My encounter with David Friend:
You probably missed it, but on my post about backup methods, I have been corresponding with Dave Friend, the CEO of Carbonite. Seems that he found out about my blog post and decided to do everything he could to look into my problem.
Color me impressed.
It’s so great to see a CEO so dedicated to the quality and public perception of his company that he takes the time to personally comment on blog entries. He also e-mailed me a number of times in order to try to help me with my problem.
Unfortunately, the end result was that they are aware that a few Mac users are having this sort of problem where the backup stalls. It’s not everyone, but it does affect some of us, and they are working on it. He also made sure that I got the refund I requested.
Given this level of service, I would love to be able to continue to use Carbonite, and offered to be a test subject as they try to fix this problem. I thought Carbonite was great for my PC. Unfortunately, I do want to be sure that my computer is backed up, and can’t afford to wait until the Carbonite problems are fixed.
Even though the end result is that I’m still not using Carbonite, I’m very happy with how this turned out. My opinion of the company is once again very positive, and I will be recommending them to all the PC users I encounter. Clearly, this is a company run by people who truly care about their product and their customers, and that’s so important.
So thank you, Dave Friend, for all your help and for your comments. You provide a great service to PC users (and most Mac users) and I trust that soon, Carbonite will be an excellent service on both platforms.
Your say
This is a review undertaken by TechwizBackup:
The two heavyweights in the online backup industry – Carbonite and Mozy – and the pros and cons of each.
If you’re looking at online storage, you know the two big heavyweights are in the field: Carbonite and Mozy. But if you put them in a boxing ring, let them knock it out, who wins by KO? For TechWizBackup, there are a few qualifiers that need to be explained before announcing the official winner.
Storage Space: Both Carbonite and Mozy Home versions offer unlimited space storage if you pay the monthly/annual fee. However, with Mozy, you get 2 GB of storage for free. Round 1 – Mozy.
Price: Annually, Carbonite is about $4.58 per month while Mozy is $4.35 per month, so they’re cents apart. But Carbonite also offers a 15-day free trial; Mozy does not but again they do offer up to 2 GB of space for free. Round 2 – Draw.
Ease-of-Use: Both are fairly user-friendly and easy to navigate although there was one common complaint among both users: it takes a while for the initial memory save but after that, timing wasn’t an issue. But to be fair, that’s a pretty common complaint among all online storage sites. Carbonite is a bit more direct and has an easier interface. Round 4- Carbonite.
Backup Process/Security: Both sites allow either scheduled or automatic backup options, so you can “set-and-forget.” In terms of security, bth are extremely safe, using all sorts of encryption methods likened to that used by the U.S. government. Round 3 – Draw.
Carbonite – 1 win, 1 draw; Mozy 1 win, 1 draw. It truly depends on your personal preference. If you plan on backing up anything larger than 2GB, I’d say the friendlier Carbonite user interface gives it a slight edge. Carbonite is my personal choice but I know many here who use and love Mozy. Test it out for yourself since Carbonite has a free trial offer and Mozy lets you store up to 2GB each. Let the best site win!
Your say
Pinay Ads had a some downtime recently:
What I like about Carbonite is that they have their own twitter account. You can see their updates and even customer feedback.
Anyway, about my site, obviously it is up again. I just contacted my hosting support center. It was a bit inconvenient having my blog down for three hours but I’m glad I learned something new about backing up my files.
If your data or file is your life, and if you’re not backing it up regularly, you’re dealing with disaster. So backup your entire computer to save for the worst.
Your say
A sound review of Carbonite here!
Carbonite has a very simple interface, so easy, grandparents are actually subscribing to it to protect their family genealogy pictures and docs. It gives you unlimited backup for just AU$79.99. What does unlimited mean? It means you can backup as much as you want as long as it is on your PC. It’s new remote access service also gives you the ability to access your files over the net for anywhere you are. In reality though, online backup services are really there for your critical docs not for everything on your PC. Carbonite is great because it comes with almost 24/7 support via chat (US) and you can also talk to the local office.
Again a 30 day free trial is available. Give it a go.
Your say
Calahan Solutions suffered a bit of a disaster recently. This is what saved them.
Come on now! Did you really think that with all of my talk of business continuity planning that I did not have some kind of backup? I just had to get you with a bit of suspense.
My good buddy and business strategist, Joy Duling (http://twitter.com/a25hourday) told me about Carbonite a long time ago and I thought, wow too good to be true…. Then HER computer crashed. Within a few days she was able to get a new computer and recover all of her data and roll back to business, no problem. That had me sold! I was going and getting Carbonite. No more time consuming copying files to disk process for me!
Your say
This is what Alfredo – Web Designer had to say about Carbonite:
Carbonite Online Backup Service also has an official YouTube channel where customers can learn more about the product and where current users can look for videos on helpful tips and updates such as How to Change the Options in Your Carbonite Infocenter, How to Add Files and Folders to Your Backup and many more.
