I've been an advocate of backing up your PC for a long time. I've always used tape or external drives to get my data saved. Presently, I'm using a combination of Cobian Backup (awesome program) and DriveImage XML (even better program). both are great backup programs and perform different types of backups to suit my needs.
After a visit from the "robber" fairy, I realized that it does me no good to get my backups done if my backup walks out the door. Thankfully no PC's were taken (robbers can be pretty stupid), but it made me think hard about off site backups. I've chosen Carbonite to do my backups. I chose this solution for three reasons - cost, trial test, and reputation.
Price
For $59.99 a year you can get unlimited storage for one PC. Considering I'm backing up so much data (programming projects, documents, financials, music, etc.) this is a great thing for me. Many of the other solutions I looked at were priced in a similar range, but had limitations on what you stored.
15 Day Trial
Carbonite allows for a 15 day trial before you purchase. It's worth it to try the trial before you pay to see if it's right for you. My initial backup took 3 days to complete. Most internet plans allow for fast downloads (30mb for mine), but comparatively slow uploads (5mb). It's going to take some time. But this also allows you to see how your system will perform while you're sending a ton of data out. Once it's done, you'll only send changes or new documents. See how it'll affect other systems in your home network. Will you be able to tweak things so you're Amazon Prime or Hulu streaming doesn't die on you. Push the system hard. I've already sent about 30gb out with another 40gb as a second wave. I'm pushing the system to see how well it works for me. So far, it's working well
Reputation
I've read or heard nothing but good things about Carbonite. It's advertised everywhere. Even on my TiVo. I've searched for reviews and seen no really bad information about the product and service.
Platforms
This is the bonus round of features. I didn't choose Carbonite because of this, but it really helps that it's a feature. I'm a big Android advocate, so having the ability to view my backups from my mobile devices is a huge plus. The Android app is great and I'll have to say that this is a reason I'm leaning hard to keeping this service. I've also got onsite (my old backups) as well as offsite saves. It's an all around win as far as I'm concerned.
