Looking for a new cloud backup solution

Discussion in 'backup, imaging & disk mgmt' started by Fabian Wosar, Apr 4, 2016.

  1. Fabian Wosar

    Fabian Wosar Developer

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    I have been a CrashPlan user for 3 years now and my current subscription is about to expire. In general I am happy with CrashPlan and I would most like continue to subscribe if it wasn't such a huge pain to pay for it if you don't own a Credit Card. So before I go through the trouble of begging friends of mine to use their card again, I was wondering if one of you guys maybe knows a different service, that would fit my needs.

    My needs in general are simple:
    • Complete zero knowledge. Meaning the backup provider at no point in time has access to my encryption key and will only ever see encrypted data
    • Access to past versions of all backed up files of at least the past year
    • Possibility to pay via PayPal, GiroPay, Wire Transfer, or pretty much anything that isn't a credit card
    • Nice to have: Ability to sync files/data between devices (Windows PC and Android smartphone)
     
  2. phalanaxus

    phalanaxus Registered Member

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    I was looking at online backup services recently and nitrobackup seems to have what you want and allow paypal. However I didn't buy/try it so I can't comment on their services or legitimacy.
     
  3. Fabian Wosar

    Fabian Wosar Developer

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    Doesn't appear to be zero knowledge from what I can tell based on the website.
     
  4. phalanaxus

    phalanaxus Registered Member

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    I saw the ecnrypt word and assumed it was done clientside, after another look, it appears to be serverside as you said.
     
  5. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    Hi Fabian

    I will PM you tomorrow at Emsisofts forum.

    Pete
     
  6. hamlet

    hamlet Registered Member

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    You may have already seen this, but PC Magazine did a comparison of online backup services in February. You can see it at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2288745,00.asp.

    I don't know about the quality of their analysis, but the article at least lists some major tools so that you can go to their websites and check them out on your own.
     
  7. Tyrizian

    Tyrizian Registered Member

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    I recommend Sync.com

    • 100% Private Cloud - Sync's unique, zero-knowledge storage platform guarantees your privacy by providing end-to-end encryption, and only you have access to the keys.
    • Automatic backup and sync - Back up your files all in one place, and keep them synchronized across all of your computers and devices. Restore any version of any file, any time.
    • Access from anywhere - Easily access your files from anywhere with desktop apps for Windows and Mac, and mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, and the web.
    • Share files securely - Send files securely to anyone, even if they don't have a Sync account. Stay in control with password protection, notifications, expiry dates, and more
    • 500GB and 2TB buy options - Can be purchased through PayPal or Bitcoin
     
  8. Fabian Wosar

    Fabian Wosar Developer

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    Sync looks decent. Only thing I don't like about it is the restriction of only being able to essentially sync one folder. Will have to rethink how my data is organized to properly accommodate for that. Other than that it actually looks like a pretty good fit.
     
  9. MerleOne

    MerleOne Registered Member

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    I like CloudBerry Desktop Backup : you can select the cloud provider of your choice and can be reasonably sure the cloud provider doesn't know anything about your encryption key.
     
  10. whitedragon551

    whitedragon551 Registered Member

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    SugarSync looks to fit the bill and allows you to keep your file structure.
     
  11. beethoven

    beethoven Registered Member

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    Re Sync -while the 'about us' page does not provide any info on where the company is actually based, the press kit indicated that they are headquartered in Canada and privately held. Your stuff is on their server in Canada but does anyone know more about the reliability of this company, will they be around? I guess synch is different from backup but either way I would like to be sure that my data is safe and will be accessible when I need it. They only talk about privacy and encryption.
     
    Last edited: Apr 15, 2016
  12. Fabian Wosar

    Fabian Wosar Developer

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    SugarSync is not zero-knowledge. The company has access to your backups. So it's not an option for me. See also:

    https://support.sugarsync.com/hc/en-us/articles/204941810

    Sync was almost perfect. Problem with Sync is, they do not allow for differential uploads. Uploading a 20 GB Outlook data file over and over again because I got a mail isn't particularly appealing to me.
     
  13. whitedragon551

    whitedragon551 Registered Member

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    SpiderOak claims to be zero knowledge.
     
  14. Fabian Wosar

    Fabian Wosar Developer

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    I know. I tested them already. Biggest issue there is the lack of a decent mobile app. Their mobile app will transmit passwords to the server to perform decryption there which is something I don't want.
     
  15. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    The best part for me is that it has a Linux client, however the performance of their client software appears to be on the decline with newer versions. I stick with Dropbox on my Ubuntu x64 for now. Unfortunately copy.com went belly up, which was another major vendor that provides a Linux client. On Linux, there isn't much of a choice nowadays.
     
