There are lot of discussions on backup to external hard disk and not much in online storage.
Yes, backup to external hard disk is easy, faster and simple. You can store as much data as you wish in your external disk. But, what if the external storage disk is corrupted/missing/....? Or, what if you want to access your data from internal, where your system/external disk is not accessible? In this case, you can choose online backup service. You need not to bother about maintaining your backup data and storage. The backup service provider will take care of all worries. Instead of uploading all your system data, you can wisely choose what data should be backed up to the online backup service. If you want best of both worlds, you can configure different backup jobs to your external disk drive and replicate the important backup job data alone to the online backup service. -- Aravind, Vembu Technologies. On Nov 28, 2:35 pm, Bruce Ryan <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Jane > > > 2. I also have been looking at online backup sites, in addition to a > > physical back up. Carbonite looks good to me, but I am not familiar with > > the pros and cons of online. I would value your opinion. > > pro > - if your mac and backup become unavailable (as might happen if your house > burns down or is burgled), you can get your data back! > - backups should be available 24/7, so if you're away from your mac and find > you need some data, you can download it to a computer where you are right now > - backups will be encrypted and held in secure premises > - providing the hardware is the online provider's problem > - if you have several macs/PCs to back up, even if they are on several sites, > you may be able to buy a family deal. > > con > - slow initial upload speed (It took about 30 days to upload 150 GB of data > from my mac.) > - need to have internet access to retrieve stuff > - costs are ongoing (but hard disks don't last forever) > - backups are encrypted - you need to remember your login details if you want > to retrieve data and are away from the mac that's connected to your account > > Both local HDs and online should offer incremental backup, so that you can > retrieve previous versions of files. > > To get around these limitations, I suggest doing both. > - Time Machine hourly incremental backups (or CarbonCopyCloner daily > incremental backups) to a local HD will provide immediate access to stuff at > home, without any need to go online, remember passwords, etc. > - Online backup is there as a last resort or for when you're away from home > and find you don't have the files you need. > > I've had good experience with CrashPlan (good customer service, a family deal > to cover up to 10 computers for $6 per month). They also offer a service > where you can use their software to back up to another device on a another > site (such as a friend's mac or PC) for free. Of course, this depends on > having a friend who has drive space and will leave their mac switched on and > online for you to backup to it. IIRC data would be encrypted so your friend > couldn't access your data unless you give away your password.) > > I can't comment on how CrashPlan compares to other online backup providers. > Of course, CrashPlan **claims** to be better - > seehttp://www.crashplan.com/business/compare.html#stackup. You might want to > try them and other providers' trial periods to see which suits you. > > I hope this helps and isn't patronising. > > Bruce -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list
