Backups. Something we never remember to do, but always wish we had done when the unthinkable happens. Be it a hard drive gone bad, accidentially deleted file or lost memory stick, data is lost. Not a big deal if you have a copy. If you don’t, well, though luck.

Fortunately, I’ve yet to lose data due to those things just mentioned. It’s bound to happen, though, sooner or later. When considering the many devices I own with hards drives inside them, luck’s been on my side. Nevertheless, my backup record has been less than stellar.

I had the occasional document backed up now and then, but mostly just the really important ones. Finally when Apple released OS X 10.5 (Leopard) and I saw how simple backups were with Time Machine, there was no excuse.

All was well, until I started writing my thesis. Then the data loss paranoia struck. Around then I read about online backup, and decided to give it a try. I was happy with the service I initially tried (still using it, in fact), but noticed there were a number of contenders as well. I’ve since tried to keep up with the scene a bit, and now decided to write a piece about few of the backup services I’ve had experience with.

On the first part of the series, I cover the basics, such as advantages and disadvantages of online backup. On the follow-up articles, I focus more on the backup services themselves.

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>> Online backup – introduction