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Carbonite Review
- $49.95 per year per computer for unlimited storage
- Pay ahead and get two years for $89.95
- Try free for 15 days with no credit card required
- PC or Mac
- Unlimited storage space
- Set your own backup schedule
- Free downloadable backup software
- Automatically backs up new and changed files
- Integrated with your desktop
- Goes to sleep when computer is in use
- Recover files with just a few clicks
- 128-bit SSL encryption for all transfers
- Data is stored in encrypted format on the Carbonite servers
- State of the art data centers
- Adheres to European Safe Harbor principles
- Set how much of your bandwidth is used for backup
- Backup email and address books
- Deleted files are held for 30 days in case you make a mistake
- Transfer your subscription between computers
- Non-intrusive interface
- Maximum file size of 4Gb
- Quick and easy to set up
- Access files from any computer with the installed software
Carbonite is a simple and safe online backup service aimed at mainly home computer users and business travellers. It provides an easy to use and non-intrusive service which handles all your backup needs without making you do anything. The price is extremely competitive and won't break the bank even for casual users of the service.
>From the outset Carbonite does not try to make itself out as a fully featured backup service for businesses. Its market is clearly single computer users who need a cheap, secure and easy way of backing up their important files. That's not to say Carbonite is in any way an inferior service to some of the others in our top ten; on the contrary, it does away with all the extras most home users don't need in order to concentrate on providing a simple and easy to use service.
To use the service you must install the small client application Carbonite provides for download on its website. It is currently available for Windows and OSX and works slightly differently on each platform. On both though, it is a well designed piece of software and integrates with your operating system without getting in the way or slowing it down. Once you have set it up it will automatically backup new or changed files when your computer is free - the intelligence built in will make sure it doesn't try to do a huge backup while you are trying to surf the web. It also makes it easy to see which folders are marked for back up, in transfer, or fully backed up due to the coloured dots which will appear on marked-for-backup files in your operating system file explorer. Some people may not like this much integration with the desktop, but in our opinion it makes things much easier as you don't have to think about running different applications to do your backup.
The one thing missing from the ease of access side of things is a web interface for getting at your files. Although you can access your storage space from different computers, you can only backup from the one you have a license for, and you must install the software on any computer you want to retrieve files from. This definitely pushes Carbonite further towards being purely a backup service rather than an online storage space.
Despite being aimed at home users Carbonite certainly has not skimped on the security of its service. All uploads are secured using 128-bit SSL encryption, just like an online payment service, and everything stored on the Carbonite servers is encrypted using a combination of the Blowfish and Triple DES encryption algorithms - meaning that security is handled very similarly to that of financial systems.
One thing we give Carbonite credit for is that it has a very simple pricing structure and does not try to confuse customers into paying for services they don't need. For $49.95 per year you get unlimited backup space on the Carbonite servers and a free download of the client software. Support is available online by email and live chat, or by paying an extra $19.95 per year, you can have access to priority support by phone - which is available during business hours. This isn't quite as good as some services which offer 24/7 phone support included in the subscription, but the subscription price is still a bargain for what you get.
We think Carbonite is an excellent choice of backup service for any casual users, or business people who travel around a lot. The simple and unobtrusive nature of the service means you don't have to think about remembering to back up your important files, which is ideal for the casual user. Carbonite does lack some of the multi-user and collaboration features seen in some other services, but if you want a cheap, reliable and secure home backup service this is for you.
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