Carbonite Review

Backing Up Your Life With Carbonite Online Backup

CEO David Friend and CTO Jeff Flowers founded Carbonite in 2005 and originally focused on photo storage. In May 2006 Carbonite launched its online backup service with the industry first offer of unlimited backup space for a flat price. Prior to Carbonite entering the market, all online backup companies charged consumers by the gigabyte. Since then, many vendors have changed to an unlimited model similiar to Carbonite’s. Carbonite is the fifth joint venture for the pair who also together founded Caomputer Pictures, Pilot Software, FaxNet, and Sonexis. Carbonite is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

How Carbonite Works

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Step 1: Download

Once you’ve downloaded and installed Carbonite, it will imediately scan your hard drive searching for files to back up. Carbonite automatically backs up all file types with the exception of executables (like .exe), system files, temporary files and video files. Having said that, any of the excluded file types can be manually added to the backup by right-clicking on the file and selecting “Back this up” from the Carbonite menu. Upon setup, Carbonite offers several options for customizing your backup, but 95% of Carbonite users prefer to stay with the default settings.

Step 2: Backing Up

Carbonite is designed to automatically back up most files in the Documents and Settings folder, but some users may choose to manually select files for backup, or decide to back up files that are stored in other locations. Any file or folder can be added to the backup by simply right-clicking on the file or folder and selecting “Back this up” from the Carbonite menu. Once files and folders are selected for backup, they will be continually backed up in the background so that your backup is always up-to-date.

Carbonite has an intuitive way to determine a file or folder ‘s backup status. A green dot on a file or folder means it is selected for backup and that the backup copy is up-to-date. A yellow dot means that the file or folder is selected for backup but awaiting backup because it is either new or has been modified since the last backup. A green dot with a hole in the center on a folder means that the folder’s backup is up-to-date, but there are some files in the folder which are not selected for backup. If a file or folder has no dot, it means it is not selected for backup.

Step 3: Restoring Your Files

Should anything happen to your computer, restoring lost files with Carbonite is simple. To restore an individual file or folder, just open the Carbonite Backup Drive from your desktop. Files and folders are arranged in the backup drive precisely as they are on your computer. All you have to do is locate the specific file or folder, right-click and select “restore.” The file will be restored to its original location on your computer. Carbonite also gives you the option to restore data to a new location or recover an earlier version of the file by selecting “Restore previous versions.”

If you suffered a total data loss and need to restore everything to a new computer, visit carbonite.com and log in to your account and to restore your files. The Carbonite Restore Wizard will walk you through restoring all of your files to your new computer.

Notable Features

• Free Trial Offer

Carbonite offers a 15 day free trial for users to get comfortable with the easy to use interface. There’s no contract or commitment and Carbonite doesn’t even require a credit card.

• Unlimited Storage

Carbonite offers unlimited storage at one low price.

• Accessibility

A well thought out feature of Carbonite is the ability to access your data from any web browser without having to download any special software. This can be particularly useful if you ever need your files when you are away from your home computer and can’t install software on whatever computer you are using.

• Automatic Backup Scheduling

Unlike some online storage services, Carbonite can perform automatic backups, you can set it to backup daily, by the time or on a specific day. You can even tell it when not to perform backups so it does not over utilize your Internet transfer speed when you need it most, like during working hours.

What Do They Do Better Than Anybody?

Carbonite is a comprehensive and robust online backup service that will not wow you in terms of special features, but is designed to backup your important files automatically in an easy to use interface. You can literally be up and running in just a few minutes.

Why Should I Consider Anybody Else?

Carbonite is an online backup service and not online storage. What this means is if you delete a file, image, or video on your computer, Carbonite will keep the file for 30 days before they delete as well. If you’re looking for a service where you can upload data to a secure location and then delete the files to free up hard disk space, you may want to consider a service like SugarSync or IDrive.

Another area where Carbonite lacks some flexibility is in file sharing. Carbonite was never designed to be a sharing tool for your data; so while you can easily download them onto any computer, you have fewer options than some other storage services offer, especially when it comes to public file sharing. If you’re considering Carbonite for your file sharing needs, look somewhere else or you’ll be disappointed. Both SugarSync or Box.net are excellent options for file sharing.

Give It To Me Straight

For pure online backup, Carbonite is a great bargain. While it may not have all the fancy features other online backup providers have, the setup is simple, fuss free, and comprehensive. You’ll just set it and forget it—until the day you need to restore your files.

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