So I'm paranoid - I've got the internal hard drive, the external backup, and the CD backups, but I'd prefer to have an automatic online packup of my important documents. I was using Dell Datasafe for a while, since I got a free subscription with my computer, but they restricted you too much.

So..

I'm looking for an automatic online backup for lots of largish files (mostly photos) that doesn't cost a huge amount, and will just let me specify a drive and back up everything I put on that drive. There seem to be quite a few of these services these days, so I thought I'd ask if anyone had any recommendations.

Have you considered Window Home Server? You will need to either buy or repurpose a computer, but it will fully backup up to 10 computers.

I have been running it for over a year, and it's saved my bacon a couple times now. One time, I had simply deleted something that I didn't think I needed, but I needed to recover it. I opened a backup from a month ago, and retrieved the file with no problems. Another time, I was moving my installation from one PC to another, and all I had to do was restore the backup onto the target PC, fix the unmatched drivers, and I was done.

It costs $99 plus the cost of the PC, but what good B$ member doesn't have at least one PC lying around.

I agree WHS is great, but sounds like he's looking for offsite storage.

Here's what we do (and might meet your needs):

WHS at home stores everything (have like 3TB in it now - stores music, photos, dvds, recorded tv, etc). The important stuff (client photos from our studio) are backed up automatically from wife's computer to an external drive in addition to the WHS sync. I have 2 external drives and keep one hooked up here and one at my work. About once a week I swap the two. Since it's a backup sync, they automatically get everything they've missed with no problems. And no monthly fees like the online places - Isn't that what B$ is about?

I have remote access to files via the WHS, so I don't need that service from the online backups. This also has nearly unlimited space (currently use a pair of 500gb externals - the photos are about 150gb so still lots of room)

dboy, that might work.

I'd like to have offsite storage in case the house burns down or something - I have a lot of files I'd be very unhappy to lose - and automated is good because I'm lazy ;-)

Wouldn't leave drives at work - I don't have a space that locks - but I could certainly get a second external HD and find a place to keep it.

Hey guys, I have very little idea on what this is/means, but this may be of interest. http://solori.wordpress.com/2009/03/03/sto...ffers-free-vsa/

I would recommend DropBox. At $99/year for 50GB, it's not the cheapest, but it works really well. It has a number of features that you don't list as a need, but I've been using it for a number of months, and I've been very pleased with it.

One feature that I really like is that it keeps old versions of files, even deleted files. The old versions don't count towards your 50GB limit.

Just get that computer you have over here set up, set up the VPN, and set up an automatic backup to an external attached to it. Easy.

Just saw an ad last night for Mozy. Never heard of it before, but you can get 2GB storage for free...

What, did you get that room cleaned up enough for me to get to it?

Whatever backup service you end up deciding to use, make sure that it can actually allow you to restore your data. Here is a horror story from a Mozy user (I don't know if it is a common experience):
http://www.naffziger.net/blog/2008/06/13/mozy-restore-sucks/

wow. Love my WHS in comparison to that.

I can't believe your ISP allows you enough bandwidth monthly to backup your hard drives remotely. Comcast has a 250GB/month limit. I'm in the USA and that's what I use, but you may want to check with your ISP to make sure you don't violate any of their Terms Of Service or whatever.

If you are generating anywhere near 250GB/mn of new data to be backed up, online backup is likely a poor option. If you have lots of data but most of it remains unchanged, most decent backup services will handle the bandwidth efficiently. Dropbox is particularly good with bandwidth usage. If you move a large file to a different folder, it doesn't upload the file a second time.

Unless you are buying a new 1TB harddrive every four months, it is unlikely that you're generating that much new data.

http://lifehacker.com/5172537/acrobatcom-s...utlook-for-free

Store 5GB of data on acrobat.com. Has some other functionality as well. Direct link is http://share.acrobat.com

wow, that mozy story was scary.

I've done restores from my WHS system and it was smooth sailing. I was playing around w/ a laptop, so I installed the WHS client, did a full backup overnight, then installed a different OS. Decided to go back to the original setup. Burned a boot cd, stuck it in the laptop, and in 5 minutes it was downloading the image. Fully restored in under an hour. Nice.

on the topic of free alternatives, microsoft skydrive is 25gb for free.
http://skydrive.live.com/
Gladinet offers a tool to make the space a mounted drive
http://www.gladinet.com/

I wish I could recommend Mozy or Carbonite, but when i signed up for the free acct or trial (respectively), I noticed that it was something like 2GB in a day that I could upload, which means it would take about TWO MONTHS to send my initial backup. Yes I understand it is intended for documents only. But I wanted to use image backup (Acronis) of my whole drive and send it to the online services.

Try the trials, test out the services.

I'm on Comcast, but I wouldn't expect to need anything near that. I might generate 10gb of photos on a good weekend.

...so I just found this thread...
anyone using SkyDrive?

is it possible to use SkyDrive with Firefox? I would like to back up pictures, but I don't want them public.