Save 30% Off SugarSync Personal Products, Offer Limited Act NOW!

sugarsync-online-backup-discountThe holiday season will come and go, but special SugarSync pricing will be here through the beginning of January!  From now until January 2nd, SugarSync is offering 30% off all personal products (excluding 500 GB).

This promotion is the perfect product for all of you with new laptops, tablets, and smartphones.  Take advantage of this special offer today, and keep your holiday cheer going long after the presents are unwrapped!

Remote File Access:

SugarSync not only ensures that your files are backed up and up-to-date, but also allows you to access your personal cloud from wherever you are.  SugarSync boasts multiple features that let you stay synced from anywhere in the world.

  • Access your files from any browser: As long as you have an internet connection, you can get to your SugarSync files.  You can retrieve your data from any computer, even if it doesn’t have SugarSync installed.  Simply log into your secure SugarSync account from the web to get access to all your files!
  • Edit files remotely: Even if your computer is offline, you can reach all your synced files because they are stored in your cloud.  The next time your computer connects to the Internet, any changes you’ve made will automatically be synced back to the cloud and all your other devices!
  • Share from anywhere: With SugarSync, you are able to send important files to anyone you want, from wherever you want.  Any size and type of file can instantly be shared via any device that you choose!

Try SugarSync for free and get 30% off if you decide it’s right for you.

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Why I Need Unlimited Cloud Storage (And Maybe You Do Too!)

VHS-tapes-to-convert-to-digital

Only Unlimited Cloud Storage Is The Answer

We are at a triple-reason-stage in life where it made sense to convert VHS tapes to digital format and burn DVD’s besides.

First, we are moving, so everything is being brought out of basement storage and gone through, sorted, and either kept or pitched.

Naturally, things of value like home movies of the kids are a treasure to keep. But moving poses hazards and I realized that for the first time I really do have the resources to backup this data and to the cloud besides.

Second, it has become apparent that having a working VCR around and hooked up to the TV is going the way of the Dodo. In the new home we just won’t have one readily available to watch these old memories on.

And third, well, a couple of the kids are old enough that they could get married or move out just about any time now. So it makes one think about things like that.

VHS-C-tapes-waiting-to-be-converted-to-digital-and-stored-in-the-cloudConverting VHS and VHS-C Tapes To Digital

So I have been running marathon sessions of converting VHS to digital. Editing and burning to DVD will have to wait for now.

Each 2 hour VHS tape rips out to about 25GB of digital AVI format. Yes, that’s 25 GIGABYTEs each!

The VHS-C tapes are only about 30 minutes each so they are ONLY about 6.75GB each.

So you can see that a Terabyte of storage is required just for my 40 VHS home movie tapes.

Once these files are edited and produced to MPEG-2 format for burning to DVD, the size drops significantly, by about 75% or so (roughly 5 – 6 gigabytes per 2 hour VHS tape).

Ideally, because of upload speed considerations, my plan is to backup all of the large AVI files to a large external hard drive by Seagate. Then backup the MPEG-2 files to the cloud using my unlimited online storage account at MyPCBackup (see our full MyPCBackup Review here).

Viewing The Converted VHS Tapes

Once your VHS tapes are converted to digital format, you can burn to DVD as mentioned above, but you can also view the MPEG-2 or AVI files directly on your computer or play them through a game console (maybe directly on some new TV’s).

With a program like DVD Catalyst 4 I have even converted some of these digital files to play on my Droid X and your could do other mobile formats or iPad, etc.

When you add up all of this data, though, you can see why unlimited online storage is required. Unlimited because of the size, STORAGE because I need them to store the files regardless of whether they exist on my PC (they won’t, they will be on a NAS or a disconnected external hard drive) and I don’t want them deleted after 30 days like most online backup accounts will do.

See for yourself what MyPCBackup can do for you

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Which Online Backup Services Support External Hard Drives?

which-online-backup-supports-external-hard-driveAre you one of those people with massive quantities of photos, videos, and music on your external hard drive because it doesn’t all fit on your laptop, desktop or maybe that super fast SSD that you have?

Since you are here I am sure you understand how important it is to backup that external hard drive before something bad happens, right?

It does not matter how new a hard drive is, it can still fail, even catastrophically. I have heard way too many times when repairing a computer: “but it’s not that old!”

That does not matter.

Ever changed a light bulb that had “2000 hours” stamped right on the box after just a few weeks? (I have, too many times!) Anything can happen with electronics and to be fair to the manufacturer, sometimes it’s not the drives fault.

Do you use a quality surge protector or un-interruptible power supply? Please don’t tell me your computer, external hard drive or ANY device connected to your computer is plugged directly into the wall!

