Mozy is a life saver
I've been using Mozy for my backup needs for a few months now. Mozy is a free client that automates backups on your computer. They support Windows now with a Mac version coming soon. (Scott Pinkston blogged about the Mac client a few weeks ago.) With my Windows being down I've really had to rely on Mozy's restoration service. All you do is logon to the web site and you can then browse your stored files. Find the file you want (like a Thunderbird mail folder) and Mozy will begin the restore process. You basically just wait for an email (this took about 1-2 minutes) and you can then download the file. A few weeks back I paid for the unlimited service which is a deal at 5 bucks a month.
Comments
tinfoil moment - do you encrypt your files before putting them up there? I'm too paranoid to use online backup services still =\
# Posted By DK
| 4/25/07 8:21 AM
No. If they want to read my email, they can. ;)
# Posted By Raymond Camden
| 4/25/07 8:31 AM
Thanks for the reminder-- I've got to get my boss' computer off of XDrive, which is just awful, and give Mozy a try.
# Posted By Tom Mollerus
| 4/25/07 8:51 AM
I have a ton of space my ISP provides which I don't use so I FTP important stuff up there once a month or so... Is Mozy hands off once you set it up?
# Posted By Jim Priest
| 4/25/07 9:04 AM
Jim, very much so. Pick the folders, schedule a time for backup, and thats it. I tend to forget about it - except when I need it (like now).
# Posted By Raymond Camden
| 4/25/07 9:09 AM
@ray,
if you put client stuff up on there do you/would you ask them first? My head starts spinning when I think of all the permutations of using online backups provided by someone else =\
if you put client stuff up on there do you/would you ask them first? My head starts spinning when I think of all the permutations of using online backups provided by someone else =\
@jim,
yeah it's hands off. At least the macMozy client is, so i suspect the PC Mozy is as well. I was a loyal Carbonite user, until moving to the mac and waiting, and waiting, and waiting for their mac beta to start. Then stumbled onto MacMozy beta.
Love me the mac mozy.
Also @DK you can provide your own encryption key if you so choose.
yeah it's hands off. At least the macMozy client is, so i suspect the PC Mozy is as well. I was a loyal Carbonite user, until moving to the mac and waiting, and waiting, and waiting for their mac beta to start. Then stumbled onto MacMozy beta.
Love me the mac mozy.
Also @DK you can provide your own encryption key if you so choose.
# Posted By John Wilker
| 4/25/07 9:12 AM
I use the unlimited Mozy in my home / office, and at the office of my biggest client, persuaded the business manager to install the "business" version on about a half-dozen machines. It's so EASY, set-it forget-it... until you need the backups! You even get a crude variety of versioning going back 30 days or so if you have a changing file saved with a given name multiple times over that span.
What I WON'T forget is the wonderful feeling the one and only time I had to turn to a Mozy backup to rescue myself. Five bucks a month? No cost at all for the value of the service.
What I WON'T forget is the wonderful feeling the one and only time I had to turn to a Mozy backup to rescue myself. Five bucks a month? No cost at all for the value of the service.
# Posted By James Edmunds
| 4/25/07 9:14 AM
Sounds good - no Linux client - but I like their 'alternatives to using Mozy': "Run a cron job of rsync, gzip and mcrypt piped over ssh to your friend's server over his DSL line."
Thats what I need to setup :) But I do run into a lot of people with no PC skills that don't backup at all and this looks ideal.
Thats what I need to setup :) But I do run into a lot of people with no PC skills that don't backup at all and this looks ideal.
# Posted By Jim Priest
| 4/25/07 9:22 AM
Yeah, with me going to Ubuntu (until I get the new mac this summer), I'll be w/o it on my primary PC. Thats kind of scary. I'll have to copy Thunderbird/Projects manually to my Mac.
# Posted By Raymond Camden
| 4/25/07 9:27 AM
I haven't messed with it yet but I have SBackup bookmarked as a good Gnome backup option. I heard about it in the Ubuntu forums. I've just been waiting to move to 7.04 before doing much...
http://sbackup.sourceforge.net/FeatureList
Ideally I can set it up to backup to another machine in the house, as well as somewhere remote.
Jim
http://sbackup.sourceforge.net/FeatureList
Ideally I can set it up to backup to another machine in the house, as well as somewhere remote.
Jim
# Posted By Jim Priest
| 4/25/07 9:51 AM
The only thing I do not love about Mozy is sometimes, for apparently no reason, it likes to take 100% CPU usage. That is until I kill its service.
# Posted By Kevin Benore
| 4/25/07 10:44 AM
I use Backup for Workgroups, but have been looking for a way to back up the backups off-site.
MozyPro looks intriguing. Amazon S3 would be cheaper for me, though.
Anyone build a CF Interface to Amazon S3, yet?
MozyPro looks intriguing. Amazon S3 would be cheaper for me, though.
Anyone build a CF Interface to Amazon S3, yet?
