NZ Online Backup Providers For Home User

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Yoban

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#93111 14-Nov-2011 20:16

Hi there,

Been an avid follower, but thought I should subscribe and contribute some.

My current interest has been finding a way to back up an extensive home photos collection and scanned documents. Have been appreciative of the info in the posts http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=50&topicid=76387.

I am aware of the NZ providers of services like this and have been watching a handful of them, but none unlimited.

Last night I came across these guys http://www.ibus.co.nz/iBUS_Unlimited/Intro.html and was wondering if anyone been using these guys or know much about them?

Thanks in advance.

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#545383 14-Nov-2011 21:56

Personally i'd be wary of smaller providers who may disappear with your data any time. I used xdrive or something years ago, they went under, and I lost my data. NZ providers will be faster, probably, if your ISP peers properly. There's also Backblaze, and a half dozen NZ providers.

I use Mozy, you get 2GB free, more data costs about US$5/month. Note - that's a referral link, if you use it I get an extra 256MB of free storage or something. I only use 1GB so it doesn't actually matter. Plain link is below.

http://www.mozy.com

NonprayingMantis

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#545390 14-Nov-2011 22:20

if you happen to be a telecom customer, you get free access to Flikr pro, which gives you unlimited online photo storage.

Not sure if the service itself is any good though as I have never bothered to use it.

freitasm

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#545395 14-Nov-2011 22:24

I use Crashplan. Used Carbonite but there were limits in file size and no backups of executables. Use Mozy but they increased prices in such a way that would more than double my yearly fee.

Happy with Crashplan now.

Xdrive was a Yahoo! service just before being closed down...

freitasm

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#545396 14-Nov-2011 22:25

Flickr is not a backup service and they can (and done it) remove all your photos - by mistake or not.

Do not use Flickr or Picasa for backup. They are not backup services.

Talkiet

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#545411 14-Nov-2011 23:36

Could you explain if you have a specific requirement for an NZ based provider? The economies of scale that make this sort of service work really don't seem to stack up in NZ.

I use backblaze.com and it's great. $5 USD/month and it's truly unlimited. I currently have about 1.2TB of photos (RAWs, JPGs, PSDs) as well as all my regular files backed up there. They genuinely don't have any issues with people using lots of space. (I read the Fair Use policy of the place you linked to and it scared me!)

I can imagine cases where an NZ provider would be better if you happen to have a way of getting free national bandwidth, but for me, $5 USD/month for a service I trust is a great investment.

I live right by the beach in Christchurch.... I'm oddly comforted by the fact if my house disappeared all my digital assets (including digital copies of all my important documents - insurance, passport, bank details, etc etc etc etc) are retrievable from offshore...

That said, I also have a weekly copy stored in a waterproof container inside a VERY heavy (250KG+) fireproof safe... (For the pedants out there, no, it's not a data safe)

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

Ragnor

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#545419 15-Nov-2011 00:12

Backblaze, Crashplan or SugarSync imo.

insane

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#545431 15-Nov-2011 02:58

Talkiet:

....I can imagine cases where an NZ provider would be better if you happen to have a way of getting free national bandwidth, ..

Well this thread wouldn't be complete without a shameless plug,

http://www.maxnetcloudbackup.co.nz/
Data is zero-rated if you get your DSL from Maxnet so the $1/GB isn't too bad if you're not backing up heaps.

Equinox IT

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Zeon

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#545446 15-Nov-2011 07:46

I met the guys from Ibus a few months ago when the alarm (as it always used to) went off in the Orcon DC. THey have a 1/3rd rack there. I actually recently asked for a proposal for consultancy services around our backup.

The guys seems very ernest and good natured but haven't used them yet.

Speedtest 2019-10-14

nzkc

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#545454 15-Nov-2011 08:29

Talkiet: Could you explain if you have a specific requirement for an NZ based provider? The economies of scale that make this sort of service work really don't seem to stack up in NZ.

I use backblaze.com and it's great. $5

<snip />

I too use Backblaze and rate them highly. I pay yearly and its USD $50. Like Talkiet I'm not worried about my local copies of files. If they go through failure, fire, theft, other its no big deal to me. What I really like about Backblaze is the choice you have to retrieve your files. Naturally you can download them (for free) or you can pay to have a DVD and/or Harddrive shipped to you - no idea if other providers offer this or not.

Feel free to ask any questions if you have any.

Nety

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#545465 15-Nov-2011 09:01

I use IDrive which have been fine although I have found a issue with I wonder if any other providers handle more effectively.
I recently upgraded my Home server to 2011 and have found that IDrive does not seem to check if you already have the file uploaded but in a different location. Instead it is now uploading all my data again even though it is already there just in a different path :-/

Edit looks like both Crash plan and Backblaze do this. Looks like I might be changing provider as this is a major negative for me. + for the same price as what I am paying now I can get unlimited backup space.

Media centre PC - Case Silverstone LC16M with 2 X 80mm AcoustiFan DustPROOF, MOBO Gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H, CPU AMD X2 240 under volted, RAM 4 Gig DDR3 1033, HDD 120Gig System/512Gig data, Tuners 2 X Hauppauge HVR-3000, 1 X HVR-2200, Video Palit GT 220, Sound Realtek 886A HD (onboard), Optical LiteOn DH-401S Blue-ray using TotalMedia Theatre Power Corsair VX Series, 450W ATX PSU OS Windows 7 x64

freitasm

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#545467 15-Nov-2011 09:02

If you reinstall Crashplan or install on a different PC, providing the data has the same path you can take over ownership of a previous backup and nothing is uploaded.

If you change paths, well...

jjnz1

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#545502 15-Nov-2011 09:59

freitasm: If you reinstall Crashplan or install on a different PC, providing the data has the same path you can take over ownership of a previous backup and nothing is uploaded.

If you change paths, well...

Whats your upload/download speeds to Crashplan like Freitasm?

freitasm

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#545503 15-Nov-2011 10:02

Very fast - but I'm on a 100/10 Mbps connection.

jjnz1

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#545510 15-Nov-2011 10:15

freitasm: Very fast - but I'm on a 100/10 Mbps connection.

That's good. I have a 10Mb upload too, but I just don't want to start using a service that runs at 100KB/s.

What kind of stuff do you backup? Docs, apps? pics? program backup files? Have you found that it is suitable for all types of content?

I take it you also have no issues with the level of security of your backups?

freitasm

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#545512 15-Nov-2011 10:17

Backup everything. Carbonite wouldn't backup .exe files unless manually selected, so that's out. Mozy increased their price at crazy levels. So that's out.

Crashplan allows for free backup to friends (which I use here to backup some files to our Home Server), and paid backup to cloud (which I use for my desktop).

All my docs are synchronised between my desktop and two laptops via Windows Live Mesh anyway, with a copy in the Windows Live Mesh Storage on the cloud, so basically I have a few options to restore from if needed.

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