Detailed Review of Carbonite Online Backup Service

Overview and History

Carbonite are based in Boston, MA and they launched their online backup solution in May 2006. At the time of writing they backup and protect more than 2.5bn files for all 5 continents. They were founded in 2005 by David Friend and Jeff Flowers.

Carbonite is a simple, risk-free online backup program for relaxed home users, students, home office users, industrial travelers, etc. For less than five dollars per month, Carbonite archives all files on your desktop (digital photos, mp3s, spreadsheets and other important files) whilst your laptop is linked to the Internet.

Carbonite is very easy to install and use, needing little or no ongoing user fiddling. There online backup program is arranged to continually store amended data from your Pc whenever it is connected to the internet.

Feature Set

Security

Carbonite security is very reliable. Traffic to and from your laptop and their servers is encrypted with triple DES - which is highly strong - and once on their servers your information is encoded by Blowfish 448bit encryption - which is the best protection available.

Physically your data is held on dual up-to-date facilities located in Massachusetts that provide carefully temperature-controlled rooms, reserve power generators, restricted personnel access, and other functions to protect the security and integrity of your information.

Backup Features

By default Carbonite will backup your 'My Documents and Settings' folders yet this can quickly be altered with the desktop software. There is no limit to the amount of data that can be stored, therefore you can choose as many or as few files as you wish.

Backups start when your computer is idle, thus preventing drain on resources or bandwidth. Also, you can configure the backup scheduller to archive as frequently as you wish.

Network drives and external drives cannot be backup up using Carbonite.

In our tests it took thirty seven mins to save 2,000 megabytes of information via a normal 8mbps DSL line while sending and receiving other information on the internet.

Carbonite gives a continuous backup facility which means that information is backed up as they are amended. Therefore you do not need to depend on scheduling archiving and ensuring your computer is powered on when the scheduled time arrives. Nevertheless, if scheduling is what you wish, the PC client does have that option as well.

A process indicator and status notifications are available. You can also add files and folders to the archive schedule by right-clicking.

The Carbonite client provides a 'virtual drive letter' where you can see which files have been backed up and which are pending archive. The manager also adds colored dots on files to show if they are backed up, awaiting archive or not included in the backup set.

The PC edition lets unlimited 'file versioning' for 3 months. There are in addition no restrictions on the size of individual files or the amount of information that you can archive. However, it is important to remember that the initial backup time required is a lot more than that needed once you are up and running and your initial backup is finished.

Restore Features

Information recovery can be initiated from either the software or the web portal and can be recovered to - by default - their original location, another location on the client they were originally backup up on or to the web portal. On the PC client, restores can also be started by right-clicking a file or folder. In addition there is a search option so you can locate files to restore that match a specific filename or filename pattern.

Control and Analysis

The web site Offers central administration for all devices being archived. The speed and bandwidth usage can be controlled between high and low.
Reports can be generated to verify what is archived.

Interface

To use Carbonite you have to use the Carbonite Client Software on each device that will be backed up. But, once setup, all archiving can be administrated from a central admin portal.

Loads of computers can be administered from a single account, but, multi-account control isn't supported. Once the program is installed, it lets access to a virtual drive letter which is used to monitor the status of archived files and to restore folders. The system tray icon starts off yellow - this shows that the initial backup is running. When the initial backup is finished, the tray icon turns green.

The client program is straightforward and great to use. The web portal is similarly uncluttered. The utility is intended to be set-and-forget so the options are not cluttered with lots of options but instead are set up to allow you to choose what and when you want to backup and then leave the program to get on with it.

Device Support

There is support for PC and MAC. There is an iPhone, iTouch, iPad and Blackberry apps however these only allow you to observe archived folders, not actually archive your device. You can attach files from the backup set in emails.
There is no limit to the amount of computers that or amount of devices - MAC or PC - that can be backed up.

Limitations

Network letters and external drives cannot be archived
Carbonite is a client backup program, so it can not backup server databases such as SQL server, Exchange server directly. However, if these programs are backed up using existing backup technology and the resulting file is then stored on an accessible drive, Carbonite can then upload the backup file.
Carbonite is not a disaster recovery tool.No proxy server support.

File Sharing and Collaboration

Files and folders can be shared privately via the web portal and different access rights can be configured on specific files and folders.
No public file sharing or collaboration features.

Synchronization

Multiple machines can be synchronized with each other and with the central web site.

Web 2.0 Integration

None currently.

Customer Support

Phone support is available for an additional cost of just under 20 dollars a year. The following support options are available and free:
Live Chat: https://www.carbonite.com/chat
Email Support: customersupport@carbonite.com
Email web form: http://carbonite.custhelp.com/app/ask
Online Documentation, FAQs and knowledgebase
Blog: http://www.carbonite.com/blog
Free Trial: There is a free 15 day trial available.

Ease Of Use

Carbonite is very simple to install and run, just download the client software and run it. There is audio help that teaches the entire process and you will start backing up your data in minutes. The 15 day - no credit card required - free trial means {there is no risk in trying Carbonite out. Once setup all that is required is right-click on a file or folder to add it to your archive.

Cost

Initial setup Cost - Free 15 day trial
Monthly charge - Not applicable
Yearly Charge - $54.99
Initial allowed storage amount - unlimited
Cost of additional storage - no charge
Cost of additional devices / PCs / users - Unlimited device but one account per user
Referral Program - 3 months free subscription for each referral that signs up after their free trial
E-billing facility - yes

There are no corporate service plans available, but, there is a professional edition of Carbonite available at http://www.carbonitepro.com which is designed for Business use.

Hidden cost: Telephone support costs $19.99 per year.

Conclusion

Carbonite offers a uncluttered secure method to backup your files from either PCs or MACs. The unlimited storage for a fixed fee allows for easy money management and takes away the need to constantly how much information you are archiving. The Carbonite Online Backup service is very secure and the support is strong. If you need a reliable backup solution then this is an excellent choice. .