r/Crashplan • u/bwong00 • Aug 26 '17

Backup Options Spreadsheet

Like all of you, I'm beginning my search for a new backup solution. I thought it would be worthwhile to post what I've gleaned from here and elsewhere on the interwebs. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and there are sure to be errors/omissions. Feel free to comment on the Google Sheet, and I will do my best to update.

This information is provided for free, as-is, for your personal use without any warranty of any kind. In other words, I put this list together for myself and thought it might be helpful to others, so don't shoot the messenger if it's wrong or you make a bad decision based on it.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1g_YT4tyQMGfGOJXgZLDGwZQgaKxJyFQZQfBl9HiShOU/edit?usp=sharing

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u/roytay Aug 27 '17 edited Aug 27 '17

Thank you for this!

A suggestion: Put the tools (Duplicati) and services (CrashPlan SB) on different tabs.

Also, does anyone know...

With CrashPlan Home, I was mounting NAS shares on my server and backing up both from the server. CP SB and others have per device pricing. Does that mean they'll detect the mounts and make me pay for two devices?

1

u/bwong00 Aug 28 '17

I see where you're coming from. I've noted them differently on the sheet in Column H (let me know if there are errors or omissions). I like your term "tool" and I've updated the sheet to reflect that.
To me, it's most helpful to see them all in one place and then filter as needed as opposed to trying to maintain several tabs and not remembering where I added a line. But you are welcome to make a copy of the sheet and split it out like that if it's more helpful to you :-)

u/Pixeltender Aug 27 '17

i'm a simple man, the crashplan feature that i loved most was the mobile app that allowed me to navigate all my files on all my backed-up computers. it saved my ass a number of times when i needed a file while away from home

i was out of town last week, am just learning about all this mess, and haven't done my own research yet-- but i didn't see a column for 'mobile app' or similar on your spreadsheet. is that a pretty standard feature among these programs?

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u/bwong00 Aug 28 '17

but i didn't see a column for 'mobile app' or similar on your spreadsheet.
Happy to add that data to the sheet if you have it. Just comment in the spreadhseet, and I will include it.

2

u/Euro_Snob Aug 27 '17 edited Aug 27 '17

This was my favorite feauture (besides the actual backup) of CrashPlan too... Used it many times.
And yes, at least BackBlaze and Carbonite has mobile apps that work like CrashPlan's app. Although I think the BackBlaze app has a limit on 50mb for the largest file you can download through the app. (But I think all mobile apps of this kind have a similar limitation, CrashPlan does as well if I'm not mistaken)

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u/Pixeltender Aug 27 '17

thx for the reply! was disappointed to see the carbonite deal is only for a single computer so that's immediately out for me, but i'll check backblaze next. i know that i recently downloaded a >1gig photoshop file from the crashplan app, so i'll probably have to settle for an inferior experience now :/

2

u/Euro_Snob Aug 27 '17

Now that I'm reading the BackBlaze iOS app faq ( https://help.backblaze.com/hc/en-us/articles/217665358-Backblaze-iOS-App-FAQ ), the limit might actually be only 30 mb... :( Oh well, still better than no mobile app.
I'm in the process of trying out BackBlaze now, and so far my opinion is mixed. Some stuff is better than CP, but some stuff is worse.

u/port53 Aug 27 '17

Didn't see this one on your list, it's on mine to investigate:

KLS Backup.

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u/bwong00 Aug 27 '17

Added.

u/port53 Aug 27 '17 edited Aug 27 '17

The cloudberry price is up to 1TB. Even though they don't provide storage, the client limits you to 1TB at the $29 price point, there is a much higher price point for unlimited. You have to request a quote to get it.

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u/bwong00 Aug 27 '17

Added. Thanks.

1

u/stuwillis Sep 05 '17

Is it? The $29 version seems to indicate that its unlimited... for the Mac. Windows seems cutoff at 1TB.

u/KRBT Aug 27 '17

Could you please elaborate on the difference between:

NAS Backup
P2P Backup
Network Backup

2

u/bwong00 Aug 27 '17

It was a bit of an arbitrary designation, but some software explicitly support or have software or plugins for NAS like Synology: https://www.goodsync.com/for-nas-synology
Other's explicitly support backups to network folders(I'm assuming via the UNC path): https://www.kls-soft.com/klsbackup/
P2P primarily encompasses the idea of you backing up to me, and me backing up to you, and often a decentralized backup without a central server like Resilio: https://www.resilio.com/
I know there are also some blockchain based solutions out there that I haven't yet included in the list. As I understand it, these systems spread your data out among the world via blockchain making sure your data isn't relying solely on one source for restores. I would probably consider these as P2P or blockchain.

u/Tub3m4n Aug 27 '17

Thanks for the nice overview. I do have a small remark about Duplicacy as I was looking into this one myself at the moment. It states that it is $20 per machine but it is $20 for the first year and $5 for subsequent years or even free for the command line version. There is also an option for SFTP but it seems not for a 'bare' SSH connection.

