Online backup

I am considering having a online backup service. which service should i go with? why ?
I see a lot of company providing online backup for free,are they good as they sound?
Or is it worth having an online backup service?

 

Hello,

If you do use it, I'd suggest you fully and completely and heavily encrypt your data:

Any which way you want:

1. Create a TrueCrypt volume (as a file), save data into it.
2. AxCrypt individual files and make the archives executable.
3. Rename .exe to .old or such.
4. Rar/zip the data with a strong password.

Use 2-3 of the above combined, remember what you do. I would probably:
- Rar folders with a strong password
- Axcrypt these rars (and make them into executables)
- Copy the exes into the TrueCrypt volume
- Upload the single volume to your online service
- Use a different password for each three

Cheers,
Mrk

P.S. Keep TrueCrypt and portable 7-zip on a USB drive, so you have the ability and mobility in extracting this data anywhere you go.

 

Do you really need better than one million years?

 

Hello,
If your password is 12345, it won't take a million years.
Besides, when you give your personal data for safekeeping into the hands of a perfect stranger, it really does not hurt to make extra precaution and do a little bit of extra encryption.
Mrk

 

Not really my favorite backup solution. I prefer to keep things like that in my own hands.
A total stranger, who I don't even know personally, is always risky.
Free ? Free has always a price, there is often a reason behind free.

If you want to infect computers, make it free, because free is attractive, the same with backup.

If you want to steal data via backups, make it free and there are always users, who won't use encryption.

Encryption is absolutely necessary, in case of on-line backup.

 

Some do both. I've been using Mozy for about a year now. The free part restricts you to 2GB but if it is just documents then that may be perfectly adequate. I wouldn't dream of using it for backing up an entire drive and that isn't its intended market.

If I need more space then I can pay $4.95 per month for unlimited (for personal use) storage. I've not had any problem with it and I've recovered a few files in earnest over the time so I feel it has been 'worth' it .

As far as encryption goes, this is taken from their site:

"128-bit SSL encryption: The same technology used by banks secures your data during the backup process.

448-bit Blowfish encryption: Secures your files while in storage, providing peace of mind that your private data is safe from hackers."

That is good enough for my purposes and, if it wasn't, then it is not the sort of data I would be trusting to anyone else's server anyway .

Graham

 

Online backup is useful to add a bit of redundancy (multiples copies of a give file)
I wouldn't use online backup without encrypting my files.

 

Must agree here (for reasons in addition to the obvious security issues).
If something horrible happens to my puter, and I find myself in deperate need of my backup files to resurrect my machine, said files (on a remote server somewhere) are of little use if my machine will not boot or I find that I have lost internet connectivity.

 

Thanks to all for the inputs.

 

I guess it depends on what you are backing up and why. I am only backing up data and only after it has already been imaged and copied to various locations locally. The online backup is my safety net and can also be handy if I need to get some files when I'm away from home.

The OP didn't specify if this was for data files or a complete system backup but in the event of computer failure then my local images are my first port of call. Mozy is mainly for the house burning down scenario .

Agreed, but I would expect that most decent backup services these days would encrypt before sending the files.

Graham

 

Agreed. A layer of redundancy.

I'm talking about the encryption done by the user, not the encryption done by the service

 

I doubt anyone who uses TrueCrypt would use such a password. If they did then they need to follow your multiple schedule.