First questions first: why would you call an online backup service Carbonite? Apparently, company management wanted something more distinct than all the variants on backupmydatanow.com-type names that you usually see for this kind of service. It seems no-one realised that this would lead to lots of random Star Wars references, but you can’t have everything.
Anyway, Carbonite, which has been running in the US since 2005, is now available locally for a fairly reasonable $59.95 a year. The big selling points are completely unlimited storage capacity (though you’d have to be careful not to blow your ISP limit using it) and totally automatic operation. Given how lazy practically everyone is about backup, it’s got to be worth considering. For now, it’s Windows only (XP and Vista), though a version for Mac OS X is scheduled sometime later this year. [Carbonite]
Jennifer
Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at 1:03 PMFor all online backup, file sharing and storage related info, I recommend this website:
http://www.BackupReview.info
Peter
Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at 3:25 PMThanks for the link, Jennifer.
I checked this website and found it to be extremely resourceful. This is where you need to read if you are interested to learn about online backup.
I also found out that the company referred here, Carbonite, to be the top pick of this ranking website.
Cheers,
Arthur K
Tuesday, June 10, 2008 at 10:28 AMPeter
I would be really intereted to know how you went with Carbonite? I work for the company that distributes it here in Aust and am keen on some real user feedback.
Thanks
Arthur K
Jason Patterson
Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at 12:52 PMCarbonite offer a good service, but there are many more offerings out there in the online backup space, such as Australia’s own Angel Backup which is great if you want backup for a small business.
There are some interesting comparisons between the two, such as this one comparing Carbonite with Angel Backup, and Adam B’s blog comparing four of the top providers.
Arthur K
Monday, September 21, 2009 at 4:02 PMAngel backup looks like a reasonable service. Pricing looks OK. The challenge is credibility. Not that Angel Backup has a problem, but I have never heard of it. You need to feel secure that the company backing you up has the funds behind to be there tomorrow and in 3 years time. Carbonite with over 500k customers, has that. Secondly, looked at the support available. Looks like email only. Carbonite offers, telephone (AU phone number), email plus 24/7 chat support. Good luck with the program.
Moz
Friday, December 19, 2008 at 11:47 AMI’m in a world of pain with Carbonite. It’s creating conflicts leading to crashes, its UI has stopped working, tech support takes days to respond… My conclusion is you get what you pay for, and this is clearly one of the cheapest options going. At least don’t make my mistake and pay for 3 years to get a discount. Do take some time to read the forums out there before committing to any period.