Backblaze
A low-cost cloud backup system that’s endearingly simple – though it’s not particularly fast or flexible
SCORE ✪✪✪✪✪ PRICE From $50/yr per PC, unlimited storage from backblaze.com
Backblaze’s headline offering is the same as CrashPlan’s, namely unlimited cloud backup for $5 a month. In fact, if you pay for a year upfront, it’s cheaper than CrashPlan, coming in at just $50.
The philosophy is very much “set-and-forget”: simply point Backblaze at a hard drive and it will start continuously backing up almost everything it finds, meaning you don’t need to fiddle about configuring complicated backup parameters or schedules. Generously, external drives are backed up, too.
That said, there aren’t many advanced options to configure. You can throttle bandwidth and CPU usage, as well as optionally specifying a private encryption key for unbreakable security. It’s also possible to use the Backblaze web interface to track the geographic location of a registered client, in case it’s lost or stolen – a nice touch that could spare you from having to set up a separate anti-theft system.
Backblaze does come with a few caveats, the first of which concerns performance. Our 5GB test folder took 4hrs 35mins to upload to Backblaze’s American data centre, making it one of this month’s slowest services. File recovery was on the sluggish side, too: we had to wait 46 minutes for our data to come back down the line, while other services supplied it in less than half that time. However, if you’re in a screaming hurry to restore a lost file, Backblaze will send you an external drive containing your selected files by next-day international courier. Naturally, this service certainly isn’t cheap, costing $99 for a 128GB USB flash drive, or $189 for a 4TB external hard disk.
You should also be aware that Backblaze isn’t a full-system recovery solution. While the software takes a liberal approach to file types and locations, it won’t back up your OS and application files. It’s also not a long-term archival service, as files that are deleted from your system are purged after 30 days. If you’re using Backblaze to back up external drives, this means you’ll need to ensure your media is connected at least once a month to prevent those files from dropping off the system.
If those limitations don’t put you off, though, Backblaze is worthy of your consideration. While it’s not the fastest or most comprehensive way to get back on your feet when disaster strikes, it’s admirably straightforward, and for annual customers it’s the cheapest unlimited deal around.