Off site (online) computer backup?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Hi all

I did a search on this subject but the most recent discussion was in 2010 so maybe some things have changed. I currently use an external hard drive to back up my photos/videos and any important documents. Since the drive sits pretty much next to my computer, I’d be scoobied if there were a fire, flood, apocalypse, etc. So I’ve started considering off site backup. Can anyone recommend one particular provider over another? I’m in the UK if that matters at all.

Thanks
Lee

2

Get another external HDD and rotate the two. Keep one in your car or at work or at a relative’s.

3

I’m using Picasa Web Albums to back up my photos, for the same reason. I like it because it’s really really cheap (5 a year for 20 GB, same /GB no matter how much you buy) and comes with adequate photo sharing/management. Flickr is slightly better for management (a photo can be in multiple albums) and limits you based on upload, not total storage, but it’s more expensive.

Disadvantages are that it’s not really suited for handling different versions of files and can’t handle other file types (it can do video though), unlike Dropbox.

Oh if you’re doing documents too, you can use Google Docs, their storage is shared with PWA (and Gmail).

4

Are there places that will rent you an absurd amount of space without any bells or whistles? We’re using Acronis to back up to an NAS in a different part of the house. Given Acronis, I don’t need to reinvent the wheel backup-wise. I’d just like to direct Acronis to an FTP site. I know there are file sharing platforms (Rapidshare) but again, don’t want any bells or whistles other than FTP access.

5

I use Crashplan, and I love it.

I have it installed on my laptop and my desktop. The laptop backs up to the desktop and to the internet, and the desktop backs up to an external drive. So, there are 4 copies of my (important) data available. The software is free. The only thing you pay for is backing up to their servers (“unlimited” space for one computer is $50/year, or less if you buy several years’ worth).

I have had to restore from (local) backup, and it went very smoothly. I have not had to restore from internet backup.

6

I’ve been using Mozy for data and Picassa for photos. Both are free.