You hope that you never need it, but it’s there in case you do.Įven so, there is a modest versioning feature, which can be very helpful: Backblaze will keep versions of a file that changes for up to 30 days. In contrast, Backblaze is a true “set it and forget it” service. It’s important to note that Backblaze is not designed as an online storage service like Dropbox or Google Drive - those services are intended largely as way to sync active files among many computers or devices, and to share and collaborate on them easily. You can always see your status via a menu bar or your system preferences. It will detect when your network connection is idle and make the most of that time to back up, and will throttle itself to tack a back seat while your network usage is heavy, so that you’re not delayed when actively uploading and downloading files. You just use your computer normally, and Backblaze will automatically back up files on an ongoing basis. If you’re going to be away from your computer for the holidays, you could have Backblaze do its first backup while you’re away, so that you return to a freshly-backed up computer.Īfter the initial backup, incremental backups will be fast. The first backup will take a while - perhaps several days if you have lots of files to back up. That’s it, unless you tell it otherwise (you can optionally set it to backup once per day or manually). You install it and it backs up your files continuously. It will also back up any external drives connected to your computer.īackblaze, a service for both Mac and PC users, is incredibly simple. For $7/month, or $70/year, it will back up all - yes, all - the files on your computer, including those precious Sibelius, Dorico, Finale, or MuseScore files, along with documents, photos, music and movies, without restrictions on the number of files, other than operating system, applications, or temporary files. There are several out there, but the one I’ve used and trusted my files to since 2014 is Backblaze. So why not act on that resolution early and make a backup plan? The first step, of course, is to make a local backup, like with Apple’s Time Machine, included in the macOS, or the Backup and Restore tools in Windows.īut a key element of any modern backup strategy is a good cloud backup service. And Murphy’s Law says that day will be the day before the deadline on your major commissioned orchestra piece, or the day of your recording session.Įven in the era of solid-state drives, it’s clear that they can fail, too, albeit in different ways than older-style spinning platter hard drives.
It might not happen today, tomorrow, or in many years, but there may come a day where your reliable hard drive doesn’t play so nice anymore. It’s inevitable that storage media will fail. One resolution that many computer users have is to get serious about backing up their files. It’s time to start thinking about those new year’s resolutions.
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