Re: Cloud backup/archiving?

["jabberwockpl" <jaroslaw.michalak@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I have just setup my own cloud backup solution, so I can give you a
short, but very subjective review. Your mileage might vary and probably
will.

I have been looking for an inexpensive backup solution for quite some time.
I was particularly interested in WebDAV support, as my router (Fritz!Box -
a great automation companion) already supports it and my NAS (DNS-323) soon
will.

Unfortunately, none of the services looked ideal. I decided to have a look
at three services: MemoPal, Carbonite and OpenDrive (price was decisive
factor, I must admit).

First I tried Carbonite - it has a trial period. Unfortunately, their app
did not install at all and support did not respond in a reasonable time.

Then I had a look at OpenDrive. It looked good, although also limited to
their app. Unfortunately, I could not make it to work in an automated
fashion (using SyncbackSE). Manual syncing was out of question, naturally.
Also, the Home plan offered 100 GB - my backup files do not exceed the
size, but at 60 GB they are not really that far - in a year a lot of data
can be produced (home files, photos, two small companies' data).

So I settled for MemoPal. It worked fine in the beginning and I purchased a
year plan (200 GB for 49 Euros). It supports WebDAV, too.

Their backup app worked fine... until I pointed my network drive. No such
luck! It flatly refused to acknowledge the fact. Nothing was backed up.
Then I tried SyncbackSE with WebDAV... Error after error. I went back to
the site and read the whole WebDAV FAQ - it turns out that it supports
read-only! No way to backup with WebDAV.

The fine and nice folks from MemoPal offered to fix my problems in a remote
connection session. After an hour and a half (I must admit I was a pretty
difficult client - Windows with a swapped shell, no desktop, all programs
run from FARR - the poor guy could not make heads or tails of my system)
they gave up and generously offered to provide a refund.

I went searching again and came up with OnlineStorageSolution. I was rather
wary in the beginning, as it looked too good to be true - unlimited (yes,
you read that right!) storage for USD 29, FTP/WebDAV/rsync access, but no
trial...

I took the plunge and I must say I am cautiously optimistic - SyncBackSE
happily backs up my files to FTP (it would even better if I had given it
right settings!) for the last two days and I did not have any issues with
it.

Of course, I will be able to do a better review of the service in about a
year. The reviews I have found online are usually good, but not overly
enthusiastic (they praise mostly the price). We will see...

Oops... it was not that short after all...



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