Anybody use Carbonite (or a similar backup/storage service?) Anybody like it?
Techie questions… A backup service needs to protect me from myself. What if I erase a file or folder. How long before the backup service also deletes it, thus preventing me from recovering it, which, after all, is the whole point?
Or, suppose I’m stupid and overwrite a file. I’m word processing my Great American Novel, and accidentally overwrite it with today’s grocery list. If the backup service synchronizes, then my masterpiece is lost, right? (Literary critics of the future may thank me for having done this…)
Sounds like what you want is revision control, not backups. (Note: the fact that you’re using revision control does not obviate the need for backups.)
Most word processors these days have some revision control features built in. If you want something more general, you could sign up for a service like GitHub and use one of the many easy GUI frontends for Git. Or use the commandline if you’re feeling adventurous.
Trinopus, I would call what you’re looking for a backup service – and they probably would, too. (friedo, I won’t say that you’re wrong, just that services marketed at consumers often don’t use precise terminology.)
I don’t use Carbonite myself, but here’s what they have to say:
ETA: That doesn’t necessarily mean that a still-present file won’t be synched sooner, however. I didn’t watch their videos or search much of their site, but I suspect that question is answered too.
I’m using Crashplan+ - $50 a year for unlimited storage. I’m in the process of uploading 80gb worth of stuff. You can set how many versions to keep, how long to keep them and whether to delete old versions. My plan is set to upload a new version of the backup file every fifteen minutes, and to keep a weeks worth of fifteen minute backups, then, after a week, it switches to holding 1 back for each week for a total of 90 days.
I chose Chrashplan because it’s cheaper than Mozy for the amount of stuff I’m backing up and because Paul Thurott uses it. He says it’s reliable and I trust his experience with it. http://www.crashplan.com/consumer/crashplan-plus.html
For more immediate file recovery needs, I use Recova, from Piriform (they make CCleaner.) It scans for files you’ve deleted from your computer or emptied from the Bin.
It won’t work miracles but if you discover the problem quickly, Recuva should be able to find the file for you.
Thank you, all y’all! One question answered, and one I’ll need to do more research on… I’m tempted by a home version-control program. And I do frequent backups to local external hard disks… (Incredible how much storage you can get, so cheaply! 2 Tb for around a C-note! I love the information age!)