Review: Backup Data Online with Mozy
Posted by Jon Lee in Efficiency, Reviews, tags: backup, mozy, review
Yesterday, I mentioned Mozy as the program that I use to do backup data online. I’ve used several different online backup services in the last couple years and I’ve been using Mozy for over a year now so I feel I can write a decent review of it.
What is Mozy
Mozy is an automatic remote backup service for Windows and Macs (sorry, no Linux support yet but if you’re using Linux I’m sure you’d much rather use rsync anyway). You schedule Mozy to do backups of whatever data you select and it will perform incremental backups (meaning only changes are updated) so backups are fast and you can easily rollback to any prior backup — sort of like Mac OS X’s Time Machine feature.
Backups are encrypted on your computer with a strong 448-bit Blowfish encryption and are then sent to Mozy’s servers through an 128-bit encrypted SSL connection. Your data is fully secure and if you wish, you can specify your own encryption key so even Mozy can’t have access to your data (just make sure you don’t lose your key!).
For the full list of features, check the Mozy website.
Setup Interface
The Mozy configuration interface is powerful yet easy to use. You can set it to backup certain folders or certain filetypes. There are also backup sets that are prebuilt for you, i.e. Music, Financial Data, Photos, Word Documents etc. Currently, I have mine set to backup my word documents and presentations, web pages and Firefox profile.
Mozy also allows you to schedule backups for a certain time or have it run in the background when your CPU usage is under a certain amount. This way your backup data will always be up-to-date. There is also an option to throttle your bandwidth so you don’t compromise your regular surfing. I have mine set to do a full backup at 3am every day and it hasn’t failed me yet.
Accessing your Backups
So having a backup is great but what’s the use if you can’t access it! Mozy allows several different ways to access your data and all of these ways allow you to access any of your previous backups — not just the latest one. One way is to login through their website which you can do from any machine. You select the files you want to download and Mozy will prepare a zip file of the requested files for you to download.
The second method is to use their Windows explorer restore feature. You can either open your Mozy drive directly from My Computer or you can right-click in any directory and select which files you wish to restore. This only works on computers that have the Mozy software installed though.
Finally, for a small fee, Mozy can prepare a DVD of your backups and have it shipped to you. If you have a lot of data, this could be the most efficient way of doing it.
Cost
The best part of all this is the cost, Mozy is completely free to use! On a free account, you get 2gb of online storage space which is plenty for your word documents, presentations and important files (but not enough for your music, photos and videos). They do offer an unlimited account for 5 bucks a month which is great but personally, I find the free account has just enough space for my needs (I’ve used up about 99.4% of my 2 gigs).
Also, if you use me as a referral, both you and I get an extra 256mb of storage space with your free account! So technically, with enough referrals, you can have a practically unlimited amount of storage space. If you want to sign up with me as a referral, use this link and in the referral box enter my referral code: T3DN37
Remember to enter it otherwise you won’t get the 256mb bonus! And when you find that your storage space isn’t enough, either upgrade to their unlimited account or simply refer some friends! 
Disadvantages
Obviously, Mozy isn’t perfect. Their drive mapping feature doesn’t allow for drag and drop operations. This isn’t a deal breaker by any means since I hardly access my backup data but it’s a little touch that would make it better. I know IDrive-e has this feature but I’ve tried them and I’ve experienced connection problems and haven’t been too impressed with their service.
Also, the Mozy configuration screen takes a long time to load (almost a minute). Most of this time is spent creating and refreshing backup sets. It would be nice if I could turn this backup set feature off since I prefer to define my own backup directories.
Support
I haven’t had many problems with the Mozy software but the one time I did contact their tech support, I received a reply within the hour which is excellent. I’ve heard from others that they’ve had great technical support. If you ever try them out, let me know so I can update this section.
Remember to enter my referral code T3DN37 when you sign up so we both get an extra 256mb of storage space. Affiliates can sign up for their affiliate program and help spread the good word! If anyone else has used Mozy, I would like to hear your experience of it!
Click here for up-to-date coupons for Mozy.
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