com/content/acronis-nifty-company-does-software-and-...

I found that I was missing some files, missing some install CDs for software I had, missing some install codes for that same software, etc. etc. etc. I invested 3 days before I was even close to having a system that was useful in my work.

Everything seemed to take forever as I was completely down. The re-install was agonizing. For example, Windows XP, with all of the latest service pack and patches, took about 2 hours to install.

As another example, my VB6 developer's environment consisted of VB6, MSDN library, about 8 add-on developer ACTIVEX components, and countless folders of software in various states of development. Add in some service packs and miscellaneous fiddling about and it took almost 8 hours to rebuild my developer's environment. That was just for VB6. That doesn't count all the other environments I use on a regular basis.

Anyway, I lost more than 3 days of billable time trying to get my system back to were I could use it, then spent another 3 weeks getting things back to where I liked them!

I vowed that wouldn't happen again. So, since then, I've used Acronis to "image" (take a complete copy that can be restored to an empty drive) my laptop's drive (currently about 150GB worth of information) to my 1TB USB backup drive every single week, at the minimum. I also image my drive before each trip or any time I feel a little nervous. The initial image takes about 2 hours, but each week it only takes about 10 minutes to pick up any differences and create a snapshot that I can restore from. My initial backup takes about 130gb and each week's incremental is normally 2 to 5gb.

Acronis lets me feel comfortable that I can start with a bare drive and get back to where I was on Monday in just an hour or two.

But that has left me with a problem: what about the other 6 days worth of information? Anything I've emailed is completely archived on my "cloud-based" email server, so I can get a lot back that way, but what about my other critical information:

• Pictures I've removed from my camera's SD card and loaded into Picasa, but haven't moved to the cloud (facebook, picasa web, etc.)?
• Music I've purchased?
• PDF copies of invoices, bills, statements, and other important documents?
• License codes for software?
• DRM (which I try to avoid, but can't always)?
• Software I've developed, but not applied to version control?
• Office 2003 files like Excel, Word, and Powerpoint that I've created, but haven't emailed to someone, yet?

One of the things I've learned by recovering from my own disaster is how difficult it can be to remember what you've been working on since the last backup!

To round out my backup strategy, I needed some way of backing up all of my data goodness without loosing ANYTHING! Oh, and I want it to be instantaneous and inexpensive. It would be nice if there were no extra charges based on how much or how often I backed up...

That's where Carbonite steps in. For about $1 per week, Carbonite will back up whichever files on your system that you want backed up and they will be backed up every time there is a change (every day you have internet access).

It works very simply. First, you sign up for an account and install the software. (You can also install the software for a 30 day trial.) The program will scan the usual places that your data should be stored and start backing it up. The first backup will take a some time, depending on how fast your internet connection is and how much data you have to backup. It is normal for the first backup to take several hours or even days. Once the first backup is done, only the files that are added or changed will have to be transferred and that takes just a few minutes each day (not that you have to do anything about it!).

If you are a typical user, then that is all you have to do. When you need to restore a file, you just open the InfoCenter, select your file from previous versions that have been backed up, select to restore it, and then just wait for it to show up!

But wait, there's more!

I have about 10GB of online storage that I can access from anywhere. I've been using rsync (a great open source program) to keep some of my critical files synchronized between my "cloud-based" VPS and my laptop. This gives me access from anywhere to those critical files, as long as I can get the right WebDAV support, etc. working. I mean, it works, but it isn't as brain-dead simple as I want it to be.

Carbonite fixes that by providing web browser based access (they call it "remote access") to any file I've previously backed up. There's a nice folder-based navigation interface that allows me to dig down and find any file that's been copied (even while the backup is being run from my laptop). This is great for those times when I don't have my laptop up and running and don't want to have to hassle with booting up. I just get on any computer, log in on the Carbonite website, and I have access to all of my important files without having to use a remote access solution to get to my laptop. I can then grab the file and attach it to an email, or whatever I needed it for (posting that goofy picture to facebook?), and I'm off.

Here are a few more great features:

• Control the windows of time when backups can occur (this is important to me because at home, I use a cell data provider for internet access and they have a monthly data limit).
• Ability to back up large (4gb) files, which are normally omitted. Note that some potentially large files, like your Outlook PST file, may be larger the 4gb. Don't worry about it changing and having to back up 4gb, though: Carbonite's smart backup process will only be backing up the changes which, unless you do some heavy maintenance on the file, should be realitively small.
• Ability to set backup priority (optimizes for performance vs. speedier backups).
• A nifty status panel tells you how things are going
• No special file management interface, you just use "My Computer" (Windows Explorer) to mark any special files you want backed up
• "Set it and forget it" allows you to keep things current without having to mess about
• Want to know if an important file has been backed up? In "My Computer" (or even on the desktop), look for the little green dot or yellow dot next to the file name or icon. A green dot means it is safely backed up, a yellow dot means it will be, and no dot means it won't be backed up. Want to keep a file from backing up? Right-click on it and select the "Carbonite/Don't back this up" option.
• Refer Friends; let's you get a discount if you refer folks and they sign up
• No risk, 30-day free trial
• Works with a Apple Mac or Microsoft PCs
• I got a discount on my subscription for signing up right away, instead of waiting for the end of my trial

There are a couple caveats, but none of them are show stoppers for me:

• Speed: you do trade speed for convenience. A complete backup can easily take a few days. Recovery can also take awhile. It can't possibly be as fast as a USB drive, so don't expect it to be.
• Networks: you currently can't backup network or external (USB) drives with Carbonite. You have to copy these files to your C: drive first, then they will make their way onto the Carbonite backup (assuming you select those folders manually or they are in the user profile folders).
• Lots of users means lots of subscriptions: you pay per computer for Carbonite. This can start to feel a little pricey, if you have a lot of users. However, if you factor in the cost of a big enough USB backup drive for each user and the backup software license, you probably spend more than $50 per user per year backing up laptops (you are backing up your user's laptops, right?).
• No organizational console: It isn't sold as a multi-user solution, so the interface is set up per user. You just need to set up one account per user, then you can get in to see how backups are going without having to access their computers. This capability would be a nice feature, though (an organizational status/configuration console).

After using it for the time I've had it, I've found Carbonite to be a great "cloud-based" backup solution. Used in conjunction with my laptop imaging backup solution (which allows me to do a bare-metal restore), it gives me the security of knowing that all of my important files are ready and available in case of disaster, a simple goof on my part, or for those times when I need access to an important file, but don't have access to my laptop. If my laptop fails, my USB backup drive fails, or everything is stolen or goes up in flames, I'll still have my Carbonite backup with all my important files safe and secure.

Update August 25, 2009: It has been 25 days since I installed Carbonite and I'm still happy with it! It is important to note, I think, that it took all 25 days to backup my files, but it is also important to note that I had 118,345 files totaling 38.5 GB and I restricted my backups to only happen during business hours (I have metered service at home). Your mileage may vary. I like how Carbonite works, though, as I can see it backup any new files I create, shortly after I create or change them.

Are you concerned that the cost of Carbonite is only for one PC? Here's a secret: my order confirmation included an e-coupon for 50% off Carbonite for a second PC for the first year.