 |
Time Machine Review: Online Backup |
Go to Site | View Full Comparison Chart |
Website: |
Visit Website |
Rating: |
 |
| Easy to use, but can't match the safety of off-site backup | |
Full Review: |
Unlike the other services reviewed here, Time Machine is not an online
backup service. It is an automatic backup system that is built into
Mac OS X Leopard, and comes standard on new Mac computers. Instead of
backing up your files online, Time Machine copies your documents onto
an external hard drive. Time Machine is similar to an online backup
service in that it works automatically in the background, and requires
no actions or interference from you after the initial set up process.
When you connect your Mac to an external hard drive, Time Machine will ask if you'd like to make the external hard drive your backup drive. If you say yes, Time Machine will copy the entire contents of your computer to the backup drive. After this initial backup, Time Machine will make incremental backups, copying just the files that have been changed since the previous backup. As long as your backup drive is attached to your Mac, Time Machine will backup your files every hour of every day, saving the hourly backups for the past 24 hours, daily backups for the past month, and weekly backups for everything older than a month, remembering how your Mac system looked on any given day in the past. Once your backup drive is full, Time Machine will alert you that it will start deleting previous backups, starting with the oldest first. You can easily backup multiple Macs on a single external hard drive, as long as it has sufficient storage space. Time Machine works using fairly elegant software that will not disrupt you or slow you down while you are using your Mac. The default setting is to backup your entire Mac, but it is easy to select certain files or folders that you wish to exclude. Retrieving stored files is also simple and straightforward. Time Machine is designed to work seamlessly with the Time Capsule, Apple's wireless hard drive, which is available in two sizes. A 1 TB Time Capsule is $299.00 and a 2 TB Time Capsule costs $499.00. With a Time Capsule, Time Machine can continuously backup your Mac or Macs without cables. We found that connecting with a cable does make the process much quicker, particularly when retrieving stored files. Apple also advertises that the Time Capsule works as a wireless router, but we found that its signal was fairly weak and ineffective for this purpose. The machine also gets quite hot when in use. It does, however, interface very nicely with Time Machine. Time Machine is a useful and well-designed feature, and works especially well with Time Capsule. Hourly backups of your Mac system or systems become effortless. However, the flaw in this system is the fact that a Time Capsule or other external hard drive is still hardware, and therefore vulnerable to the same dangers as your computer itself. It could potentially fail, or be stolen or damaged. While there are many advantages to this backup system, it is inevitably less secure than an online backup solution. |
Search our blog archives and frequently asked questions for more information about Online Backup Service Reviews
| Discount / Free Trial: | No |
| Paid Storage Fees: | $299.00-$499.00 for Time Capsule |
| Gigabytes (GB) of Storage Included: | 1 or 2 TB |
| File Access Options: | Access your files by connecting to your external hard drive |
| System Compatibility: | Mac OS X |
NextAdvisor Online Backup Blog Headlines
Mozy coupon code: 20% off on online backup
Mozy, one of our favorite online backup services, is offering 20% off until the end of March. This Saint Patrick's Day inspired coupon code is GOLD. Just enter that code in at checkout to receive 20% off; this comes on top of Mozy's discounted annual plans. A one year plan will come in at a [...]
Does the Carbonite remote access feature allow me to view any file or email i...
The following is an actual user submitted question:
Q: I am considering buying Carbonite and would like to know if I still need GoToMyPC remote access program if Carbonite allows for remote access? Does the Carbonite remote access feature allow me to view any file or email individually from any computer, similar to the GoToMyPC program?
A: [...]
SugarSync discounts personal plans
We reviewed SugarSync for Business on Monday. Today we're reporting that the online backup service is offering exclusive 15% discounts on its 60GB and 100GB plans. It's a limited time offer; in fact customers have until March 31st. We really liked SugarSync when we reviewed it. It's a fun and feature-rich service that's particularly useful for [...]
SugarSync for business reviewed
We really liked SugarSync's personal backup service when we tested it, so we were eager to see how its SugarSync for Business plan differs. Strangely, the biggest difference seems to be in the price, and not the functionality; from a price perspective, that's a very good thing.
The base price is currently $29.99 per month for [...]
Exclusive Mozy Promo Code
We are very happy to bring back the exclusive 15%-off Mozy promo code. This brings the price of this excellent online backup service down to $4.21 per month. Put that together with Mozy's yearly discounts and you can receive a year of safe, secure online backup for $46.01, or two years for $88.36. This is [...]
The New York Times ponders the plight of the Internet user
In this day and age, even the Fashion & Style section of The New York Times is worried about Internet security issues. This weekend, the Times recounted the experiences of Allan Goldstein, a 60 year old college professor who uses the Internet, but does so a bit nervously. He worries that NYU's online system will [...]
Online backup services and the value of version histories
Last month, someone asked a question about file corruption. They wondered if their online backup service could restore working versions of files that had become corrupted on their hard drive. I suggested that "versioning" or "file history" might come to their rescue. This feature, offered by most online backup services, holds on to a certain [...]
I am a Carbonite subscriber. My computer recently crashed. I changed from Win...
The following post in our Reader Question series is an actual user submitted question. To maintain the integrity of the original question, we do not edit or change reader questions in any way.
Q: I am a carbonite subscriber. My computer recently crashed. I changed from window to A Mac. How do I get my serviced [...]
Mozy discount for Black Friday: Save $15-$20
Mozy is making dramatic price cuts on its annual online backup storage plans for Black Friday. Until November 30th you can save $15.00 off of the single year plan, and $20.00 off of the two-year plan. That brings the prices down to $39.49 and $73.96, respectively. It's a really great deal for unlimited online storage [...]
Should you manage your own online backup encryption key?
When you use an online backup service like Mozy or Carbonite, your data is encrypted before it leaves your computer. This makes your data essentially indecipherable to hackers, should they somehow be monitoring your Internet connection. The software itself manages the encryption and the service will have your encryption key. Now according to Carbonite's Help [...]
About Us Blog Contact UsTerms & Privacy PolicyAffiliate ProgramSite map
Copyright© 2006 - NextAdvisor.com - All rights reserved.