Revisiting the Carbonite Backup Solution

It is about time that I present an updated review of the Carbonite system since I have been away from it for so long. They still don’t have what I would call a household plan that would allow you backup multiple machines in your home under an umbrella contract but they have extended their plans for the home owner to allow for three varying levels of support. You will need to decide after looking at this at which one best meets your needs.

All three versions have the following support:

• Quantity (1) Computer per Subscription can be backed up
• Both File and Folder backup
• You can access your files from an internet connection or a Smart Phone (Blackberry, Android or iPhone)
• Operating Support: Windows and Mac on the Home plan and Windows only on HomePlus and HomePremier packages
• Phone, chat and email support
• Video Backup (Home and HomePlus are manual and HomePremier allows you to automate it)

HomePlus and HomePremier add:

• External hard drive backup – Files and Folders from one external hard drive can be included in your online backup
• Mirror Image backup – This gives you the option of creating a copy of your entire drive to an external hard drive. You will need to provide that hard drive for the backup. This is something that you could perform using Windows 7 backup as well.

HomePremier has two other features

• Automatic Video Backup
• Courier Recovery Service – This gives you the option to have a copy of your backup shipped to you. If you have large amounts of data this could be a lifesaver if you have to restore a system. This is available in the U.S. only. They will charge you shipping for it.

This get you a little closer to being able to provide critical offsite backup to your home systems at a very reasonable price. $149/year for the HomePremier version to completely automate the process is great if you have a machine that also acts as central storage system. I have configured my home machine to have a three drive rack add-on that would allow me to share that area to the rest of the equipment on my home network and then run the Carbonite program on that machine to provide a solid backup scenario including backing up my video files.