Backing Up with Mozy

Today, I am working with 2 people that their external hard drive crashed on them.   Hard drives fail period.  It really is a matter of time before your does.  So are you protecting your data?   A backup means that you have 2 copies of something on different drives/media.   A while ago, I wrote an article on different options you can choose to backup your documents and images:  General Backup Information.   It’s a general overview. 

I personally have chosen to use multiple External Hard Drives and periodically backup to DVD.  The backup DVD’s are then taken out of my house to another location in case of a home disaster.   Many new services are now offering an online backup service.  Mozy and Carbonite are 2 common online services that I hear that digiscrappers are using.  I am going to go over some of Mozy’s services and features today:

Mozy offers 2 plans for home users 

1. The first is a free plan that allows you to backup 2 Gig worth of data.   This is a great way to try out the system and see if it will work for you.
2. The other plan is $4.95 a month and it allows you to backup unlimited amount of data.

How does it work? 

• You can customize what you want backed up.   The tool makes suggestions for what you should backup and also allows you to do a custom backup where you choose the folder or files.
• Your files are then copied via a secure connection over the internet to Mozy servers.
• The initial backup may take a while.   On a fast connection, they say you can back up 9 GB a day.  So the first Mozy backup will take a while if you back up all your digital scrapbooking kits!  If it isn’t done backing up and you turn off your computer, the next time you turn on your computer, it will continue where it left off.
• After that, the next backups will go quicker because it will only transfer files that have been added or changed
• What happens if I need something?   Then you can choose to restore a single file or all of it.  Mozy also can create a DVD and mail the files to you.
• It may or may not work with an External Hard Drive and that depends on the type of External Hard Drive you have.

Advantages:

• Easy to setup and configure.
• No hassle in burning CDs/DVDs or storing them.
• If something happens to your home where your computer is, your files are backed up safely elsewhere.

Disadvantages

• If you don’t have a fast internet connection, online backup storage is not the way to go.
• Maybe unrealistic for backing up ALL your entire digital kit collection which means many Gigs.

For more information visit:

Mozy Online Backup. 2GB Free or $4.95/mo for Unlimited Backup. It’s simple, automatic and secure!

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