In all honesty I tend to go in phases when it comes to backing up my data, sometimes I do it every few days religiously, and then nothing for months! But, with all the work that goes into TakTik I found myself worrying more about something happening to my computer, and my all data going ‘phut’. So, when I was offered a 3 month trial of Carbonite Online Backup, I almost bit Alex’s hand off! I didn’t really know what to expect, the initial information looked promising though, and I reckoned that with any luck I’d be able to run a back up once a week and with the promised double encryption on my files, I’d start to feel safer about my data.
What I got was far better than I’d hoped!

A very simple install direct from the website of a very small application, and my trial was underway. A few quick button clicks through a prescribed process, and all my document libraries were scheduled for backup. Simple. The product warned me that the initial back up could take a couple of days, and not to be concerned. It took over a week, which wasn’t a problem at all as it runs happily in the background with negligible impact on performance, (Did drop it to have a low priority, and didn’t change anything about how I use my computer, including the fact that isn’t always switched on) but at the end of the week, I had over 5GB of data safely stored away.

On my computer, each file that had been backed up had acquired a little green dot in the corner of its icon, and as I made a change to one, its dot turned orange. I love visuals, and this at a glance summary of my backup status was exactly what I needed!

I realised after a few days that part of the reason the initial backup had taken so long to complete was because I had the software set to back up every time a marked file changed, and with updates to the website and other bits & bobs, LOADS of my files change every day! I investigated the options a bit further, and set a once a day back up for breakfast time each morning. Much better, and I was surprised by how relieved the knowledge everything was being stored safely made me feel.

Restoring files proved just as easy, a couple of clicks to select the files, decide if you want to restore to the original location or a different one, and off it goes in the background pulling your data back to the computer.
I was already in love with the ease of use of this product, when I noticed a ‘Restore previous version’ on one of my files in the restore menu... sure enough, Carbonite had flagged the file as version 6, and by choosing the ‘previous version’ option, I was able to select the current or from up to 12 of the previous versions including the original. With files that I need to change daily this is a definite bonus!

Additionally, by using www.carbonite.co.uk you can access your backup files from anywhere! No more panic if I arrive somewhere without an important document to hand, just pop online and download it from an Internet capable computer anywhere, or get hold of the iPhone/iPod app!
Subscription to Carbonite can be bought for $54.95 for 1-year, $99.95 for 2-years or $129.95 for 3-years, which I really don’t think is a lot to pay for the peace of mind it brings. There's no limits to the amount you can back up, and there’s also a ‘refer a friend’ scheme, which can earn you free months if your friends join up too.