# Posted By Jeff Houser
| 4/25/07 11:44 AM
Mozy tends to stop for me if the connection drops (while the computer is going into standby or something.. and then it never restarts by itself.. *shrug*
I bought a 250GB disk ($70) just for backups and use Vista's built in backup tools. Its does a complete backup every night, its easy to use and easy to restore. And it's local so i don't have the security issues or failed backups if the tubes are clogged
TJ - that works great til your house (insert disaster here).
Best solution is a local backup AND a remote backup. Then you are covered completely. If you had someone you could trust that lived nearby you could have two external drives and swap them out occasionally.
Best solution is a local backup AND a remote backup. Then you are covered completely. If you had someone you could trust that lived nearby you could have two external drives and swap them out occasionally.
# Posted By Jim Priest
| 4/25/07 12:43 PM
For the question about security:
http://mozy.com/support/faq
Is Mozy secure?
Yes. When you use Mozy, your files are encrypted on your PC using 448-bit Blowfish encryption and then transferred the Mozy servers using 128-bit Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption. You have the option of using a Mozy key, or your own private key to encrypt your data. Note, that if you use your own private key, you must be very careful about not losing it, because if you do, we won't be able to help. It's impossible for us to decrypt your data when you use your own key. Most users opt to use the Mozy key, but it's up to you.
http://mozy.com/support/faq
Is Mozy secure?
Yes. When you use Mozy, your files are encrypted on your PC using 448-bit Blowfish encryption and then transferred the Mozy servers using 128-bit Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption. You have the option of using a Mozy key, or your own private key to encrypt your data. Note, that if you use your own private key, you must be very careful about not losing it, because if you do, we won't be able to help. It's impossible for us to decrypt your data when you use your own key. Most users opt to use the Mozy key, but it's up to you.
Jim, in that case Id probably recommend investing in a Blue-Ray burner in the near future and do a once a month archive to Blue Ray DVD. A couple 25GB DVDs should cover most of anyone's critical data I'd think and still be cheaper (over time) and more secure than online backups. Personally, I've only used online backup services for Enterprise level data, where I know the data is encrypted and I control the encryption keys. Too much scary stuff happening these days.
Okay . . . you've convinced me! I'm going to try out the free Mozy for a couple months to see how I like it.
# Posted By Lola LB
| 4/26/07 6:39 AM
**WOW**... Thank you so much posting this! I looked at some of these options awhile ago and didn't like them. Mozy seems great!
I've become so paranoid about data loss. On my now dead main computer, I had a scheduled robocopy script sync up files from one drive to another.. And hten periodically I'd plug in a USB drive for another back up.
Of course... worst case scenario happened. The USB drive died, and my main computer died. I moved the drives into another machine, but it has an older BIOS and couldn't recognize the size of my secondary drive.
Everyone needs 4th degree redundancy!
I've become so paranoid about data loss. On my now dead main computer, I had a scheduled robocopy script sync up files from one drive to another.. And hten periodically I'd plug in a USB drive for another back up.
Of course... worst case scenario happened. The USB drive died, and my main computer died. I moved the drives into another machine, but it has an older BIOS and couldn't recognize the size of my secondary drive.
Everyone needs 4th degree redundancy!
# Posted By Tariq Ahmed
| 5/3/07 1:47 PM
I think people should definitely take a look at Carbonite. It also provides online hard drive backup. The deal they have is great, 50 dollars for unlimited backup. I havent had any problems either. Some other services allow you to back up smaller amounts of space which I dont like, because then I have to pick and choose what to keep secure and what to leave vulnerable. Carbonite allows me to backup everything. I give it my highest recommendation.
# Posted By Stephen Rothstein
| 7/25/07 10:13 AM
To be fair - Mozy has a paid option as well. (I use it.) I don't remember the price but it was pretty darn close to 50 as well. So if you don't want to pick and choose, then you can backup everything with Mozy as well.
# Posted By Raymond Camden
| 7/25/07 10:16 AM
Carbonite is great. But no mac client. There's a Mac Beta but I've made repeated requests, even directly to the company at the behest of support people, and have seen nothing, so for the moment I call Vaporware on a mac client.
Mozy's mac client is good, not yet great, but close.
I also use the paid option. I paid for the year and it's great!
Mozy's mac client is good, not yet great, but close.
I also use the paid option. I paid for the year and it's great!
# Posted By John Wilker
| 7/25/07 10:26 AM
I'm currently a Mozy user, it's pretty good, you get what you pay for. From my readings the more expensive services can do backups much quicker, and support unlimited versioning. I think Mozy retains one prior version back, and Carbonite doesn't do versioning as far I know.
I found a pretty good comparison though from a guy who tried both: http://www.publicvoid.dk/OnlineBackupCarboniteVsMo...
I found a pretty good comparison though from a guy who tried both: http://www.publicvoid.dk/OnlineBackupCarboniteVsMo...
# Posted By Darth Sidious
| 7/25/07 11:12 AM