I’ve been looking for an online backup solution for some time, and decided to try out IDrive-E. IDrive-E is an online backup service that offers both a free 2GB and $49.50/yr. “Pro” service with unlimited storage.
Among many features, the bandwidth throttling feature is among the important ones to me. It allows a user to set the upload speed, using a percentage of your connection speed. For example if you have a 1mb uplink speed, setting it to 25% would use (up to) 256kb of that bandwidth. A nice feature for shared connections where you may have a Voice over IP phone that needs to use most of your uplink bandwidth to maintain voice call quality.
You do need to install a client-side software tool that communicates with the online service. I was able to test this software package on Windows Vista, though it also supports previous versions of Windows. After a short download and a quick install, it did need to reboot the computer to install a Windows Explorer plugin.
Once everything was installed, I quickly selected files using IDrive-E Classic, the default view for selecting files and/or folders for backup. Here’s a quick screen shot:
The interface would be familiar to anyone who has used the Windows Backup tool for performing local system backups to CD or tape. Find your folders on the left, and place a checkbox next to the ones you want backed up. Or expand the folders, and select individual files on the right pane of the window. Once you’ve picked all the items you want backed up, simply click “Backup Now” and you’ll get to see the system in action:
You also have the option of setting a schedule for a backup as well, as an email notification option to let you know the status of your scheduled backups.
Overall, IDrive-E Online Backup provides a easy to use, and rather quick backup service that is accessible to pretty much anyone.
Link: IDrive-E Online Backup
I’ve tried both Carbonite and Mozy, and didn’t like either too much. This one looks good, but the company behind it doesn’t seem to have much history. There’s generally a lack of reviews about this service (as opposed to Carbonite and Mozy, where there’s lots), and the fact that they seem to have used paid blog advertising to market the service doesn’t bode well either, so I’m a little skeptical about the quality of their offering compared to the others. Would be good to hear an update on your experience if you’re still using it. Thanks.
THIS review looks like a paid blog ad, to me
Ah, but it’s not. I can see what you mean, but I didn’t get paid for this, wasn’t solicited for it.
Folks,
I tried iDrive and was very disappointed. After it stopped working I went through maybe 6 requests from them, eg delete backuop set, retry etc. 5 software releases which promised to fix the original and new bugs. 3 requests for a refund and am still waiting.
The brochure looks good but the service is poor.
My advice is stay away.
cheers
Nigel
Nigel,
Thanks for the info on the service. It’s been awhile since I tested it out, so I’m sure my original review may not stand the test of time. Continuous feedback from users is good to hear about!
Rick
Hi,
Having a backup set on a remote server offers extra protection since the copy is on another physical location. I’ve been using I-drive for over a year now. The first releases had some bugs, for instance when you do a full backup the program has to look for changes in your set of files and this was very slow. the latest version fixed that. it runs very smoothly for me. I would definitely recommend it. the load on my toshiba satellite p305 laptop is low even during full backup. continuous backup works great too and this allows you to access several versions of your files even if you inadvertently deleted one on your pc. I would recommend you try the free trial with 2gig. for me it’s very good to now that my precisous digital pictures are safe even if all my private backup sets are damaged. On some older laptop it might slow the systems or cause the CPU to overheat, so you better check for that too. Another advantage is that you can access all your files through a web interface from any pc from anywhere, so there really offers a lot of flexibility. My backup set is about 36G, so of course it takes some time to do a full backup the first time (about 12h at work with upload speeds of 12mb, bandwith 100%) but you can stop it or pause it and restart the next day.
for my part I have been using I-drive for over a year. Since the release of version 2.2.0 it has been working flawlessly. They made outstanding progress in the interface and speed since may 2007 when I first bought the program. I would definitely recommend it. I think people that are interested should try the free 2Gig full featured version. This way you will now if your CPU and upload speeds will handle the software.
Norton is offering online storage backup too through their norton 360 software. They sell 1 year of either 5, 10 or 25 GB for 25, 40 or 56 EUR respectively. Idrive is only 50 US dollar for 150 GB! plus the norton tool does not have the continuous backup option nor the web browser access to your data files, at least not to my knowledge.
Safecopy backup also offers great online backup services.And they are cost effective.The fact that one can backup multiple computers on a single account is also so great.
The site/company looks suspicious. They are their own testimonies. They claim that they are partnering with Mouseketeers, Inc. (206.197.251.123) and MyRestore.com (216.87.44.158) even though the company (e-Backups) ip address is (216.87.44.158). Checking the two ip addresses they all share the same location with different ISP’s. So the company e-BackUps share the same address with their only testimonies: Mouseketeers, Inc. and MyRestore.com.