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Mac Mozy Online Backup Service Announced
- Thread starter mfacey
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Despite the hiccup I experienced a few weeks ago (see my previous post) I'm very satisfied with the service. Its fully automatic and in the background so I never have to think about my backups at all. I think its great value for money and a good companion to ext. hdd backup.
I'm sorry that I only have one post .. hmm maybe because I registered just recently?
I just mentioned it because everyone always talks about Mozy, when speaking of backup providers, so I mentioned this site.
Why generic? I didn't want to write an literary sophisticated essay, just a simple post with a link, because I think it's a good resource for people, who're interested... shame on me ... but anyway .. if you aren't interested in this link or what I'm writing you don't have to read it or click the link. That's it!
I used Mozy to backup 3 PCs before I switched to Macs about a month ago. I was uploading very large amounts of data -- over 200 GB on one PC, mostly music and pictures (raw format adds up quickly). I found that the initial backup was a bit painful -- lots of dropped connections, restarts, etc, in addition to just the time it takes.
When I switched over to my Macs, I signed up for Mozy and started off with a 120 GB initial backup. Same thing happened -- dropped connections, Error 0, etc. I then modified the backup to start only with documents. Once that was done, I added music. Once that finishes, I will add pictures. Just like on the PC, doing the initial backup in increments is working much better.
On the PC, once the initial backup was done, the program worked very smoothly and I never had any issues (or even remembered it was there). I expect it will be the same on the Mac. We'll see.
When I switched over to my Macs, I signed up for Mozy and started off with a 120 GB initial backup. Same thing happened -- dropped connections, Error 0, etc. I then modified the backup to start only with documents. Once that was done, I added music. Once that finishes, I will add pictures. Just like on the PC, doing the initial backup in increments is working much better.
On the PC, once the initial backup was done, the program worked very smoothly and I never had any issues (or even remembered it was there). I expect it will be the same on the Mac. We'll see.
Sometimes blog spammers just pop in long enough to post a link to their blog and disappear. I just found it odd that you said you found "your backup provider" but didn't go on to explain / compare / contrast. Obviously I was mistaken.
So... what is your backup provider? Why did you choose them over Mozy.
How do you find their OS X support?
Well, a few weeks ago I bough Mozy Unlimited - it took me about 7 weeks, but I've since uploaded 116.2 GB of files to Mozy. In the intervening time, they've also gone from the 0.4 to 0.6 versions of the Mozy client, and have been fairly diligent about fixing bugs and adding features. The goal is to make the client as robust as the Windows version.
I've generally been happy with Mozy - now that the bulk of my stuff is uploaded, it quietly updates in the background, and I've set it to auto-run every night. Their tech support is fairly good too - no complaints yet. Only one major bug is still kind of bothersome - for some reason, the Web-based file restore feature tends to crash browsers. The Mozy client-based restore seems to work fine.
Over all, for $5/months for offsite storage, the only limiting factor has been my ADSL upload speed (384K), and I feel like I've got a decent deal for peace of mind. Mozy is definitely not a cloning tool, but if the worst happens and my hard drive goes kablooie, I'll be able to get back all my personal data and then re-install applications and such. Definitely an excellent supplemental backup system to a fully-cloned drive, RAID configuration, or whatever other local system you've set up.
And, if you're not like me and have incredible amounts of music, movies and archived files, the free 2 GB plus a few referrals (at 250 MB each) can get you the basics of offsite backup without cost.
I've generally been happy with Mozy - now that the bulk of my stuff is uploaded, it quietly updates in the background, and I've set it to auto-run every night. Their tech support is fairly good too - no complaints yet. Only one major bug is still kind of bothersome - for some reason, the Web-based file restore feature tends to crash browsers. The Mozy client-based restore seems to work fine.
Over all, for $5/months for offsite storage, the only limiting factor has been my ADSL upload speed (384K), and I feel like I've got a decent deal for peace of mind. Mozy is definitely not a cloning tool, but if the worst happens and my hard drive goes kablooie, I'll be able to get back all my personal data and then re-install applications and such. Definitely an excellent supplemental backup system to a fully-cloned drive, RAID configuration, or whatever other local system you've set up.
