Overall Rating
Carbonite Online Backup and Mozy are primary competitors. Carbonite offers a 15-day no cost trial for unlimited data online backup service. Subsequent to the gratis trial, the unlimited internet backup will cost you $4.16 per month. They offer admirable security and encryption measures and a desktop client for just Windows computers. Their support features include FAQs, email, live chat, and phone.
Most reviewers admire the way Carbonite marks each file’s online backup status. You can monitor the initial and subsequent backups by clicking a lock icon in the Windows toolbar. If it’s green, your stuff is backed up; yellow means the is still in progress; red indicates an issue. Folders with blue dots reveal where files being backed up reside. An additional unique feature reported by PC Magazine’s Michael Muchmore is the way the software behaves when the Internet connection is interrupted or very slow during the internet backup process. Not only does it find where it left off, it sends an alert that you of the dropped Internet connection. Most of the other services don’t, including Mozy. It even appeared that Mozy began the data online backup process all over again when interrupted. Although, Mozy’s website says the program actually begins where it left off, but switches the progress to zero to indicate a new internet backup process has started.
Carbonite has an inconspicuous way of backing up in the background while you work. Although various users might be skeptical of a background backup system, the Carbonite website states that the service consumes very unnoticeable amount of memory and processing power. Carbonite Online Backup is designed to work after you’ve stopped working. When it detects no keyboard or mouse activity, it begins to do it data online backup. When you begin typing or moving the mouse, it freezes.
Several reviewers did note that Carbonite has sluggish upload times, but as declared previously, too many factors are 
involved to determine whether this will be confirmed for all users. A further limitation articulated by several reviewers is the lack of onlne access to your backed-up files. Most services offer some kind of remote solution, whether it’s the capability to “order” files for restoration or full access, as is the case with those services that offer online file sharing. Carbonite deliberately does not offer any web access for security purposes. This dictates restoring files can be a pain if you experience something like your hard drive goes kaput or your laptop is toasted when you’re away from home. You will have to install the Carbonite client on the computer you’re using (obviously not feasible on public machines), reassign your subscription to it (including a private encryption key, if you chose that option) and use the client to recover your files. One feature where Carbonite has a pro over Mozy is in file versioning. Carbonite 3.5 and later versions allow users to access prior versions going back at least 90 days (this feature isn’t yet supported on the Mac version of the client, which is still in beta).
Carbonite offers a 15-day no cost trial. After that, it’s $50 per year for unlimited data storage. Prepaying for two or three years will get you a decent discount. Although cheaper than Mozy, the difference is only about $10 to $15 per year, so there’s little reason to switch from Mozy to Carbonite, especially if there are Mozy features you desire or need.
Carbonite has a good name and has been around for a while, and is one the most popular online data backup services, but we believe some of the newer services out there are now giving them a run for their money. Like other reviewers out there though, and as PC Magazine so eloquently puts it, Carbonite ” is the cheapest, simplest and most reliable service out there.” Carbonite doesn’t not carry all the features of other data online backup options, but it delivers and is reasonably priced, secure and simple to use.
How it Carbonite Online Backup Works Videos:
Sign Up for Carbonite Online Backup
*No credit card required for free trial
