I have had a number of EHDS's , different brands, and different capacities. A number of them have failed, but luckily I had things double backed up. I signed up for the Amazon unlimited file storage, but it is difficult to use. You can't put things in alphabetical order. It is just ordered by upload date. i just had to get a new computer since my old one was dying. Luckily i was able to get a new computer for Christmas and get things mostly transferred now before the old computer quit completely. I also bought a bigger EHD, but now i think i need o ohave an online backup, mostly for my photos,because EHD's eventually will fail. I have over 100,000 photos in my adobe photoshop organizer, and I have the photos backed up. I have seen previous storage discussions about what people have used, but i don't remember a discussion about which service worked better. Any input would be appreciated. I figure i can compare the cost, but i am more interested in features, ease of use, and if something goes wrong, how was it to get back and working again. Thanks for any help you can give me!
I use Backblaze. I had a bad experience with iDrive, but I know others love it. I've never tried Crashplan, because at the time I signed up, Backblaze was cheaper. What I like: It's cheap. It works. I can backup all my EHD's. I can download files straight from the web, and it's organized like my computer. If I lose my whole computer, I can pay for a drive sent to me, get everything running, and send the drive back for a refund (obviously, read the print on how it works). I know people who've restored everything @gonewiththewind and a few others, and it just worked for them. I agree with you about Amazon. I wanted to love it, but I didn't. So I stick to uploading my layouts to the Photo side.
I really should start an online backup system too. I've been managing it myself with EHDs and even keep one at work as my "offsite" backup, but there are still things that could go wrong with my system. watching this thread.
Watching this, too. I really don't want to do an off site plan and stick with just EHDs. But who knows!
I actually use both. I can't remember why I had one and signed up for the other, but I guess I'm double safe now!! Backblaze is $50.00 / year and Crashplan is $59.99 / year. I think Backblaze is a littler more cumbersome to use, but Crashplan really eats up memory on my system and I don't see that with BB. I don't believe CP offers an actual HD to be sent to you if you have a lot of data - I like that option, which is $189. If anyone is interested in BB, you can PM me - If I submit your name you can get a month free. I also have 2 EHD's - so I think I'm a little obsessed!!
I could have written that word for word! I use Backblaze. I love it -- especially since my internal HD died over the summer and my external backup was too small (I was "getting around to" getting a new one) so I didn't have everything backed up. BB mailed me an EHD with all my stuff on it, I kept it for 30 days while I replaced my HD and loaded all my stuff back onto it, then returned the drive to BB. Worked flawlessly and saved my bacon.
I am using Backblaze and am happy with them. I never had to fully restore but used it a couple of times to retrieve files. It is easy to use, cheap and offers unlimited space. I agree about Amazon. I use the Prime storage wich is unlimited for photos (or flattened layouts etc.) and it is so user unfriendly, I can't get my head around it. I LOVE Amazon but their strorage leaves a lot to be desired in terms of usage.
I'm a Backblaze user and ultimate fan! LOL It's easy to retrieve one or two files at a time using the download feature, but if you have a complete EHD failure, like I did, you can order all your files sent to you on a portable EHD. I find it super easy to use. I do check periodically to make sure that the backup is active.
I've been using BackBlaze for several years now. I also don't trust EHD's because I have had several just quit on me for no reason. With BackBlaze, you don't have to think about it. Open your laptop or turn on your computer, and it automatically backs things up. Easy peasy! Once a month, they send you a statement about your back ups. I have had to rely on them a few times, too. No problems with the downloads, either.
I've used Crashplan for the last few years. I can't remember why I chose that over backblaze, but I have been totally happy with it. I haven't noticed it using any system memory- I have it set to mostly back up at night when I'm not on the computer so maybe that helps. I have once deleted a few files & was easily able to find & download them again from crashplan. Happy customer here!