And, if you're not like me and have incredible amounts of music, movies and archived files, the free 2 GB plus a few referrals (at 250 MB each) can get you the basics of offsite backup without cost.
Anyone want to give me a referral number for Mozy? I didn't see anything on the website, but I assume they still have that deal, right? I'll use the first PM I get.
Edit: Done, but now you can use my code!
https://mozy.com/?ref=F83VCM
Edit: Done, but now you can use my code!
https://mozy.com/?ref=F83VCM
Doesn't work...
I tried Mozy on my windows computers. As a test, I backed-up my desktop using a custom encryption key, and then to replicate a catastrophic failure I tried restoring to my laptop. Result? Could NOT get any files to restore to my laptop, but I could get them to restore to my existing desktop. The files would download from Mozy, but they were never usable (I think the decryption just doesn't work). Hardly useful as backups go, and I would NOT trust Mozy as your sole backup solution at all.
I therefore uninstalled Mozy and stopped using it...
Has anyone been able to do a successful restore using personal encryption to a 2nd computer?
I tried Mozy on my windows computers. As a test, I backed-up my desktop using a custom encryption key, and then to replicate a catastrophic failure I tried restoring to my laptop. Result? Could NOT get any files to restore to my laptop, but I could get them to restore to my existing desktop. The files would download from Mozy, but they were never usable (I think the decryption just doesn't work). Hardly useful as backups go, and I would NOT trust Mozy as your sole backup solution at all.
I therefore uninstalled Mozy and stopped using it...
Has anyone been able to do a successful restore using personal encryption to a 2nd computer?
That's a good test. I am using mozy on the pc side. But I will try to backup one or two files to my office.
I am also starting to use idrive. It is similar to mozy but supports network drives. I use a NAS to store files, music, etc for everyone at home and I don't have the capacity to copy everything locally and then upload to mozy. (My only concern right now is when I switch to a mac, I will need to use idrive on bootcamp/parallels/ or Fusion as it is a PC only software.
Do these tools work with Fusion or Parallels?
Jeff
I am also starting to use idrive. It is similar to mozy but supports network drives. I use a NAS to store files, music, etc for everyone at home and I don't have the capacity to copy everything locally and then upload to mozy. (My only concern right now is when I switch to a mac, I will need to use idrive on bootcamp/parallels/ or Fusion as it is a PC only software.
Do these tools work with Fusion or Parallels?
Jeff
A bit of a thread revival going on here 
Good opportunity for me to update my experiences. I've been using Mozy Unlimited since this thread opened a few months ago. So far so good. The initial upload of all my files took a long time. Then Leopard came out and I had to do it all over again In the mean time I'm pretty much up to date again. I've had some problems with buggy client versions not wanting to connect to the mozy server but the recent versions have been fine (they're updated fairly often, and automatically!)
One thing that did bother me was when I was on a different computer abroad and needed a copy of my resume. I figured it would be easiest to just download it from my mozy server, but after selecting to download it, it took nearly 8 hours for the download link to appear in my mailbox... thats just too long as far as I'm concerned!
Overall I'm happy with it though.
Good opportunity for me to update my experiences. I've been using Mozy Unlimited since this thread opened a few months ago. So far so good. The initial upload of all my files took a long time. Then Leopard came out and I had to do it all over again
In the mean time I'm pretty much up to date again. I've had some problems with buggy client versions not wanting to connect to the mozy server but the recent versions have been fine (they're updated fairly often, and automatically!)One thing that did bother me was when I was on a different computer abroad and needed a copy of my resume. I figured it would be easiest to just download it from my mozy server, but after selecting to download it, it took nearly 8 hours for the download link to appear in my mailbox... thats just too long as far as I'm concerned!
Overall I'm happy with it though.
A bit of a thread revival going on here
I didn't even realize until after I posted
My restore took ~15 mins but that was only a 71k excel file.