There are two primary uses of External Hard Drives:

  1. Storing data that does not fit on the computer’s hard drive
  2. Backing up one or more computers

Either way, getting that data to an off-site location is important. If it is the only copy of some of y0ur data then you are at risk should that hard drive fail; and let’s be honest, many manufacturers of external hard drives install as cheap of a drive they can get away with because they know most consumers are price conscious.

Yes, it does matter how much you pay for a hard drive; cheap is cheap…

What if you (or someone else) accidentally deletes a file?

Even if your external hard drive is used to backup other computers, what happens if:

  • A thief takes both computer and external drive
  • Flood
  • Fire
  • Tornado
  • Hurricane
  • Tsunami
  • Earthquake

There are so many reasons to backup that external hard drive to an online backup service. So…

Which Online Backup Services Support External Hard Drives?

Some online backup services will backup TO an external hard drive and we call that “local backup”. What we are referring to in this discussion is the ability to select files on (or all of) an external hard drive attached to your computer, whether by USB cable or eSATA (external SATA) connection.

Here are some of the services that will backup those files on the external drive:

Since you probably have LOTS of data on your external hard drive, we have placed and asterisk (*) next to those vendors who offer UNLIMITED backup or storage.

Take a look at those offerings an then why not –

Sign up for a free trial?

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SugarSync Is Better Than Google, Apple or Amazon With Mobile Cloud Music

mobile-cloud-music-serviceWhen it comes to a mobile cloud music service you will find that SugarSync is number one. While Apple, Google, and Amazon all try to get you to pile into their proprietary cloud music program (so they can milk your wallet once you are there) by claiming it is free – think again.

These companies are not charities.

They want to tie you in so that you cannot get out (Apple especially). In fact, you cannot even sign up for Google’s new cloud music service to get their free songs without giving them your credit card information. You have to turn your email address into a Google Checkout account – even if you already have a different Google Checkout already setup.

(These companies think you only have 1 email account; yeah, right!)

When it comes to cloud backup, it is very hard to recommend one product and say that it is absolutely the best for you; because everyone’s needs are different. Once you determine, though, that mobile devices and syncing between them are what you really need to do, SugarSync immediately rises to the top.

With Apple’s iCloud service, they obviously take care of all of their own products but leave you out in the cold should you dare to buy a non-Apple device; or work for a company that buys one of those contraband devices for you.

With Google and Amazon, same thing only on the Android side. This is partially Apple’s fault because they don’t really want to play well with others, but I bet they could do it if they wanted to.

And my proof that they could?

Well, how about the fact that SugarSync DOES play well with all mobile devices? Apple, Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, even Symbian! When was the last time you saw a cloud storage vendor talk about supporting Symbian mobile devices?

The simple truth is that if you want an online backup service that will support whatever mobile device you have PLUS whatever mobile device your family or friends have who you share stuff with, then go with SugarSync.

SugarSync has a free 30 day trial, they even have a 5GB free account with NO CREDIT CARD REQUIRED! (Suck on that, Google)

Try SugarSync right now and enjoy!

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Don’t Let This Happen To You: Hard Drive Dies With No Backup

woman-angry-hard-drive-died-with-no-backupThis is a computer users worst nightmare, they go to turn on their PC and nothing happens. Fine, it’s probably just the power supply, right? Not in this case.

For this unlucky woman who works for a friend of mine, the hard drive totally fried – and took out the power supply with it.

In most cases like this there is some way to get the data off of the drive without spending thousands for a clean room “operation”. Maybe a Vantec USB adapter and hook it up to a good computer.

But with this hard drive it was internally shorted so any computer or power supply we hooked it to simply would not power up as a fail-safe.

If this woman had been protecting her data with an automatic online backup service like the real-easy-to-use Zip Cloud service (and it’s cheap besides), then we would simply install a new hard drive and start restoring her data.

Instead, there is a lot of work she will have to recreate.

We have long said that the only way to make sure a computer is backed up is if the backup happens automatically, and that’s the primary problem with the old tape backup systems. If there was not a good tape in the drive, enough space on one tape for the full backup, and the tape drive not too dirty, only then would it matter if a backup was scheduled.

With online backup you don’t have to worry about any of that.

With UNLIMITED online backup, you don’t have to worry about all of your data fitting on your quota.

And if the backup is not easy to setup and simple to figure out? Guess what, you will find yourself without a complete backup.

All of this combined is a good reason for you to checkout Zip Cloud. Zip Cloud is easy to setup and use, has unlimited online storage, and it is inexpensive besides. Oh, and it’s fast, too.

Did you know you can try it out absolutely free?

