Overall Rating

IDrive Online Backup is iBackup’s companion service that provides automatic data online backup solutions for individuals and small businesses. The free plan (iDrive Basic) includes 2 GB and the iDrive Pro includes 150 GB for$4.95 ($0.03/GB). IDrive Pro for Business starts at $9.95 for 50 GB and goes up to 500 GB for $49.95. Features include security and encryption measures and desktop clients for Windows and Mac systems.

The IDrive Online Backup client in fact consists of two parts, IDrive Classic and IDrive Explorer. The Classic interface is where you back your documents up, though many reviewers seem to experience some uneasiness with it. The Explorer portion of the software is much like Windows Explorer with folder trees and only allows file restoration functions. Although you can restore files from the Classic interface, only IDrive Explorer allows you to restore files through a drag-and-drop process.

Most of the other reviewers seem impressed with IDrive’s array of features that are not found on other popular backup services like Mozy and Carbonite. Besides drag-and-drop support for restoring files, the IDrive software allows you to search for particular files within any backup set, which is extremely useful when you can’t remember exactly where the file resides within the folder trees. For files under 50 MB, IDrive’s uninterrupted data protection feature executes incremental backups roughly every 10 minutes or so. They maintain up to 30 of the latest versions of a file, but you can also restore even older versions of any backed-up file. The service promotes that these historical versions don’t count towards your overall storage space; only the most recent version is calculated as part of your storage quota.

IDrive’s web access lets you add and delete documents from a backup set, schedule a backup and view logs of previous backup sessions. So if you’re away from your home computer and want to back up a file you’ve been working on, this is straightforwardly done through IDrive’s website. Unlike the client software, reviewers feel IDrive’s web interface is nicely intuitive. IDrive has also now recently released a Mac-compatible version of its client. IDrive’s interface gets a mixed response. As Michael Muchmore of PC Magazine puts it: “The powerful capabilities of this online backup service almost made me forget that I tore my hair out unearthing them. Almost.” However, we felt that IDrive’s pricing structure and expanded features make it a particularly good value as long as you’re willing to take the time to learn the program. We find iDrive, with the various interfaces that internet backup and restoration can be accomplished with, to be very flexible and is one of our data online backup top picks.

iDrive Online Backup How it Works Videos:

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