Mozy home

GB, system and temp files. However, you can change Carbonite's settings to include any of these file types in a backup.The Mozy interface provides more granular control over what is backed up, and when, and seems to be preferred by power users for this reason. Mozy also offers "2x protection" which backs up files to a local hard drive of your choice while an online backup is going on. In fact, the local backup will finish up long before the online backup.Carbonite will not back up external hard drives. Mozy will, but there is one odd caveat. If an external hard drive is disconnected during a Mozy backup, its files stored on Mozy will be deleted after 30 days.Mozy also offers a DVD restoration option that Carbonite lacks. It could take days or weeks to restore several hundred gigabytes of data over an Internet connection. But Mozy will mail your backup files to you on DVDs so you can restore them faster.What About Customer Support?Carbonite has a US-based call center in Lewiston Maine, at which customers can reach a live human representative. I called and was connected to a polite rep in under a minute. Live chat is also available, as well as a Remote Assistance option, which enables a Carbonite rep to temporarily see your screen and control your computer. Home and Home Office customers can reach live support weekdays from 9am - 5pm (EST). Carbonite Small Business customers have expanded hours, from 8am - Midnight, every day.I found the customer support options for Mozy a bit lacking by comparison. Clicking the Support tab on the Mozy home page takes you to a page offering FAQs, an online knowledge base, video tutorials and a user forum. There was no obvious way to contact a human for phone, chat, or

Carbonite or Mozy: Which Online Backup is Best?Many online backup services are available, but the two leaders in the industry are Carbonite and Mozy. In many ways they are quite similar, but each has its own strong points. Here is a comparison of their similarities and differences.Let's start with storage and pricing. Unlimited storage was once a feature of both Carbonite and Mozy. But in 2010, Mozy did away with its unlimited storage option. Mozy now sells 50 GB of storage for $5.99/month or 125 GB for $9.99/month. The cheaper option is limited to one computer while the larger storage allowance can be shared among three computers. Add $2/month to either plan for each additional 20 GB you want. You get one month free with a one-year commitment and three months free with a two-year plan.Carbonite still offers unlimited storage for a flat $59 per year; $109 for two years; or $139 for three years. Carbonite does not offer any free storage, just a 15-day free trial, while Mozy provides 2 GB free of charge indefinitely.Security is tight on both Carbonite and Mozy. Your data is encrypted locally using Blowfish encryption before it is transmitted over 128-bit SSL encrypted connections. The RAID-6 storage facilities are said to be 36 million times more reliable than a single hard drive.Online Backup Software: FeaturesYou can access Carbonite or Mozy via their respective proprietary client programs or via any Web browser. The latter option is typically used from public terminals, while the client software on your personal computer provides enhanced file management features.Carbonite has a very intuitive backup program which tags your files with small colored dots to show which ones have been backed up. Carbonite, by default, excludes certain types of files from online backup; these include video files, files larger than 4

The go, SOS joins other backup services in offering an iPhone app that lets you access and browse files you've stored online; unfortunately, like the others, it won't back up data stored on your phone. A BlackBerry app is expected later this month.Restoring Files Users can restore files in one of two ways. One option is to do it on SOS' website: first, click on the computer whose files you want to restore. Then keep clicking on folders and subfolders until you get to the file you want. Then you'll see a link next to it that says Share/Recover. We just wish the backward navigation button were more obvious (it's an unlabeled icon located next to the breadcrumb trail of file paths).Click to enlargeIf you prefer, you can restore files from the SOS software on your computer (this works if you haven't lost the files in question to a hard drive crash). We prefer this option (pictured above)because you can search for files using an on-screen calendar. Having a backup date to whittle down the files you've saved helps if you've uploaded multiple versions of a file.Consumer and Small Business PricingOne bummer about SOS is that it's not Mac-compatible, as are Carbonite and Mozy. Moreover, it's more expensive than its competitors. Mozy offers 2GB of storage for free. SOS, like Carbonite, lets you test drive the service for a period (in this case, 14 days), but then compels you to buy a subscription. 2GB costs $19.95 per year; 5GB, $29.95 per year; and 15GB, $49.95 per year. For about the same price ($54.95) Mozy and Carbonite sell a year's worth of unlimited storage.Like home users, businesses don't pay based on the number of computers they have; rather, they pay for the storage they need. (Other backup services, such as Mozy. do charge license fees for each computer that you back up.) Businesses get a discount for paying by the year, as opposed to the month. For instance, plans start at 45 cents per month for 500MB (not a realistic amount of storage for businesses, we know) or $4.50 per year. Plans go up to 200GB, which costs $360 per month or $3,600 per year. MozyPro, meanwhile, charges 50 cents per GB per month, which comes out to less than what SOS charges, although MozyPro requires a monthly license fee for each computer, which can add up.VerdictAs one of the first backup services on the scene, SOS Online Backup remains one of the easiest to use, as well as the most feature-rich. Overall, we give the edge to Mozy because it offers unlimited storage for just $5 more than what SOS charges for 15GB. But if you like the idea of