Jeff
Mozy beta feature
http://dogberrypatch.com/archives/mozy-cheap-and-easy-backup/
This blog revealed a hidden beta feature in mozy for newtork drives..... This works for PCs but I am not sure about macs. Follow their directions for going to the "File System" tab and right click on the my computer. It should show a menu to add a network share.
I am still not ready to swtich to mozy since this is a beta feature but it is worth it to keep it in mind.
Jeff
http://dogberrypatch.com/archives/mozy-cheap-and-easy-backup/
This blog revealed a hidden beta feature in mozy for newtork drives..... This works for PCs but I am not sure about macs. Follow their directions for going to the "File System" tab and right click on the my computer. It should show a menu to add a network share.
I am still not ready to swtich to mozy since this is a beta feature but it is worth it to keep it in mind.
Jeff
agreed. jungle disk is much better. Several peers are using it with perfect results.
Also, did you folks testing Mozy and reporting success use a CUSTOM encryption key that you set yourself? This is what I could not get to work...
Also, did you folks testing Mozy and reporting success use a CUSTOM encryption key that you set yourself? This is what I could not get to work...
I use Mozy on my iMac (10.5.1) to backup roughly 85GB of data and haven't had any issues with it. I am not using a custom encryption key however. The Jungle Disk option does sound like a deal if you have a few gigs you need to backup, but if you have over 25GB or so it seems the cheaper way out is to go with Mozy. I'm personally attached to Mozy's interface and find it is very easy to use. It also does versioning (I didn't see where Jungle Disk did this) so that you can go back to an older version of a file backed up with Mozy if you need to. A bit like Time Machine over the web.
I also have an unlimited account on my XP machine that I backup around 10GB too and it works quite well on the Windows side (a bit better actually).
I also have an unlimited account on my XP machine that I backup around 10GB too and it works quite well on the Windows side (a bit better actually).
I'll add my experiences as well - Mozy worked fairly well on my iMac G5 under all versions of Tiger. As a reference point, I've uploaded close to 120GB of stuff.
Then came Leopard, and I honestly can't tell if it's Mozy or Leopard causing the problems, but I've been dropping connections with startling regularity. And a secondary problem has developed - Mozy slowly eats into my system resources - when I start a backup, it is using less than 20%. I'll walk away and several hours later it's approaching 80% of CPU time and all my fans are blowing full speed. Since I actually want to use my iMac regularly for another year without fear of it burning to a cinder, I've uninstalled Mozy for the moment.
To be fair, their customer service is OK - I have an account credit until later this month. But, now that Mozy is at RC2 status and 10.5.2 is around the corner, I'm going to see how it performs after these updates. If it still swallows my CPU time, I'm going to cut rope and bail.
Anyone else have thoughts on this, experienced similar problems, or has something to say about Jungle Disk or other folks?
Then came Leopard, and I honestly can't tell if it's Mozy or Leopard causing the problems, but I've been dropping connections with startling regularity. And a secondary problem has developed - Mozy slowly eats into my system resources - when I start a backup, it is using less than 20%. I'll walk away and several hours later it's approaching 80% of CPU time and all my fans are blowing full speed. Since I actually want to use my iMac regularly for another year without fear of it burning to a cinder, I've uninstalled Mozy for the moment.
To be fair, their customer service is OK - I have an account credit until later this month. But, now that Mozy is at RC2 status and 10.5.2 is around the corner, I'm going to see how it performs after these updates. If it still swallows my CPU time, I'm going to cut rope and bail.
Anyone else have thoughts on this, experienced similar problems, or has something to say about Jungle Disk or other folks?
Have you ever tried to restore to a completely different computer? Did it work seamlessly? Personally, in my testing, the app just is not reliable when I tested this scenario (translation, i couldn't get any files to restore)... though this was almost 1yr ago.
Also, i didn't think Jungle disk was very expensive given that it works perfectly...
I have only restored specific files, not a complete restore to a different machine. Hopefully I'll never have to do that, especially with Time Machine backing up to an external drive for me. Did you submit your issue of not being able to restore a complete backup to a different machine when it occurred? If so what was their response?
