Monday July 13, 2009

Backblaze Review

As you guys know, I really only review stuff that I actively utilize in my regular computing and photography habits.

I use Backblaze as my backup solution for the “cloud”. Yes, locally I have a Drobo and a few other little solutions. However, in case the house burns down or everything is stolen by a thief in the night, it’s very nice to know all of my stuff is backed up out there in the cloud.

Backblaze runs in the background and doesn’t get in the way. It takes a long time the first time you back everything up, but then it incrementally does it as new files come into being and as files change. It’s very smart, and it really does not eat up my active bandwidth. It is smart at running at night and when I’m not around.

Also, it is extremely extremely inexpensive! I think you will be surprised! I don’t want to mention the cost here, because it may change in a few months and this will be out of date. At the time I got it, it was less than $7 a month.

If you’d like to give Backblaze a try, they have a nice trial period. It’s really very easy and idiot-proof, which is good for someone of my idiocy.

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  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Richard-Uchytil/501351240 Richard Uchytil

    Thanks for the review. I’ve been thinking about using this service and now I definitely will! “Trey says it’s good so I MUST use it!” hehe

  • http://davewilsonphotography.com Dave Wilson

    I’ll second this. I’ve been using BackBlaze for about 6 months now. It’s incredibly easy to set up, works in the background, takes very little CPU and has a rather nice control panel allowing you to throttle it’s use of your uplink bandwidth. Their online interface to your stored files is also clean and intuitive.

  • http://www.jvlphoto.com Justin Van Leeuwen

    I completely agree – I grabbed Backblaze for my cloud backup in February – now I’m only half-way through backing things up (I don’t leave the computer on all the time), but half is better than nothing, and I’m confident it will finish the job.

    Truly idiot-proof. You install it, and then it runs. it backs up EVERYTHING on your computer, so if you don’t care about your system files or something you have to tell it which folders to exclude.

  • http://www.stuckincustoms.com Stuck In Customs

    Hehe thanks – that’s great…. glad you guys agree with me! :)

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  • Brian R

    I’ve been using Mozy for the same purpose for over a year now. I’ve got almost 400GB up there now. It took quite a while, but it’s worth it.

    The only complaint I have is that when I got a new external drive, it thought all the files were new and I had to re-upload them all. Any idea if Backblaze has a similar problem?

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  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/art_de_digitals/ Bill Pierrakos

    I was about to install backblaze and start using it but the thing that hold me back from using it asap was the 4gb limitation in file size???
    It’s stupid.
    I want to backup the ISO’s of my paid software in case PS or other programs I have on DVD stop working.
    I also want to backup my FullHD movies.
    Ok you never film something continuously so you exceed the 4gb limitation of backblaze, but when you combine the seperate files in order to make a short film you end up with files exceeding 4gb.
    What’s your thoughts about it TREY?
    I am asking because I read about backblaze in your last ebook (digital workflow) and I want to start implementing your workflow…
    Thanks a lot in advance!!!

  • http://www.stuckincustoms.com Stuck In Customs

    Yes that 4GB thing is a problem — if you have more than that, best not to use Backblaze. I don’t have more than that (yet), so I am okay for now.

  • Jay Shaver

    I read a new review saying that they don’t have any useful support.

    I had the same experience. Stay away.

  • Craig W

    Crashplan works well. $50 a year, with unlimited storage. It backs up my server in the background, with no filesize limitations.

  • Gayle

    I’ve been using Backblaze for over a year and supposedly everything was going well. The icon in my Dock has been whirling around daily as if in process, and I felt secure that I have been backing up all my work. Now, today, I suddenly get a popup box on my computer, announcing that Backblaze has not backed up my computer since April 12th–well over a month!!!!!! I am appalled. Backblaze has unfailingly deducted payment from my checking account each month.

    I went to the website and, sure enough, last backup was 5 weeks ago.

    I must now recommend against Backblaze. I was never given any hint in the world that this system has failed over a month ago. I also back up via Time Machine, but I have been depending upon continuous backup, as advertised. My computer has been on and functional during this entire time. I teach online at not one universities, but two, and receive email constantly. This is a massive failure of a promise upon which customers utterly depend. This would have been catastrohpic had my computer crashed during this period.

  • moji

    Trey,
    I am just starting to read all your newsletters and am wondering if in 2011, you are still using backblaze and what are your thoughts on it today? Are you still using and recommending them? I need to sign up for an on-line backup.