My online backup system of choice, Backblaze, has saved my caboose a few times, so I thought it was time I pay it forward and tell others about this really cool service.
Full disclosure: I am not being paid by Backblaze, and I am receiving no commission for linking to them.
You've probably heard about other online backup services, like Carbonite. If you haven't, here's the quick version: files and directories you specify on your computer get backed up, through the Internet, to a remote server while your computer isn't being used.
They are only backed up when they change, so, for example, if you are a programmer, only the files you have altered will get re-sent to the cloud, minimizing the amount of network traffic going out each day.
It's essential that if you need important backups, they be offsite. That way a fire, flood, lightening strike, theft, etc, won't cripple you; you can always log in and retrieve your data through the web.
Anyway, like Carbonite, Backblaze is $5/month. Unlike Carbonite, though, it will back up any file by default, just about any size, and I personally just find it easier to use. $5 a month is the cheapest insurance you can buy for your data.
Another great feature is you can restore files up to a month old. I had to use this today: I accidentally did something that ruined a git repository for a project I am working on. Rather than try to piece it back together again, I logged into Backblaze and downloaded a snapshop of the entire directory as of 11pm last night. Within minutes I was downloading a zip file of that directory. So nice.
In case you were wondering Backblaze (and probably Carbonite as well) give you unlimited storage and bandwidth, so feel free to tell it to back up your 2TB hard drive, though realistically I only back up certain directories on my computer. No need to back up C:\Windows or Program Files.
I also back up my websites by having my site's files and db downloaded every night to my hard drive, which Backblaze then backs up automatically.
So check it out!
