NextAdvisor reviews new online backup service ElephantDrive

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May 8th, 2008 - Posted by Joe

ElephantDrive is a relatively new entrant into the online backup space but they have a solid offering that competes quite well with some of the more established providers in this field.

We found ElephantDrive to be easy to use and with a simple interface for automating backups and accessing documents. They also offer a free account with a maximum of 1GB of storage so that new users can familiarize themselves with ElephantDrive and make sure the service fits their needs before they buy.

ElephantDrive is built on top of Amazon.com's web infrastructure meaning that they use Amazon's web servers to store their customer's data. While it may seem strange of an online backup company to outsource their storage services to another storage company, we actually see it as a big plus. ElephantDrive customers can rest assured that they data they backup through the service is being stored safely and securely by a well established company like Amazon.com. This is actually a trend in this online backup service space as BeInSync also uses Amazon.

At $9.95 per month or $99.95 per year, ElephantDrive is almost two times the cost of Mozy or Carbonite. Additionally, ElephantDrive has file size limits of 1GB and maximum monthly file transfer of 1000GB. While the vast majority of users will have no problem staying within those limitations, we would prefer if they weren't enforced especially given the premium price of the ElephantDrive service.

Like Mozy, ElephantDrive offers Mac support although the services offered to Mac users are more limited than those offered to PC users. So, if Mac support is important to you you may want to evaluate Mozy as well.

Since ElephantDrive does offer a risk free unlimited trial of 1GB of storage we strongly suggest that any consumer in the market for an online backup service test it for themselves. In fact, it would be pretty simple to test ElephantDrive head to head with Mozy (who offers 2GB of free storage in their trial) to determine which is the preferred service for a given user's needs.

We have written extensively on the benefits of using an online backup service to secure your important files like music, videos or documents. It is great to see new services like Elephant drive entering the space as this will ultimately mean more innovation and more value created for consumers.

To learn more about online backup services read our recently updated online backup service reviews and comparison.

Wake up and backup!

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January 22nd, 2008 - Posted by Joe

It is often said that there are two types of computer users; those that backup their computer's hard drive and those that will! The point is that everyone should be backing up their computer's files to prevent losses of import documents, music files, photos, emails and all the other import things that you store on your laptop or desktop computer.

Processing a file backup used to be an arduous, manual task that was better suited to technical professionals and uber geeks. But, a wave of very easy to use and mostly automated backup services have been released into the market over the last few years that make backing up your hard drive easier than ever. Today we are launching our comparison of online backup services that you can view at NextAdvisor.com.

There are two types of online backup services that we have reviewed. The first are services that will process automated backups of your computer's hard drive everyday, or at whatever schedule you set, by taking advantage of downtime on your computers processors- this largely occurs anytime your computer's screen saver would be turned on. These services, including Mozy and Carbonite are all very easy to set up and maintain. Each of them stores a secure copy of all your important files and allows you to access them in case of file loss or, in some cases, if you want to get your hands on files but are away from your computer.

Mozy is our favorite of these services because it is extremely flexible and has lots of great features including access to your files anywhere and support for both Windows and Mac machines (all the other services we reviewed only support Windows based PCs). While each of these services have a free trial component, Mozy actually gives you 2GB of free storage that you can use forever. Although, it is likely that you will eventually need to upgrade over time as your files grow.

Carbonite is a great Mozy alternative in that it is slightly easier to set up and truly "set it and forget it". The downside to Carbonite is that it is fairly "no frills". For example, you can only access your stored files when you need to restore your computer's hard drive as a result of data loss.

Edit: Len from Carbonite was nice enough to stop by with some additional information to clarify the original post. You CAN access individual files through Carbonite by processing a restore of just the files or folders that you would like to access. Additionally, according to Len, Carbonite will be releasing the next generation of their product later this year which will include some key expanded functionality. They also have plans to provide Mac support in 2008. Check out Len's comment below for more detail.

The second type of service we came across in our review were those that allo wyou to store certain important files online and access them from anywhere. Box.net is a great example of this type of service.

Box.net is not a great tool for storing all of your computer's files because their file storage limits are much lower than Mozy or Carbonite (each of which offer unlimited storage). But, you could use Box.net as a tool to store some files, such as financial documents or photso, that you want to be able to have remote access to and share with others. Box.net's collaborative features are much more robust than those of Mozy or Carbonite.

Ultimately, our research found that today's online backup solutions are truly made for all consumers so there is really not any excuse not to be using one. We would strongly suggest Mozy to most consumers and Carbonite is a very close second. As always, we encourage our readers to read our full free online guide to online backup services to find the service that is right for them.