How has this worked out for you? It looks like you have to install software; what protocol does data transfer through (http or ftp) and how was the upstream speed? Also, can you download files via a website link or do you need to access it using the software?
Mozy is a superb backup solution. I use it on my PC and have also played with it on my Mac (although I now just copy all important data from my Mac to my PC, from where Mozy backs it up without my needing a second Mozy account). You do have to install some software, but it's pretty lightweight on both platforms and very easy to use. I don't know what protocol it uses as it just handles everything automatically. Mozy reports sustained upstream rates of over 700kpbs for me. I'm connected via ethernet to a cable modem with a stated upstream limitation of 800kbps, so Mozy seems to take advantage of pretty much my full upstream capacity (note, this sometimes causes issues with people hearing us clearly when we call them using our Vonage phone while Mozy is running a backup). It sometimes seems to "pause" in the middle of a big backup (it'll say a backup is in process, but will sit idle at 0kbps for a period of time before resuming uploading), which can be frustrating, but if you just leave your computer on and connected all the time, it'll eventually catch up as long as you aren't throwing gigs of new info at it every day. With my 800kbps upstream cable modem, it can do a few gigs in a day if I'm not heavily using the computer.
All that said, Mozy is a backup solution and NOT an archival solution. It is designed to make copies of things that are on your computer. If you delete something from your computer, Mozy will mark it deleted on their servers as well. They'll keep it for 30 days in case you change your mind (they also keep previously-backed-up versions of files you change for 30 days), but after that, they'll delete it. So you can't use your unlimited space with Mozy to shift data off of your computer, you can only use it to make backups of the things that you keep on your computer. It will also work with external hard drives that are attached directly to your computer, but the "home" version won't work with anything your computer sees as a "removable" disk (e.g., your SDHC card reader or your optical drive) or as a network share (i.e., it will NOT backup a NAS).
I also have not yet had to do a restore. You have a choice of restoring files through the Mozy software client, or directly through their website, or by paying them to mail you DVDs of your data (which I would think would probably be the solution I'd use if I ever need it, as it will take a long time to download the couple hundred gigs of data I've backed up).
Compared with RAID 1, Mozy is a vastly superior backup solution. RAID 1 only protects against a physical drive failure in one of the two drives. If the array is stolen, destroyed by water or fire, or if you accidentally delete something you didn't mean to delete, RAID 1 will do you no good, while Mozy protects against all of these things. The only thing RAID 1 does better than Mozy is to add real-time redundancy, so that if a drive fails before Mozy has had a chance to back up some new data, you can probably recover your data from the other drive. Ideally, you could combine RAID 1 with Mozy to get the advantages of both. But if your budget only allows for an either/or approach, I'd much rather spend $5 a month for real backup with Mozy than a couple hundred bucks up front for the limited protection of RAID 1.
Mozy also has a free version that allows you backup up to 2GB, so you can try that and if you like it, you can upgrade to the $5/mo unlimited data version.
And now for the selfish part: If you sign up through
this link, I'll get a small referral commission. I don't work for them, I'm just a member of their affiliate program and really like their product, so I recommend it to everyone. But if you want to sign up directly, I won't be offended (this board has been enormously helpful to me, and y'all don't owe me squat).
Topic: To RAID or not to RAID? (Read 7646 times)