I just posted a lengthy comment at MacIntouch about using Mozy for online backup, so I thought it might be worth re-posting here:
I have been using Mozy since April 2007 on both my iMac and Powerbook Pro. It is fast and reliable, working in the middle of the night to upload new or changed files. It’s customizable, too. You can set backups to run only between certain hours, when the computer is less busy and/or on a set schedule. You can also limit how much of your Internet connection Mozy will use for uploads.
Another key feature is called block level backup. This means Mozy only uploads the parts of a file that have actually changed since the last backup, not the whole file, saving bandwidth. Finally, Mozy encrypts your data when it goes over the web and stores it in an encrypted format. You can even choose to use your own encryption key, in which case no one, not even at Mozy, can unlock your files without your key.
I have tested and had no problems with the restore function. You can restore files from any computer with Mozy installed or any web browser. You can choose to download files to their original location or to a new spot. You can also ask for set of DVDs to be shipped to you via FedEx for a steep fee (50 cents a gigabyte plus $30 processing fee plus Fedex actual shipping charge).
The economic model may or may not work for you. Mozy charges $4.95 a month per computer for unlimited backup space (I paid ahead for 2 years at a discounted rate of $4.33/month). I have a huge amount of data I want backed up, so this is a pretty economical option for me. I tried using Amazon’s S3 service with Jungledisk but found it to be slow and more expensive for the amount of data I backed up. Mozy is owned by EMC, the storage giant with over $13 billion of revenue last year, so you can feel pretty good that they won’t be going out of business in the middle of night.
Some reviewers have really missed the boat on Mozy. PC Magazine was way off, I thought, in their April 2008 write-up, completely misstating the restore feature’s various capabilities.
Prior coverage:
PCMag review misses Mozy’s greatness (4/17/2008)
Shifting to Interarchy for online backup at S3 (1/24/2007)
Phew, that’s a mighty backup (12/30/2006)
Everybody’s thinking about S3 for backup (10/4/2006)
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