With what I have learned about Carbonite, I’m thinking of protecting myself with this service.
Your say
This is what the Entrepreneur Magazine had to say about Carbonite for new business start ups:
We’re all for saving money on technology, but don’t skimp too much when it comes to data backup. External hard drives that connect to your computer or network are a good start. But off-site backup is even better for protection against natural disasters, damage or theft. For inexpensive, automatic online backup of a single system, look into a $50-per-year service like Carbonite.
Your say
Pocket Lint did a quick review of Carbonite for Mac:
The good
- Runs quietly in the background, auto mode seems comprehensive enough, remote access from any computer
The bad
- Ongoing costs, initial backup can take an age, lacks the gloss of Time Machine
Verdict
- For sheer simplicity and ease of use, we give Carbonite a thumbs up
Your say
BestOnlineStorage.com, a website that features reviews and articles on computer backup methods has named Carbonite Editor’s Choice for the Best Online Backup and Storage Solution. Here is an extract from the press reslease:
Although not the first provider to offer online backup services, Carbonite does hold the distinct advantage of being the first to offer unlimited storage for a flat fee. Prior to Carbonite’s entry into the online backup industry in 2006, backup service providers were charging by the gigabyte. Carbonite’s introduction of unlimited backup space not only made the service more affordable but also encouraged more computer users to adopt better data loss prevention methods.
To date, Carbonite has backed up over 25 billion files, retrieved more than 2 billion files for small businesses and home users, and is now available in different language versions including French, German, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, and Japanese. Carbonite Backup has also released in March 2009 its MAC version for OS 10.4 or 10.5.
“It’s not surprising that Carbonite has served this many customers and grown so fast in such a short span of time,” said Van Slooten. “The service is reliable, easy to use, and automatically backs up your computer for less than $5 a month. That is a small price to pay for the peace of mind you get from knowing your files are completely safe,” he added.
Your say
This is what Kitten on the Keyboard had to say about her PC problems:
I’m so glad I purchased and installed Carbonite. It has all my files (and most of my programs) backed up off my computer so that all I have to do is click a few links to reinstall everything. The first time I had to use it, I was amazed as I watched my folders reappear on my desktop as if by magic. For some reason, lately I’ve had some trouble getting it all downloaded in a reasonable time frame, but I finally figure out how to do it (I should be an expert by now, but sadly for some reason, I can’t get it to work the first time). And until then, my files, photos, music, data, etc are all safe.
I purchased a 350gb portable external drive where I plan to store everything, but it hasn’t come yet. The new drive has a USB connection so I won’t have to keep it connected and maybe have it screwed up, or get a virus, or whatever else might hurt it.
I’ll keep Carbonite as my main back-up for the time being. You know, a sort of belt and suspenders type thing until I figure out whether this is a good idea or not.
Your say
This is what Carbonite Australia had to say about backing up tax returns:
If you are using something like eTax to complete your tax return I would really encourage you to look into an online backup service like Carbonite. For just $71.95 pa it offers real peace of mind, because inevitably your PC will die and with it will also go the hours of work you have put into preparing your tax return.
Backing up eTax is really easy. eTax sits on your C: drive. Just find the folder via Windows Explorer. You will also see the files you have created for yourself. Their extensions are .TAX and .BAK. Right click on them and select Backup with Carbonite.
Carbonite is the ideal online backup solution for all user of eTax 2008.
Your say
This is what NoiseNotNoise had to say:
Carbonite comes up trumps in all these categories, the storage is “unlimited” I guess they might have something to say if you start storing 100’s of gigabytes but my 70 odd gigabytes have been no problem. Backup speed is rather slow, about 4 gigs a day seems to be the limit regardless of the connections speed, but that’s plenty fast enough once you have completed the initial backup of your machine.
Restoring files is a synch, just open the control system preferences, chose Carbonite, pick a file and restore it to its original location, or a location of your choise. Carbonite is also pretty good at versioning, keeping daily, weekly and monthly backups.
So Carbonite is easy to use, but how safe is your data? Well Carbonite encrypts data with Blowfish encryption and if your super sensitive you chose to manage your own key – so Carbonite physically can’t access any of your files, although that does mean if you loose it you can’t recover your files!
Your say
This what Nore Tech Systems had to say:
It is always good to have online photo backup, especially if a person has many irreplacable and memorable pictures on his or her computer. Both the Mozy and Carbonite backup programs are great to have. Mozy has a free version for people who do not need to back up that much data, while Carbonite has a low fee for unlimited storage space. Always look for reviews on both products before getting them, though, because one may have features that the other program does not. To avoid a horrible loss of memories due to data corruption or a PC crash you must backup your digital photos.
Your say
