Carbonite?

Has anyone had any experience with Carbonite's online backup services? I've been googling it.... professional writers and serious bloggers give it a qualified thumbs up, for the casual private user.

On the other hand, when I scroll down to the readers' comments there seems to be an overwhelming majority of pissed-off posters. But on the other other hand, they seem to be mostly folks with huge amounts of videos, photographs, and other massive files. I have relatively few of those.....

 

I think the next major screw up, will be the hacking of these types of sites. I predicted it about a year ago and it seems ripe for the types, that find this sort of thing entertaining, but so far, they've been lucky. If you want, you can risk it, but frankly, if I can't pick it up and stick it in the machine, it's a problem just waiting for a disgruntled worker to have "fun" with.

 

Rush Limbaugh uses it so it can't be a bad thing.

 

Even more reason to see it crash . . .

 

I was using it, my computer crashed, not all the data was there. And I could not restore all that was in drive anyway. Reason, it was slow, I was trying to backup all of my data, over 4 gigs, and was not selective. Once I set it up, I could not change it. In all honesty I was having speed issues with my computer, and that is why I was backing it up to erase it.
Honestly, I rather use Dropbox and make sure that I know that it working better, and it automatically synchs my data to multiple computers in multiple locations.

 

If you have a smaller amount of personal data to save, Mozy will do it for free, you pay if you want more storage capacity. The problem I have with it is it slows my older system way down when it backs-up and background monitors my data files all the time my system is running.

The best way to save back up data is to just burn a DVD disk of your data files once a week, or as often as you are worried about saving all your data. My brother keeps his system free of junk software by wiping out his hard drive once a week, and reloading from a back-up disk (by automating this process it dose not take much time). Seems extreme, but if your personal files are important to you, the best way to make sure you will always have it is to store it yourself.

When I had a number of employees working on workstations, I had a secretary burn a disk of every hard drive in my office once a week, and store in a small fireproof vault. It made sure that some disaster, either accidental or man made, did not cost me weeks and weeks worth of effort.

You always run the risk of losing everything any time you depend on an outside vender is doing for you. What if you have a crash right when that company goes out of business? I do not know if there is any risk of that with Carbonite, but it has happened to other large companies. And at what cost are you willing to pay per year just to make sure you do not loose your hard drive?

 

Whatever backup system you choose, it is important to keep the back-up data physically separated and distant from the original hard drive(s). It means at least few rooms apart, or better yet in another building (your home, for example). That is a safety measure against a fire in the office. From that point of view, an on-line backup service is a good idea. But there are issues related to the bandwidth limit and anti-hacker security, as also mentioned by the others. So a dedicated PC located in another room or office an connected via LAN is imo a better option.

Petros, when you say vault, do you intend an underground room or a safe (strongbox)? If it is the latter, I would be worried about the fact that CDs and DVDs are made of plastic. The temperature rise inside the safe might deform them permanently, depending on the rate of temperature increase and the max temperature reached (around 60° is the limit). I have had several CD's become unreadable by leaving them inside my car on a hot sunny summer day... I remember that one day in july I've measured around 75-80° C inside my car, after it was left with closed windows under the summer sun...

 

Oogh. Now I have to worry about the possibility of cross-contamination..... that sort of stench could permeate the whole cloud.

 

I use 16 gig thumb drives, which is probably old school now. Back the data up every week and call it done. If in the event you've been corrupted, you have the data, which can be placed in the same, restored or reloaded software as needed upon recovery or wipe. Having experienced hard drive failures and other data eating problems, you can pay now or pay later. With proprietary information and data, I'm not willing to let an on line service "secure" anything. There's absolutely nothing secure about being on line, regardless of protocols employed.

 

Dvds and cd are good in case of emf attack thumbdrives no so good

 

my two daughters have found that the thumb drives are not so reliable, using them to store and transport school projects from home to school computers. They would fail and they would loose their projects. I told them for really important data, you need at least three separate places where they are copied and stored.

PAR, I highly recommend you use some other means of storing records other than thumb drives. They just are not very durable. DVDs are much better, just keep them away from heat.

 

Rush may use Carbonite, but he won't be advertising it anymore. Carbonite has pulled all its ads, and so have several other major advertisers.

A Georgetown University law student testified at an unofficial Democratic House committee regarding the Obama administration's decision that while churches are exempt from offering birth control in insurance plans, the schools and hospitals they run shouldn't be. Which by the way, is already required by some states....

The young lady's testimony had nothing to do with recreational sex. She was talking about cases where birth control pills were needed for medical purposes -- for example, to control ovary cysts. Nor was she saying the government should pay for birth control; she just wanted to see it offered in the student insurance plan offered by Georgetown University.

Rush accused her of 'having so much sex she can't afford the contraception,' making her a '****.' He also accused her of wanting the rest of us to pay her for having sex, which makes her a 'prostitute.' He asked, 'tell me, Miss Fluke: who paid for your condoms when you were in junior high school?'

Instead of apologizing the next day, he doubled down. He said that if she wants the rest of us to pay for her to get laid, she should post videos of her sex life online so we can watch them and get something for our money.

I repeat: her testimony was about the medical aspects of access to birth control, not about recreational sex. And she wasn't saying taxpayers should pay for her birth control; she just wants to have it offered in the insurance she pays for. Which is the same insurance that will pay for a man's ****** or vasectomy....

edit: Oops, I forgot. the prescription drug for erectile disfunction that starts with a V is filtered out here by the spam software.

Rush is an utter pig. If he had talked about my daughter like that, I'd have been tempted to hunt him down and do an Evel Knievel number on his head with a baseball bat.

From the CEO of Carbonite: "“No one with daughters the age of Sandra Fluke, and I have two, could possibly abide the insult and abuse heaped upon this courageous and well-intentioned young lady. Mr. Limbaugh, with his highly personal attacks on Miss Fluke, overstepped any reasonable bounds of decency. Even though Mr. Limbaugh has now issued an apology, we have nonetheless decided to withdraw our advertising from his show."

By the way, Rush's eventual apology was woefully inadequate -- and made only after advertisers started bailing out.

 

Carbonite is like contraceptives , more fun if someone else pays for it. I won't be using too many contraceptives in the future, can I get money back for the previous usage? I mean it isn't fair I had to pay for thirty years and now they are going to be free.

 

If this goes through we will have to keep paying for them even if we are not using them. Other people will be partying with our money. Gotta love the welfare state, the Landogimmee.

 

You already help pay for everything your insurance covers, whether you personally use it or not. That's what insurance does, is spread the financial risk and costs.

When you start trying to parse the coverage out, things get ridiculous in a hurry -- because a lot of health issues are gender or age specific.

It's even more ridiculous arguing against contraceptives on the grounds of cost. For what one pregnancy costs, an insurance company could provide your whole neighborhood with birth control pills.

Here's a reality check: 28 states already require any insurer who covers other prescription drugs to cover contraception too. Of those, eight have no exemption whatsoever on religious grounds.

Keep in mind that no employees are being forced to use birth control. Maybe we should worry less about the employer's right to cram his religious beliefs down his employee's throat, and more about the employees' freedom. Y'think?