Thank goodness of online backup!

Backblaze saved us too! My EHD corrupted. A Weird feeling to see the files but not able to access them. Within 5 days, all was well. I have a new EHD (huge but small in size) and that $5 a month is so so worth it!

 

I've been thinking of getting backblaze. We lost a whole folder randomly on our personal cloud. Everything my husband had saved for taxes, bills, etc. Resumes of his from years past. I don't even know what else. It was stupid, and I should have backed it up for him. But we mainly have an 8 tb EHD now with everything on it and I absolutely think we need an extra back up option.

But I've heard it takes forever to back up. How long is reasonable for that much data?

 

At first it was taking forever (like weeks), then I researched it a bit, and found it was backing up things that I don't need. I went into backblaze and set up the parameters I wanted.
Finances, photos, scrapbooking, documents and homeschool things.
Zooooooooooooooooom, done. I had the back up running at night, so it didn't interfere with my work on the puter.
It keeps them updated fast now too.

 

Yay, Jill, Anne and anyone else who has had great experiences with Backblaze. I tried it and don't know if it was me, my computer or whatever it was, but it caused glitches in my system, it started slowing down my computer and I ended up having to delete it all. I then ended up having my computer wiped out and reloaded. I was so bummed b/c I thought this would be the file backup that would give me peace of mind. Now, I'm saving to two EHDs so should be safe as the chances of both corrupting at the same time is slim....but eventually I would like some kind of online storage but am skeptical b/c of my past experience.

So whether its Backblaze, or anything else....having some kind of extra storage for files in this day and age of so many digital files....it's a necessary thing for us. I've lost too many photos/files over the years due to crashes, as many I'm sure can relate, so backup is really necessary.

 

Yea for backing up and double yea for restoring files!

I've got 3 EHDs here at the house and one at my parents' (I'm using that EHD as an offsite location), plus BackBlaze (we call it The Cloud, but it's just another form of offsite storage--it is nice that BB can be set up for a constant backup).

I'd love to have an EHD that was *just* for photo storage. @bestcee Courtney, did you mention doing that or am I totally misremembering?

 

Glad you were able to get everything back!

 

I am thinking we will be getting BackBlaze. After losing an important folder, we got a new EHD and backed everything up. My old EHD worked just fine but didn’t hold everything, which is how we lost the folder.

I immediately backed up everything to the new EHD, but heaven forbid something happens to it... I like the idea that somewhere out there is a copy of everything IF I would ever need it.

 

I love having Back Blaze as well. I also back things up to 3 EHD's.

I also found it was slow in the beginning but it was backing up every single thing. Once I modified the settings, it zipped through it in no time at all. I also have it set to send me an email weekly telling me how much is selected for backup and how much is actually backed up. That way I know if it is working!

 

You may already know this, and I hate being a Debbie Downer, but BB only keeps deleted files for 30 days. So if someone accidentally and unknowingly deletes a folder, then BB will delete their copy in 30 days.

To make sure nothing is missing and everything is backed up correctly, I check my BB against my laptop and EHD. IDK if BB recommends this, but it makes me feel good--esp since BB stopped backing up this fall. I caught it during my check.

 

I did 2 phases. I had it back up my photos and 'file cabinet' stuff first. Then went back and had it do the rest - kits and all.
I had about 3TB, and it took just over 1 week. I told it to work hard when the computer wasn't being used, and not hard when it was. I did leave the computer on pretty much the whole time. Since then, it's usually less than 10 minutes when I upload DSLR photos, unless there's a ton of videos. Then it's a little longer.
Really though, it depends on your internet speed. I have cable (and did for my initial upload too).

Yep! That's me. I have an older 2Gb hard drive, and just photos are on it. I've not super consistent about making sure photos are on it, so it gets uploaded about monthly. I don't worry about it because I have online backup (backblaze).
I also have 1 that has Digi kits and photos on it. Again, not updated constantly, but always before I go mobile on the laptop.

 

Phew! Glad you caught that when you did!!!

I have been using Crashplan as our backup company with no problems- except now they are discontinuing their 'home' service- I can upgrade to small business plan for a discount, but not sure I want to go that option. I have a few months left to figure out what to go to next- but backblaze seems to be the next best option.

Any opinions on different companies?

 

I had started out with Carbonite years ago then switched to Crash Plan. Neither of them did EHD's but Back Blaze did so I switched. I've been with Back Blaze longer than I had been with the other 2 total. I needed the EHD backup because at that time all photos and digi scrapping kits were on an EHD that I would move between computers (desktop at home, laptop away). I have never had a problem with Back Blaze although like @Tree City said, they do delete anything that hasn't been backed up for 30 days.

 

I've been using Carbonite for several years and it saved all my important data when my desktop died just over a year ago. I'm not sure but I think that Carbonite does back up EHDs now, although I don't use that option.

 

I tried idrive. And it didn't back up, nor notify me it wasn't backing up, so I lost stuff. However, I know people who have had good experiences with them.
I think you can find good and bad opinions about every service. I would say look at the features and see which one you like best.