Try Zip Cloud right now, for free, and find out if it will be a perfect fit for you. Then never worry again about losing data when a hard drive fails.

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SOS Online Backup Is 4 Time Winner PC Magazine Award

sos-online-backup-4-time-pc-magazine-winnerSOS Online Backup has just received PC Magazine Editor’s Choice award for online backup for the 4th time.

It is no wonder why as SOS has just added even more services like the ability to backup your Facebook account; no one else is currently offering that that we know of.

They have been a leader in this business for a long time and do not rest on their laurels.

When it comes to ticking the boxes, SOS covers most of the bases, too. They do NOT offer unlimited cloud storage but there are a lot of other features that few others match.

Let’s take a look at a few of the things we really like about SOS Online Backup:

  • PC and Mac support
  • FAST – beating out big names like Carbonite and Mozy in upload speed
  • Unlimited versioning and archiving means they never delete a file even if you accidentally do (others keep them only 30 days)
  • Up to 5 computers on a single account; great for families
  • Mobile Apps for iPhone, iPad and Android
  • Facebook backup
  • iPhone & iPad backup
  • Stronger encryption than most anyone else
  • Local backup
  • Backup network (mapped) drives like your home NAS
  • Restore several ways, including a “Timeline” restore

SOS Online Backup has been around for quite a long time and have impressed the marketplace by their continued improvement and innovation. Whether you are looking for personal online backup or business data protection, there is a plan to take care of you.

They offer a free trial so you can find out if they are the right fit for protecting your data, and there is NO credit card required to get that free trial account.

Start your SOS Free Trial Now!

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New ZipCloud Offers Unlimited Online Backup For Low Price

zipcloud-online-backup-service-with-unlimited-online-backupZipCloud Online Backup is a new entry into the market by a company that is not new to online backup. Their mission is pretty basic; give you the service you need at a price you can afford.

The unlimited online backup is really unlimited online storage, the differences we have written about here, so you can store files not on your PC or retrieve a file you deleted a long time ago.

One thing you will find is that the website is not exactly “filled out”. Looks good, but many details are just not there.

While that could be because they simply want to appeal to the non-techie consumer who just wants online backup to be simple it could also be that they just haven’t gotten around to it.

One of the key issues for us is that they are VERY responsive to our inquiries so we should be able to get our questions answered quickly for our upcoming review.

Based on what we know about them so far I can safely say that they WILL be on our recommended list.

In the meantime, let’s look at ZipCloud’s key points:

  • Make online backup simple to use
  • Make backup automatic
  • Remove worries about quota since they offer unlimited online backup
  • Keep the price low, affordable and attractive
  • They want your business, cancel anytime, 30 day money back guarantee

If you want safe, secure, simple online backup with no quotas and a low, affordable price, then why not sign up for a no obligation free trial account at ZipCloud right now?

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Questions About Backify Online Backup Service

backify-online-backup-serviceWe were initially attracted to look at Backify since they were offering a 512GB FREE online backup account. Whenever something looks attractive, or too good to be true, we want to check it out.

Free is good, but since you are trusting your personal information and your data to an online backup service, we want to know a lot about them to see if they are worthy of our trust.

Note: As of today, the FREE account registration has been disabled, so don’t run there hoping to get a good deal.

While this could be because a company can only give away so much, it could be for any number of reasons and even may return in the future.

In fact, while we overall have liked Carbonite as a company for years, we were, and continue to be, very concerned about the recent alleged “privacy fail”.

Questions About Backify We Need Answered

First problem

Who is Backify? Their website does not even include an about page! Come on folks, that’s a “Google required page”.

One of their FAQ’s, in the summary list shows “What is the difference between Backify Backup and Livedrive Briefcase?”

is-backify-related-to-livedriveYet when you follow the link to the answer, you see this:

is-backify-related-to-livedrive-2So it begs the question, are Backify and LiveDrive related?

To further add to this suspicion is the somewhat RARE FEATURE that both of these online backup services offer: FTP access. Now, they also offer SFTP, the secure version, but many have questioned the companies choice to even offer unsecured FTP.

Second Problem

How secure is your data? The Backify website talks about your data being secured in transit by SSL, we can only assume 128 bit SSL otherwise they would likely brag if it were 256 bit SSL, but the security of SSL is in question. The site also mentions that your data is encrypted on their servers. But we want our data encrypted BEFORE it leaves our computer.

Now, a lot of people don’t seem to care about that distinction and if you don’t that’s fine. But you should know.

Services like Mozy and IDrive that allow you to use your own encryption key mean that even if your data is turned over to a government authority they will not read your data easily. Again, probably not a problem for most of us.