They gave a typical support response, did you do X (which I already did many times). I wouldn't trust Mozy as your only backup IMHO...
I've been trying to back up a 150GB or so since this summer. I'm still not there, and only have around 20GB up. I'm encouraged others have had good luck though. Maybe someday it will work for me if they update the software.
A Little Insight from Mozy Support
I was doing a search for backup solutions for Mac and found this forum. I went ahead and purchased MozyHome unlimited and began backing up last night. On my 2Mbps connection, this morning (6 hours later), Mozy only backed up 700MB. I thought this was crazy on a 2Mbit connection, so I used the online chat feature with Mozy's support.
The support tech indicated there was a 1 Mbit/s limit on the backups using the unlimited Home product. When the beta completes, users who need faster upload speeds can upgrade to MozyPro. He also pointed out that their bitrates are in KB *not* Kb making the speed actually faster than what you think on first glance. He said that in most circumstances, if you have a good broadband connection, you will see peak speeds around 124-140 KB/s which comes in right at the 1MBit/s rate, which is what I am seeing.
Now that I know the confines of my upload, I am prepared to wait. I have nearly 85GB of data to push on the initial upload, but for $5 / month, I am prepared to wait and think this service is excellent!
I was doing a search for backup solutions for Mac and found this forum. I went ahead and purchased MozyHome unlimited and began backing up last night. On my 2Mbps connection, this morning (6 hours later), Mozy only backed up 700MB. I thought this was crazy on a 2Mbit connection, so I used the online chat feature with Mozy's support.
The support tech indicated there was a 1 Mbit/s limit on the backups using the unlimited Home product. When the beta completes, users who need faster upload speeds can upgrade to MozyPro. He also pointed out that their bitrates are in KB *not* Kb making the speed actually faster than what you think on first glance. He said that in most circumstances, if you have a good broadband connection, you will see peak speeds around 124-140 KB/s which comes in right at the 1MBit/s rate, which is what I am seeing.
Now that I know the confines of my upload, I am prepared to wait. I have nearly 85GB of data to push on the initial upload, but for $5 / month, I am prepared to wait and think this service is excellent!
I was doing a search for backup solutions for Mac and found this forum. I went ahead and purchased MozyHome unlimited and began backing up last night. On my 2Mbps connection, this morning (6 hours later), Mozy only backed up 700MB. I thought this was crazy on a 2Mbit connection, so I used the online chat feature with Mozy's support.
The support tech indicated there was a 1 Mbit/s limit on the backups using the unlimited Home product. When the beta completes, users who need faster upload speeds can upgrade to MozyPro. He also pointed out that their bitrates are in KB *not* Kb making the speed actually faster than what you think on first glance. He said that in most circumstances, if you have a good broadband connection, you will see peak speeds around 124-140 KB/s which comes in right at the 1MBit/s rate, which is what I am seeing.
Now that I know the confines of my upload, I am prepared to wait. I have nearly 85GB of data to push on the initial upload, but for $5 / month, I am prepared to wait and think this service is excellent!
Best of luck. If you are using a private key,I would highly suggest you test a catastrophic failure restore by attempting to restore a few files to a different computer.
If you are like other people, it either won't work, or it will be painfully slow!
Sometimes, you DO get what you pay for... in this case, not much IMHO. Though, I am willing to be open minded to idea that they have improved their service.
Iwould still suggest the $1-4/month and get JungleDisk that uses Amazon.com for storage.
The latest client seems to be pretty stable (remember the older versions that would just hang after a while...?) even on 10.5.2 so I'm happy so far.
I'm still on the free version so haven't tried data of any significant size at this point; I'd like to boost my available quota for testing with their referral program (we both get 256MB of extra storage capacity) first before putting down anything at this point though.
Cheers!
I'm still on the free version so haven't tried data of any significant size at this point; I'd like to boost my available quota for testing with their referral program (we both get 256MB of extra storage capacity) first before putting down anything at this point though.
Cheers!