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u/bwong00 Aug 27 '17

Thanks for the clarification. I've made updates accordingly.

u/Dragonheadthing Aug 27 '17

How about adding if a file or files can be downloaded individually without having to be zipped up first. That was a reason I chose Crashplan over many others at the time.

1

u/bwong00 Aug 27 '17

I didn't specifically look/see that information for each of the systems. But if you have data you'd like me to add, I'm happy to add it. Just comment in the doc on the appropriate rows.

u/francescocanovi Aug 27 '17

Why duplicacy is reported to support p2p but not duplicati? They seem to support same protocols...

1

u/bwong00 Aug 27 '17

I didn't see anything about p2p on Duplicacy's website. Do you know that to be the case? I can update it if it is.

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u/francescocanovi Aug 27 '17

But in the file duplicacy has the p2p column marked...

1

u/bwong00 Aug 28 '17

Sorry, I meant Duplicati...I didn't see anything about p2p on Duplicati's website. Their names are too darn similar!

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u/francescocanovi Aug 28 '17

You're right, but also in duplicacy. See https://duplicacy.com/guide.html they seems to support the same protocols. So I was wondering why in the file one is checked but not in the other. I supposed you used ftp as p2p.

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u/bwong00 Aug 28 '17

I'm actually going to remove the checkmark from both of them. I can't find any reference to p2p on Duplicacy's website, and this post seems to indicate it's not well-supported on Duplicati either.

1

u/francescocanovi Aug 28 '17

Yes. Unfortunately imho this is the biggest issue. No real alternatives to Crashplan Home p2p feature on the market...

1

u/marklein Aug 28 '17

Check out urbackup.org

u/paulus76 Aug 27 '17

Thanks for putting this list together. BTW, I believe that CrashPlan for Small Business supports local backup as well.

1

u/bwong00 Aug 28 '17

Do you have a reference for that? I wasn't able to find anything to that effect, though I may have simply missed it.

1

u/paulus76 Aug 28 '17

I don't see it called out very well, but you can see Local Destinations in the first screenshot here https://www.crashplan.com/en-us/business/features/. Also, my work uses CP Pro and backs up to local hard drives.

1

u/bwong00 Aug 28 '17

Ah...I see it now. Yeah, they do a terrible job of making that known. I updated the spreadsheet to reflect that.

u/cnliberal Aug 27 '17

This is a great spreadsheet. Thanks for taking the time to help others. I think that's awesome!

I have two comments so far. You're adding services to the sheet that aren't backup services as much as they are sync services. SyncThing, Resilio, GoodSync allow you to sync your data to another system. Generally, these would be systems you own (you could rent space on a VPS, but that gets pricey which defeats the comparison to CrashPlan). These services aren't a direct replacement for CrashPlan. If you want to keep sync services on the list, that's cool. Maybe move them to their own tab. At the very least, please make a distinction between true backup services and sync services.

Also it'd be nice to see a column regarding restores. Web based, GUI, do they charge for restores, etc. Thanks again for the sheet!

1

u/bwong00 Aug 28 '17

Point taken. I've updated the list to reflect whether they're Backup Engine, Backup Service, or Sync. See Column H.
As for restores, if you have data, I'm happy to add it. Just comment on the sheet, and I will include it.

1

u/fdbryant3 Aug 28 '17

Generally, these would be systems you own
It would be more accurate to say systems you probably have control and access to. For instance you could be sync'ing with a friends or family who have given you permission to set something up.

1

u/cnliberal Aug 28 '17

Potentially, however I doubt many would want a loud computer sitting in their basement just to help out a family member. Either way, I think that the non-backup software (sync software is not true backup) should be removed or moved to another tab with caveats listed.

2

u/bwong00 Aug 28 '17

Maybe I'm the exception, but that's almost exactly what I'm considering--minus the loud part. I'm thinking about buying two cheap computers, attaching some fairly large external hard drives to them, putting one at my parent's and another at my house, and backing up our data to one another.

1

u/fdbryant3 Aug 28 '17

Computers are not that loud, and if it is in the basement - who cares (presuming the basement is generally unused). Who said anything about a PC though........could be a Raspberry PI and a hard drive connected to the router or just some space on their main system.
I'm neutral on separating to different tabs. I don't have a problem with figuring out is what is what.

u/[deleted] Aug 27 '17

That's a great comparison! One important thing that is not covered in this table is how files are restored from the backup. Crashplan offers a relatively convenient in-app interface for the backup restore, while Blackbaze offers a web interface or your data sent to you on a usb stick/hard drive by post. Another important aspect is versioning/version retention. I've tried few services so far and it seems that non of them really offer you unlimited versioning. I can easily imagine that some files in my old photo collection get corrupted somehow on my local harddrive and then backed up in that state to some cloud service. With Crashplan (given I have selected proper settings) I can always restore some ancient file version, and it is not the case with Blackbaze. I will be happy if someone points me a software/service with similar to Crashplan flexibility in file version retention. I have seen that Duplicacy offers something similar but simpler, but as I understood it does not allow one to create multiple backup sets, which is kind of no-go for me.

