As a computer repair technician by day, I am a huge proponent of security! This means paying attention to how users behave online in particular, but it also relates to data security. It is not uncommon for me to inquire of a business client whether or not they have a backup system in place. I’ve had clients recently lose a fair bit of data thanks to ransomware and other threats.
I myself, both as an author, and a creative as well, had been with an online backup company for several years before outgrowing the plan I could pay for. That reality, in combination with shrinking hard drive space thanks to two major projects I am working on, sent me scrambling for other backup solutions. The first solution I tried was by Gladinet. They offer what is termed “edit in place” which uses a combination of a cache on your harddrive, and your Internet connection to effectively create and/or edit files stored in your account on their server. The consumer level account however, began to show signs of anemia due to inability to control the number of versions of each file. I love the concept of versioning, but with Gladinet, only enterprise-level accounts could change the number of versions desired. That ate up the space pretty fast and I was on the prowl again for a better solution.
My research in the Spring of 2015, revealed quite a few online backup solutions out there! By this time however, I’d begun using an old laptop harddrive as an external drive, so now I needed a backup solution that could handle external drives. My digging reduced my list down to three options by late May and the testing began. The first solution completed the backup under the free trial, then as soon as I paid for the actual usage, the app quit working. When they found out I was using XP SP3 still, they offered a refund. A second service I tried almost fit the bill, but their file restore feature was not immediate, you had to wait anywhere from 10min to 30min or more to receive your file in zip format. That meant I had one more item on my list to confirm.
The last service I tried, fortunately became the new backup service I now use within the budget I can afford. Crashplan offers everything I am looking for, minus the ability to “edit in place”. I was even able to swap out the dying laptop harddrive with another external drive, change the drive letter to match, and have Crashplan carry on as if nothing happened! Secondly, their software works with XP, and their restore file feature happens immediately. I have their system set to back up any new or changed files every 15 minutes and it does so without bogging down the connection. The plan I signed up for is simply known as Crashplan Unlimited, and you pay for it yearly, which works out to under $5 per month, well within my affordability range! I’ve had to restore a couple files already, and the restore went smoothly.
So if you’re looking for an affordable backup solution online that won’t break the bank, check out Crashplan! My invite code is: G3V6UG
