CrashPlan 3 – Backup of Awesomeness

Having come from the Mac side of the computer world, I was never very worried about backing things up. Time Machine did a fine job and I had seen it save people’s digital lives repeatedly. It’s a set-it-and-forget application that is beautiful in its minimalist and nearly invisible approach. Life was good.

Unfortunately there comes a time when a user of modern technology has to grow up and face facts. I knew from previous careers that a backup means more than keeping local copies of files on hand. When backups go wrong, it’s generally because they were all kept in one place. A fire, a burglary, an accidental format, an electrical failure – all of these can wipe out a user’s data no matter how many backups you have stacked around the house or apartment.

There’s hope that the emerging “Cloud” will have us covered when such dreadful events occur. In some ways it does, but what about all of those photos you’ve taken over the last decade or three since your children have been born? Such collections can easily amount to tens of gigabytes (sometimes hundreds), however most cloud services only offer you a meager 5gb to store your entire life.

I’ve seen a lot of different methods for preserving backups in my time: burning data to optical media and distributing it to family (which are often lost or misplaced), hard drives placed in fireproof safes (which aren’t heat proof by the way), or even the infamous safety deposit box (which is expensive and really inconvenient). How would you feel if there was an application that let you digitally mimic all of these for free?

Let me introduce you to CrashPlan…

Backups

I spent a lot of time pining over online backup services. I knew it was the way I wanted to go, but didn’t care for the limitations that so many presented (cost per gigabyte, no file versioning, etc.). Then CrashPlan walked into my life via the advice of a friend. The application itself was free, and I was amazed at the amount of options it included by default. I could make a local backup, a network backup, or even an Internet backup to a friend’s computer. The options were truly amazing.

It’s a nerve wracking proposition to give up Time Machine though. It had always been there for me, and I’m not the kind of guy to dive right into a new relationship with some strange piece of software. It was time for testing!

I quickly learned that the free version lacks some important functionality for me, namely revisions. Time Machine spoiled me, being able to backup multiple versions of a file, and I didn’t want to lose that. No problem… I wanted this for backing up online anyway. By purchasing a CrashPlan+ account for $50 a year, I not only gained access to all of the missing features, but was also given unlimited online backup space. There’s not many deals out there that can match that, and if you choose to subscribe for more than a year at a time, the overall monthly cost can go even lower. I’m a firm believer that something this good is worth paying for (especially for such a reasonable price).

After adding my subscription key to the application, my files were placed in an upload queue. This was a problem! I had a couple hundred gigabytes of selected files backing up locally, and something that size would take weeks to squeeze through my limited bandwidth pipe. Well, they had me covered. If you want, you can pay extra and send them an entire hard drive for your initial backup, but I’m cheap, and fairly patient. So instead, I opted for enabling backup sets. This allowed me to create different sets of files for local and online backup destinations, and believe me, very few users need to backup their entire hard drive (OS and all) online (you can if you really want to though).

It took about three days to completely upload my 60+ gigabytes of personal data files. That time was primarily a factor of my internet service provider’s maximum upload speed, but can also be limited in the CrashPlan network settings screen (both for while you’re away from the computer or actively using it). After the initial backup is complete, only files that are modified or added are uploaded, reducing the needed upload bandwidth to merely a trickle. The process becomes transparent, though you can setup e-mail notifications that let you know the regular status of your backups.

 

Restores

What good is a backup program if you can’t restore your files reliably? There are so very many backup programs out there that seem to make backups easy, only to find out later that your files can’t be retrieved for one reason or another when disaster strikes. I’m happy to report that after several tests, CrashPlan is NOT one of those programs. Tests were performed for several small and large files, as well as on local and online backups. Everything restored fine.

The interface isn’t as simple as Time Machine, but shouldn’t prove complicated to most home users. By default, the most recent version of a file is restored, but for those who’d like an earlier revision simply click the highlighted text option at the bottom of the restore screen and you’ll be presented with a calendar to help you travel back in time. No funky star effects are included however.

Surprises

The last thing anyone wants to hear about with a backup program are surprises. This one, however, will delight most users. While getting ready for writing this article, I went back to the CrashPlan website in order to verify various bits of my research. It’s truly an affirmation as to how well their software works that I haven’t even thought about it for over a month. Well, I was missing out.

Cloud, meet CrashPlan! Not only have more supported platforms been added, but you can now access your online backups via just about anything, including your mobile devices. My personal videos, documents, photos, all of it can be downloaded to my iPad or a friend’s computer for viewing. The iPad app is limited to 500mb file downloads, but really, what friend or family member would put up with a family video longer than a few minutes anyway?

Conclusion

CrashPlan is a great piece of software, a fantastic service, and is still getting better! They now support Mac OSX, Windows, Linux, and Solaris for backups. You can access your files from anywhere, including iOS and Android devices, which for me, is the icing on the cake for an already awesome product.

If you’re looking for a surefire way to preserve your digital life, look no further. CrashPlan is the answer.

CrashPlan Grade: A+

 

Disclaimer: Everything contained in this article is an opinion of the author. Feel free to comment below or completely ignore the rantings posted above.