I've been using Backblaze for 7 or 8 years now and my only complaint is that when I reformatted my internal hard drive last spring it made Backblaze "forget" my computer -- including my EHD -- so I had to re-upload everything. Customer service has been timely and attentive, restoring files went smoothly, it's easy to see what's backed up (organized on their website exactly as I have it on my hard drives), they send me frequent emails to tell me what has been backed up, and it was easy to set up. Around the time I was trying out Backblaze for the first time I also tried Crashplan. Or maybe it was another one. It seemed to slow my computer down. Also, I remember there were some options back then that did not back up EHDs or charged extra for them. Backblaze doesn't care how many EHDs you have; you can choose to back up any number of them all for the same price bargain price of $5/month. Oh! There is another issue to consider. With Backblaze you have to keep your EHD attached, or at least attach it every 30 days. If not, it will think those files are deleted and delete them from their servers. That's why some people prefer other companies that keep everything you back up, including every version, every time you save something. Last spring when I had to start over with Backblaze after reformatting my computer, I considered switching to another company for that reason. But ultimately I decided to stick with what I know works, realizing that I don't want a huge cluttered back up of multiple versions of files and unwanted files.
Thanks you so much for all of your input! i will keep checking the thread for more updates before I sign up I have a number of computer friends and they all say "eventually EHD's will fail"! I have had it happen for no reason, without warning, ans well as knowing it was getting funky. I know a few online backup places have gone under, so that was what first led me to Amazon- I think they are going to be around for a while, and of course increase the cost Anyway i am ready and Back Blaze being just like your computer as well as being abuot to get things replaced with an EHD sounds like it might be best. Thanks again! I will let you know what i decide.
I know there's a process you can follow for this, because I've had to do it a few times when I've reformatted my HD. I missed it the first time, but found it the others.
Yes, I read about it in the help section. It didn't work. I might have reorganized some files on my EHD, so Backblaze didn't recognized it when I tried to reconnect. I don't know.
Glad this was asked...We have Crashplan and I just checked and realized an old dead EHD was listed but not the newer replacement! Got that sorted out ASAP!
It's more it figures you deleted it first. I actually like that feature because I think otherwise I would be more inclined to not keep my stuff organized. But I can totally see the downside for others.
But, if the EHD dies and you don't realize it for 31 days, will it delete the files you backed up from said EHD? edit: Ahh, just did some reading on their site. Looks like they email you to let you know an EHD is "missing" so you can investigate. Sometimes I go a month or so without touching my scrapping stuff, so I was nervous if the EHD died I might not realize in time and would still lose everything! edit again: also helpful, "change the schedule to "Backup only when I click <backup now>." While you're away from your external or secondary drives, do not click the Backup Now button or start any backups. That setting will prevent any forward progress on your backup while you're away (so newly created data while you're away will *not* be backed up), but will stop any disconnected drives from being purged from the Backblaze servers." I feel better now!
I am actually considering cancelling CrashPlan because of the memory issues. I have 2 EHDs that have a total of 5 TB of storage. I back up at least 3-4 TB to CrashPlan which are my photos and certain files I don't want to lose. A few days ago I noticed CrashPlan stopped backing up... again. If you back up more than a 1TB of information, CrashPlan needs to use more memory. It won't automatically allocate the memory. You have to manually go in and change information (instructions here) in one the text files to make this happen. It annoys me every time. I have 32 GB of ram, so allocating memory is not an issue, but I always get this message that "CrashPlan can't initialize." I have to go check the error log and make sure it's a memory thing and it always is because of the amount of data I am backing up. Now, they do email you if a drive is missing. I got an email at the 5-day mark. I have had an EHD die and CrashPlan kept my information. I was able to get a new EHD and change the drive letter to match the one that was backed up and continued from there without having to start over. Right now.... for me... CrashPlan has been a pain. Someone here mentioned BackBlaze doesn't have the memory issue which would be a plus for me. Talking to my husband and reasearching CrashPlan being run on a Java platform is why it has the limitations. I have read an article that says they plan to change that at some point, but they never mentioned when.
I've never had a memory issue with backblaze. I've had it a few years too, on computers ranging from 12 GB RAM to 16gb ram. @kendrawalter I have backblaze email me if it hasn't backed up the ehd at 14 days, and 21 days. I could do 7 too, but I find the 21 days is plenty of warning.
