OT: One of the "banner ads" is for Carbonite - is anyone using it??

[OttosBestFriend]

I was thinking about using Carbonite for online backup and then saw they have a banner ad on this forum.

Before I pay for the service, I was wondering if anyone in here uses it and what has been your experience with it?

Thanks in advance.

 

[jekelish]

I only use carbonite when I want to freeze a rebel smuggler, personally.

 

[DeGrozz]

I think banner adds are shown based on recently visited websites, cookies, etc.

It made it quite funny when a poster asked why 'Cougar Life' ads were popping up on the forum.

 

[Toga]

Can I put some in my car's exhaust system and close the door? Please?

 

[tbonezone]

i've got an apple wireless time capsule i use to back up my data. a modest investment. never had to use it.

 

[007]

I was thinking about using Carbonite for online backup and then saw they have a banner ad on this forum.

Before I pay for the service, I was wondering if anyone in here uses it and what has been your experience with it?

Thanks in advance.

OBF, Carbonite comes highly recommeded. You might want to also check this link:

http://www.consumersearch.com/online-backup-services

 

[HoustonCuse]

I don't know much about Carbonite but I always wonder about services like this in terms of you just handing all your data over to them. Maybe you don't have any data you are overly concerned with security wise, but bottom line is - if they want to pore through it, they will and if they get hacked, which is a certainty, your data is the prize. I can't see any good reason to hand over all my data to someone who stores it god knows where when a 1 Terabyte hard drive is $100.

 

[rosconey]

i get a banner add for a cancer place-how did they know i just had cancer surgery?
i never looked at anything about cancer with this computer

 

[OttosBestFriend]

i've got an apple wireless time capsule i use to back up my data. a modest investment. never had to use it.

I have a 2TB time Capsule too, but the fact is, it's still in my house - right next to my computer.

My feeling is, if ever I'm robbed, have a fire or a natural disaster, the Time Capsule won't help me there.

And I've got thousands of my kids photos and home movies plus several scripts that I've written that'd be gone forever.

When I lived in Hollywood - just off Melrose - the guys who wrote the "Harold & Kumar" movies lived in the apartment below me. Their place was robbed and they lost tons of stuff they'd written but had not yet stored elsewhere.

As an aside, Sasha Mitchell (the guy who played Cody on "Step by Step" also lived in that building at 910 Martel - He was incredibly HUGE with tons of tattoos and a really nice guy.)

 

[OttosBestFriend]

I can't see any good reason to hand over all my data to someone who stores it god knows where when a 1 Terabyte hard drive is $100.

I'll give you three:

1. House Fire
2. Home Burglarized
3. Natural Disaster (Earthquake, Tornado, etc.)

An external hard drive will do nothing to save you from these very real possibilities.

That's not to say, I don't recommend a hard drive back up... But having something "offsite" can and will protect you even more.

 

[HoustonCuse]

I'll give you three:

1. House Fire
2. Home Burglarized
3. Natural Disaster (Earthquake, Tornado, etc.)

An external hard drive will do nothing to save you from these very real possibilities.

That's not to say, I don't recommend a hard drive back up... But having something "offsite" can and will protect you even more.

Buy 5 of them and store them in different places. They are basically free.

 

[OttosBestFriend]

Buy 5 of them and store them in different places. They are basically free.

That's what another buddy of mine suggested. Though Carbonite's pretty cheap - $59 a year.

 

[tbonezone]

very true. yet i've never been robbed or burned out .but i have crashed a hd. i don't really remember what i spent (maybe $150?) for the 1tb backup but i do know i have about 3 grand invested in music . oh yeah and some photos and stuff my wife likes too. i'm also somewhat uncomfortable giving out access to all my of computers info to a third party.somewhere rummy and cheney must be drooling

 

[Guinness]

Carbonite is a decent product. My question is what are you backing up from? If it is just a computer you are good with a product like Carbonite or Mozy. If you have USB attached drives or a NAS drive then you want to make sure you get something that supports those as well. When I used Carbonite a couple of years ago they did not support either. They may have added that support since then.

As far as security goes most reputable companies encrypt your data.

 

[HoustonCuse]

Carbonite is a decent product. My question is what are you backing up from? If it is just a computer you are good with a product like Carbonite or Mozy. If you have USB attached drives or a NAS drive then you want to make sure you get something that supports those as well. When I used Carbonite a couple of years ago they did not support either. They may have added that support since then.

As far as security goes most reputable companies encrypt your data.

I'm sure they encrypt it, but we all know that data will be stolen from places like this. Banks and the federal government are losing millions of customers worth of encrypted data per month. Plus, you are placing total trust in a company to not do anything untoward with your data - that is a big leap. Facebook and many others have been pinched for violating the privacy and sanctity of their user's data. In today's world - your data is more valuable than any other asset they could get from you.

Not trying to be difficult, figured it was just a good idea to raise these points to someone considering a service like this. These are my concerns about it, thats all.

 

[Guinness]

Not trying to be difficult, figured it was just a good idea to raise these points to someone considering a service like this. These are my concerns about it, thats all.

Understood.

Considering the majority of people have zero to little security on their home network their data is probably at more risk at home than it would be encrypted and sitting on a secure server somewhere.