# Carbonite and other Off Site Storage **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 25, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonite-and-other-off-site-storage/610560 "2012-01-25T00:48:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonite-and-other-off-site-storage/610560/1 "2012-01-25T00:48:31Z")
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…) How’s it work? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonite-and-other-off-site-storage/610560/2 "2012-01-25T01:23:27Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![StephenG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@StephenG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StephenG)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonite-and-other-off-site-storage/610560/3 "2012-01-25T01:30:17Z")
**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: > [@http://www.carbonite.com/en/home/online-backup-software/easy-to-use](#): > > 1. If you accidentally delete a file or folder… > > It will remain in your backup for 30 days before being deleted from our servers. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Marconi\_N.Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Marconi\_N.Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marconi_N.Cheese)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonite-and-other-off-site-storage/610560/4 "2012-01-25T02:07:02Z")
I’m using [Backblaze](http://www.backblaze.com/) to backup 3 computers. It supports file versioning, up to four weeks worth of changes. It’s really cheap peace of mind. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonite-and-other-off-site-storage/610560/5 "2012-01-25T03:54:16Z")
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](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. > **[Download Recuva | Recover deleted files, free!](https://www.ccleaner.com/recuva)** > > Recover and un-delete files with Recuva, the award-winning file recovery tool by the makers of CCleaner. Download the latest version today. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonite-and-other-off-site-storage/610560/6 "2012-01-25T17:38:42Z")
I signed up for Carbonite mainly for peace of mind in case of a house fire or something. I’ve never had to use their services, but I have a little icon that says my files are safe. It’s only about $8 a month, so worth it to me. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonite-and-other-off-site-storage/610560/7 "2012-01-26T01:26:25Z")
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!)