Third Problem

Lack of contact information. Again, there is no “Contact Us” page on their website and that is another of the “Google required pages”.

While there is a toll free number at the top of the website, we called that number and received a message “voice mailbox for..{nothing}..leave a message” and that’s all it said. So we left a message.

Takeaway

We hope to do a full Backify review sometime soon, but I can tell you right now that if we cannot find out more about the company you won’t find them on our recommended list.

Hopefully, though, our questions will be answered favorably and we will be able to recommend them.

In the meantime, get started backing up online now with our #1 recommended online backup service – IDrive.

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Which Online Backup Service Supports Network Drives?

which-online-backup-service-supports-mapped-drivesWhen the data you need to backup resides on a Windows server or a NAS that you access with a mapped drive, then you need an online backup service that supports network drives.

There are a number of great online backup services out there but not only do they not all backup network drives, some make it difficult to find out if they do or not.

Here at OnlineBackupSpot.com, our goal is to simplify the process of picking the perfect online backup service for your needs. We do the digging so you can pick one and move on with more important things to do.

If the data is on a Windows server, some software gives you the option of installing the online backup program on the server, but there maybe times you do not want to do that or cannot.

When it comes to Network Attached Storage, installing software on the NAS is typically not allowed; though some NAS’s do have online backup built-in to their own service.

So here are some vendors we have reviewed whose software does backup network drives.

Online Backup For Network Drives

When it comes to online backup, most people do not want to spend more money than they have to. Therefore this first list is going to be of consumer grade online backup services that support network drives.

After all, it should go without saying that a business grade online backup would support network or mapped drives; though even that is not a safe bet. Some “business” plans merely allow for multiple online backup users to be aggregated into one account either to take advantage of pooled storage and/or convenient management.

  • IDrive – IDrive is one of our favorite online backup services and the fact that they do support network drives is only one reason. No upcharge.
  • Zoolz – Zoolz is a newer entry but has become very popular very quickly; probably because of its ease of use
  • LiveDrive – LiveDrive supports a NAS or other network storage location but it doubles your monthly cost as there is a $7.95 upcharge per month. The unlimited backup offered by LiveDrive may come in handy, though, if you have lots of data on that NAS.

Not too many to choose from, huh?

Step Up To Business Online Backup

As mentioned above, it is unfortunately not a given that a business plan online backup service will support network drives.

So here are some of vendors whose business plan does:

  • IBackup – IBackup is the true business version of IDrive, and thus we love the product.
  • Zoolz Business – Zoolz is a top quality, newer server online backup service using Amazon’s excellent cloud storage service.

One difference that you will typically find in a business online backup is that you can install it on a Microsoft Server and often get open/locked file support during the backup.

So if you want to backup data on a mapped drive from a NAS or Windows server, choose one of the online backup services above that support network drives.

Get a 5GB Free Online Backup Account With IDrive

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Mozy Pro Online Backup Launches Data Shuttle

mozy-pro-data-shuttleMozy Pro Online Backup offers a Data Shuttle program so that your initial backup can be transferred to Mozy’s servers quickly and without tying up precious bandwidth over an extended period of time.

One of the primary hurdles to online backup for many businesses is the size of the initial backup and getting that data quickly uploaded.

With a terabyte of data not being all that uncommon anymore most businesses would prefer a quick, painless way to get the first backup done.

Mozy Pro’s Data Shuttle service offers a USB 2.0 1.8TB external hard drive that is encrypted and utilizes overnight shipping to speed the process.

Amazingly, your incremental backups can even start right away, too, before Mozy receives the shuttle drive back. Now THAT’s data protection!

Online Backup Data Protection With Mozy Pro

Mozy Pro online backup service knows you want your data guarded against theft or tampering.

The software will encrypt your initial backup using either the Mozy default key or a personal key – your choice. MozyPro will then generate a second encryption key and encrypt your data a second time before transferring any data to the USB Data Shuttle. The second key is transmitted to a central repository via SSL and is destroyed after the data is successfully stored in the Mozy cloud data center.

Your data is ALWAYS stored in encrypted format.

Mozy Data Shuttle Pricing

The cost of the Mozy Data Shuttle is based on the size of the initial (seed) backup on a per machine basis, and works with Mozy Pro only (not Mozy Home).

Size of Server Seed Cost
1.8TB – 1 Data Shuttle $275
3.6TB – 2 Data Shuttles $375
5.4TB – 3 Data Shuttles $475
7.2TB – 4 Data Shuttles $575

So if your business has a large amount of data and you want a premium business online backup solution with a fast initial backup, then checkout Mozy Pro online backup, now with the option of Data Shuttle to get you protected without delay or inconvenience.

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