Review: CrashPlan – Easy off-site backup for your Mac
After my recent scare with my hard drive failing, I started looking for a more reliable method of backing up than Time Machine. There were certain criteria that I needed however, including:
- encrypted backups - my job requires complete discretion so I need to be sure my data is safe
- offsite capability - to a web server or somewhere that isn't likely to be in my laptop bag or in the same location as the actual laptop
- restoration of files - need to be able to grab a certain file, not an entire backup set
- incremental backups - only update what's changed
- unobtrusive - I have enough to worry about without trying to remember to kickoff my backup every day
So, with these thoughts in mind, I started trying every damned backup program for the Mac that there is...and then I found CrashPlan.
It's a damned clever concept which works like so: first, you download and install a desktop app for Mac, Windows or Linux. Once installed on your system, that computer can be either a source or destination or both at once.
You then create an account with CrashPlan, which communicates with your installed desktops and allows them to communicate with each other over your local network or the internet, securely.
Once you backup to one of the computers, you can then restore a single file from anywhere just by launching CrashPlan on your computer and selecting it from the remote machines backup library.
Like I said, clever.
CrashPlan also allows you to send out invites, so if you want to let a roommate or family member backup to one of your machines, you can do so easily, and again, securely.
There is also a service they offer called CrashPlan Central, which is hosted on the CrashPlan servers and is reasonably cheap - but, it can be slow and large amounts of data can take forever and add up financially.Even CrashPlan recommend not using it if you are looking for a complete system backup. It's a good option if you're in need of a small offsite location though.
The real power lies in using it with your own computers.
For instance, my scenario: I have my laptop, which I use constantly. I have both my OSX installation to backup, as well as a Parallels installation for my Windows needs.
So what I've done is installed CrashPlan on my Macbook as well as on my home computer, which has about 1.5 terabytes of storage and runs Windows XP. I selected, on the Mac, the folders I want backed up and maintained. This includes my Home directory, but not my Entourage database (it's huge and the mail is stored on the mail server anyway), and my actual Parallels virtual machine. What I've done for my Windows data, instead, is mapped the 'My Documents' and 'Desktop' folders to a subfolder on my Mac filesystem, so that data gets backed up during my normal 'Home' backup.
By not backing up those large files which change constantly, I've saved space and lessened the demand placed on my systems - trying to synchronize a 40gb file every time it changes is a bad idea (in fact, if you have Parallels and use Time Machine, I recommend excluding it there also). I also told CrashPlan to skip my Music and Movies folders, as that is all saved elsewhere and easily recovered.
So back to my scenario. I did an initial backup from home and let it run overnight. The initial backup was about 45gb, which includes everything (aside from the items above) on my Macbook.
When it begins backing up, CrashPlan will create a subfolder on your destination location and create encrypted files containing your data, which can only be decrypted by using your account information. Yes, it ties you to the CrashPlan software to restore, but it's certainly better than having folders full of your data sitting around on a network drive.
I've also told CrashPlan to look for changed files every hour and to back them up. Did I mention that it also implements versioning, so you can backup and restore a specific version of a file? No, I didn't? Well, I have now - and let me assure you it is a kick-ass feature. There's nothing worse than making a change to a document and a day later realizing you need the data you deleted. This is no longer an issue, I'm happy to say.
I've also told CrashPlan to ignore specific file extensions, such as .dmg and .pkg - that way I'm not wasting space on downloaded archives. You can specify as many exclusions as necessary, so if you want to not bother backing up mp3s or mov files, you can.
Regarding the process of doing a restore, it's a snap. You choose which file you want to recover and CrashPlan will put it back in the original location or any other folder you specify. It's easy to pick which file and version of the file you need.
After my computer switch the other day, I did a remote restore of my Library/Application Support folder over the internet. It took about 10 minutes to restore all of my settings and app preferences, which got me back up and running very quickly. It was a test, and CrashPlan performed perfectly.
CrashPlan isn't free though - sorta...
Any computer can run the application as a backup destination at no charge - but each computer that is a source (meaning it is the one you are backing data up from), has to have a license.
Current pricing for CrashPlan starts at $20 for the base version, and $60 for CrashPlan Pro. The primary differences are that Pro offers a background agent that runs constantly and backs up data incrementally, as well as when files change. Pro also includes file versioning and free upgrades for a year. More pricing comparison can be found at the link below.
Overall, I'm quite impressed with how CrashPlan works and in particular am pleased that it meets each and every one of the criteria I require. So give it a shot - for $20 you can't go wrong.
Learn more about CrashPlan:
CrashPlan Main Site
CrashPlan Pricing and Feature Comparisons
CrashPlan FAQs
CrashPlan Download
Post Data
- Posted: Feb 2, 2008 by Scott McDaniel
- Tags: apple
December 14th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
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