CRASHPLAN ENDS CONSUMER BACKUP PRODUCT, FORCES USERS TO COUGH UP OR LEAVE

The popular CrashPlan backup service has announced it is ending its home user offerings to focus on small business and enterprise customers. Those with current CrashPlan for Home subscriptions will be allowed to use the service for the duration plus an extra 60-day grace period. After this grace period, all backups will be automatically deleted unless users migrate to CrashPlan for Small Business (formerly CrashPlan Pro), which is near-identical to CrashPlan Home but twice the price at US$120 a year. CrashPlan is also offering users the option of a 50% discount to use Carbonite, but you’ll have to start your backup from scratch, there’s no migration from CrashPlan to Carbonite. Sounds like it’s a perfect time for CrashPlan users to re-assess their backup solution and see what else is on the market.