Mozy Online Backup

You've all been told that backing up your files is important right? Some well meaning techie relative or friend is always horrified that you don't have multiple backups of all your data. You know you should be doing something about it but there's one small problem. Remembering to do it. To be fair this is the same problem most people have when it comes to backing up their data - they just plain forget.

I know because I was the same. I'll do it tomorrow or some day soon. Then the day came when my hard drive crashed and it took every single file with it. Boom! Gone! History! That was the day that I learned that keeping a backup of your files isn't just smart - it's something you have to do unless you want to suffer from a minor nervous breakdown when it all goes wrong.

This is how I found the Mozy online backup service. After years of playing around with different backup options I wanted something a bit more automated where the data is stored away from my home/office so I know it's secure. Mozy came out the top of the heap when it came to reliability and ease-of-use.

So why is the Mozy so good?

1. It's automated. When your PC is on but idle (not doing anything) Mozy runs a backup session.

2. My data is stored "off site". So if my PC bursts into flames for no reason I'm only a login away from restoring ALL of my data.

3. It works. Really well. No glitches.

4. It's really well priced - less than $5 a month!

Using the Mozy remote backup service has just been a weight off my mind. I already have a daily scheduled backup to a secondary hard drive and a 750GB external drive for monthly data dumps but running daily backups has always been my problem Mozy does it for me while I'm eating my dinner every day. Nice, neat and efficient.

One of my favourite features of Mozy is that it comes with specific file backup sets already built in. What does that mean? You can just check a box for your My Documents folders, Outlook e-mails or Firefox favourites - all with one single click. Then you can just forget worrying about backing them up.

You have three options when you sign up for Mozy.

1. Mozy Home Free - 2GB of free storage space! (about 300 photos)

2. Mozy Home Unlimited - less than $5 a month gets you unlimited backup space.

2. Mozy Pro - busines plans starting at less than $5 for all your online backup needs.

Okay for the tech nuts out there here's some specs on Mozy. Enjoy!

# Open/locked file support
# 448-bit Blowfish encryption
# 128-bit SSL encryption
# Automatic or scheduled backups
# New and changed file detection
# Block level incremental backups
# Bandwidth throttling
# File versioning
# Public or private key encryption

If you're already made up your mind to use Mozy long term then you can use Code: MARCH for 10% off annual and biennial services. How cool is that?