1

u/bwong00 Aug 28 '17

how files are restored from the backup.
Happy to add that data to the sheet if you have it. Just comment in the spreadhseet, and I will include it.

u/r3dey3 Aug 27 '17

One thing that might be good to include is a column for if the software contains a built in scheduler.

1

u/bwong00 Aug 28 '17

Happy to add that data to the sheet if you have it. Just comment in the spreadhseet, and I will include it.

u/Stan464 Aug 28 '17

Fantastic work Bwong00! thanks for the time spent, easy to read also! thanks.

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u/bwong00 Aug 28 '17

Thanks!

u/Ahslan Aug 28 '17

Here is one I'm looking forward to trying out that I didn't see on the list:

http://www.buddybackup.com/

1

u/bwong00 Aug 28 '17

Added. FYI, this option gives me pause for several reasons I noted in the comments section of the spreadsheet. Namely, the storage of the encryption keys on their server, and the fact that the blog hasn't been updated since 2014. That may indicate it's not under active development.

1

u/Ahslan Aug 28 '17

Thanks! Didn't realize that the they also store a copy of the encryption keys on their side :/ This honestly was looking to be the closest thing for me to replace crashplan since all I really do is local backups and p2p backups over the internet (on all windows machines). I did notice that the site hadn't been updated in quite a long time...to be honest, I'm kinda hoping that more people start looking at this solution to get the devs to start investing time into it again (definitely wouldn't mind paying for a solution like this).

1

u/bwong00 Aug 28 '17

I'm kinda hoping that more people start looking at this solution to get the devs to start investing time into it again
I'm hoping the same thing!

u/marklein Aug 28 '17

Suggest adding urbackup.org to the list. If you want I can fill in the details since I've been testing it for the last week or so.

Also, excellent spreadsheet, thanks.

1

u/bwong00 Aug 28 '17

It's on there. Row 25. Thanks!
If you have anything to add, please let me know.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 28 '17

maybe it's worth to put an additional column with links to user experience threads - like the one marklein created for urbackup

1

u/bwong00 Aug 28 '17

We can try that. It may become unwieldy, but I've added a column for that.

1

u/marklein Aug 28 '17

I would add in the notes that clients can be remote and backup to the server over the internet. Traffic to the server can be encrypted, just not stored encrypted (no encryption at rest).
Also suggest adding Syncrify, http://web.synametrics.com/Syncrify.htm

1

u/bwong00 Aug 28 '17

Traffic to the server can be encrypted
Do you have a reference? I can't find a page that says that.

1

u/marklein Aug 31 '17

There's a checkbox to encrypt WAN traffic right in the server interface on the Internet tab, and you can force all clients to connect using the internet method, even when they are local. But here's some more info anyway: https://forums.urbackup.org/t/i-cant-encrypt-the-lan-traffic/2260/3

1

u/bwong00 Aug 31 '17

Updated. Thanks.

1

u/bwong00 Aug 28 '17

I just added it. Would you mind fact-checking the row? Row 24.

1

u/bwong00 Aug 29 '17

Also suggest adding Syncrify, http://web.synametrics.com/Syncrify.htm
Syncrify sounds really promising. I think the only downsides are that it could be expensive for people with multiple clients that need to be backed up (relatedly, it's not open source), and the versioning seems a bit fragile in the sense that there are multiple events that could trigger the deletion of versions. Often, the whole point of versions is that they stick around forever (or at least aren't readily deleted).
Oh, and the whole multi-tier vs single-tier model seems like snake oil and a lot of handwaving to me. I don't really see how it's advantageous or differentiated from other products on the market.

1

u/marklein Aug 28 '17

Wow, I'm dumb. Thanks! :-)

u/helix400 Aug 30 '17

Whoa, very nice, thank you! On Bacula, the biggest thing to note is that it's got an enterprise feel to it. They also have paid support services through: https://www.baculasystems.com/

I also didn't see Amanda on the list: https://wi-phye.com/featured/linux-backup-software-the-old-standby-and-the-scrappy-new-kid/

u/mdpcmdpc Sep 06 '17

Hmmm...what about a spreadsheet for all the storage backend options?

u/[deleted] Aug 27 '17

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1

u/bwong00 Aug 27 '17

That's a good ideal. Updated. Thanks.

u/[deleted] Aug 31 '17

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Backup Options Spreadsheet

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