  16. Fabian Wosar

    Fabian Wosar Developer

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    Well, not sure why the Linux client should be on the decline. From the looks of it, SpiderOak is pretty much entirely written in Python. So both the Windows and Linux client are using exactly the same client and code base. Could be that the SpiderOak client itself is on the decline, but that wouldn't be OS specific. A friend of mine encountered a whole bunch of issues with the SpiderOak client (errors/exceptions, backup just freezing without notice, etc.). Personally I didn't have any problems. But I also didn't try to backup 100+ GB files as he did ;)
     
  17. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    You are right: it appears not only the Linux client, but also Windows counterpart also on downhill. I read user reviews online and it appears the performance of their software was losing steam.

    Anyway, the other thing that always puzzled me is that, I am not sure why box does not provide a client for Linux. Linux today is not what it used to be. With the new Ubuntu 16.04 LTS being released in no time, and the privacy concerns with Windows 10, the market share of Linux will sure goes up. The thing with Box is that it already has a Mac client, it will take little extra effort for them to port it to a Linux client. I just don't understand why such a small enterprise as Box has this kind of bureaucratism. It's ridiculous. Many ppl in their forums had to leave Box for Dropbox just because they work on Linux, and yet Box management does not see it.
     
  18. Fabian Wosar

    Fabian Wosar Developer

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    I don't see that happening at all. Seriously. Windows XP everyone said the same. Hardware activation! Windows is spying on you! Switch to Linux! The reality is, open-source developers are too occupied with their little religious wars as to do anything productive. If they don't start actually working together instead of flinging insults every time someone disagrees with them, I don't see anything changing at all.

    Then there is obviously this problem:

    https://xkcd.com/927/

    How many different competing init systems do they have by now? One mutating into a completely out of control beast. Don't even get me started with the mess that are GUI toolkits. Just try to get a normal desktop to look coherently with every software using a different GUI toolkit is ridiculous. Trying to stick to only GTK or only QT severely limits your choice in software to use and doesn't even cover the myriad of other smaller toolkits that for an inexplicable reason some people choose to use. Default dialogs behaving differently from software to software kills the user experience, especially for normal users.

    Bottom line: Unless the open source community gets their act together nothing will change for Linux on desktop. No matter how big Microsoft is going to screw up. But as long as bug tracker and mailing list threads are even more toxic than the average YouTube video's comment section I don't see that happening.

    I also can see why no traditional software development company is keen on supporting Linux in a traditional binary only model. Fragmentation in Linux is even worse than Android. People running around with just ridiculously outdated libraries. Ubuntu is one of the worst offenders in that regard. If the maintainer of a package no longer wants to update the package, there is no mechanism that would remove the package eventually. Instead it just sits there, rotting along. Unless it breaks something, nobody will ever remove it. That's why some of the packages in Ubuntu are just ridiculously outdated to the point where they stopped working properly a long time ago. But hey, they don't break something else, so better not remove it so we can boast with great numbers even though the version in our repository is from 5 years ago and the software package in question had 5 new major releases since then!
     
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2016
  19. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    Well, like you said, Ubuntu and Linux sure have their own problems, but I see Canonical is trying to solve there problems. e.g., some old library problem, especially when you run a old build of Ubuntu. However, if you use PPA rather than using the default software package in its official repository , or in 16.04 LTS, Snaps, you can install up-to-date software. Or, if people don't want to use PPA, then they can install more up-to-date software if you use the most recent Ubuntu release.

    Yes, some people are dying to use XP, but these are old generation of people, and they don't really matter in the future. Young people are quick to get their hands on anything that's interesting, be it Android, Desktop Linux OS, or iOS etc. Comparing Linux today to what it was 10 years ago, I can see a huge difference in its usability and popularity.

    Anyway, I realized this discussion is OT, but for me, personally I only use a cloud backup client software that has a decent Linux version. And thanks to your mention, I now know Crashplan has a Linux version, that I might try some day.
     
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2016
  20. Rigz

    Rigz Registered Member

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    I've used SpiderOak, and Sync.com.

    SpiderOak's client can be a little buggy sometimes, and they don't have a way to upload/backup a mobile (ios, android) device.

    I haven't run into any issues with Sync.com yet (been using the service for about 2 months).

    I was able to use Vanilla Visa prepaid cards from a convenience store with both services.
     
  21. Fabian Wosar

    Fabian Wosar Developer

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    Yeah, SpiderOak is a bit too unstable. I don't want to to constantly worry if the backup worked or not. So I will probably continue to stick with with CrashPlan and use sync.com or Tresorit to synchronize my smartphone with my workstation. That seems to be the best compromise. At least until SpiderOak fixes their client and provides a better mobile client.
     
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