Ideas for "Cloud" backups?

Hi,
Does anyone have ideas for online backups for OS vs external hardrives (Minimum 100GB)??. I have been investigating google gDisk a little bit but it does'nt seem as enough storage space.

(Im not a Mac expert, so please reply in "readable language" )

I'd probably look at Carbonite if I were to consider it. $130 - 3year - unlimited backup

Find some reviews and start reading though.

These are in no way near as convenient as having a bootable backup and imho should only be considered over and above a local backup.

Most important thing in " Cloud based " is the privacy and availability of your data.
Current agreements do not handle that very well.

You won't know in which country your data will be stored ( and associated legal implications ) and you have no guarantee on the availability of your data ( It is the internet after all, owned by ..... nobody )
All agreements are " gentlemen's agreements " or are " best effort ".

In fact, when you sign up, you don't even know who you are talking to.

Unless you accept the risk of all your data ending up on the evening news, I suggest to be very carefull with trusting the cloud.

Cheers ... McBie

Unless you accept the risk of all your data ending up on the evening news, I suggest to be very carefull with trusting the cloud.

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Good point. And another consideration: What happens to your data when your "cloud" storage company goes out of business?

These are in no way near as convenient as having a bootable backup and imho should only be considered over and above a local backup.

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Amen.

Simply put, I think people who want to backup 100GB to the cloud are nuts -- but for NONE of the reasons mentioned above (which seem overly paranoid to me).

My reason? IT WILL TAKE FOREVER.

Most people's upload speed is SLOW compared to their download speed. Off-site backup should be used primarily for the subset of your hard drive which is really *irreplacable.* Digital photos, unique documents, that sort of thing. Not only will restricting your cloud backup to just the REALLY valuable stuff save you tons of money, it will save you tons of time.

Local hard drives are MORE than adequate, MUCH cheaper and WAY faster for backing up day-to-day stuff.

chas_m said:

Simply put, I think people who want to backup 100GB to the cloud are nuts -- but for NONE of the reasons mentioned above (which seem overly paranoid to me).

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Chas_m .... there is no paranoia in the reasoning above ... it's facts and facts only. There is no universal legal framework for storing data in the cloud, and the lack of a framework is tricky to say the least.

Why do you think that the cloud is not really picking up in the business world, there are a few shy attempts and that is for one reason only ..... the lawyers can't figure out how to construct a contract that sticks.

I know there is a difference between a company handing over control of their crown juwels to a 3rd party and someone like me wanting to have a backup of my iTunes library in the cloud. ( as an example )
But then again .... define " Crown Juwels "

Agree with you that a local backup solution is the best, you then have full control over your data.

My 2 cents.

Cheers ... McBie