backblaze

After the Storm – Protecting Your Computer

May 29, 2019 by doctordave

As anyone in Lawrence, Topeka, or Kansas City knows, we had one heck of a storm last night. I spent a good part of the evening in the basement. That wasn’t fun. I’m sure you didn’t have fun either.

This bad weather is an excellent time to talk though about the importance of offsite backup, while it’s fresh in everyone’s mind. I did the same reminder a few years ago after the severe weather in Houston. Local backups to an external hard drive in your home or business is an excellent secondary method of backup. However, backing up to an online service is your best backup, because if something happens to your home or office an on-site backup is lost. Over the years, I found often it wasn’t a direct hit by a tornado that caused damage, but water. Rain might have leaked in. For example, one client had a tree fall into her office. It was the rain that ruined everything. If your computer does get wet, please follow our instructions for “I just spilled something on my laptop.”

A common question we get asked is about protection against surges and lightning. A majority of people aren’t protected. I wrote about this a few years ago, and my opinion remains pretty much the same. I’d advise though now getting uninterruptible power supply (UPS) with USB ports. I have one of these in my home and what I like is it not only protects against surges but also provides battery backup for my internet and phone. It was $50 and a worthwhile investment.

During an electrical storm, we recommend unplugging the computer power from the wall. We also recommend unplugging Ethernet cords from both the back of your cable modem as well as your computer. Surges can travel through those lines even if the computer is off and unplugged.

Finally, if you have valuable electronics you rely on for a home-based (including remote employees) or small business, please consider getting your devices scheduled on your insurance. That can often cover both damages to the computer as well as data recovery should these things come up.

If you have any questions about protecting your computer against surges or data loss, please email us. We always consult on things like this at no charge and for the next week, we’re waiving any labor fees to install an offsite backup, which is about $60 year. Call/text 785-841-8766 or email dave@calldrdave.com

Yes, We Still Recommend Backblaze

February 17, 2019 by doctordave

Backblaze has been our preferred automatic safety backup product for years. Recently they contacted existing customers to let them know the rates would be increasing. Compared to their competitors who increased rates while decreasing services, or simply went out of business, Backblaze’s price increase is modest. They’ve had the same pricing for 11 years, so that hardly keeps up with inflation.

For $60 a year, or $110 for two years they backup everything on your computer. When something goes wrong, you can either download your data or they’ll overnight you a hard drive with all your stuff on it for FREE. Can’t beat that.

Not only have I used Backblaze for a decade, but I’ve also seen with my clients how well it’s worked. In particular, we had two clients who had fires at their homes. In both cases we were able to get the client up and running within 48 hours thanks to the overnight service. In another example, we were able to trace down a stolen laptop due to the tracing service Backblaze includes in the subscription.

If you haven’t signed up yet for Backblaze, do it by March 11th before the price increase. You’ll save $10 on the yearly plan and $15 on the two-year plan (what we recommend).

If you’re already a customer, you can extend your subscription for up to one year at the current rate. It’s a bit confusing, but they explain how to do it here. You agree to buy now and add onto your subscription’s expiration date. They make it sound complicated, but it’s not. Once you click on the Extensions Page, you buy the extension. I did it and got this message.

It only gets complex if you have more than one subscription on your account. Most of our clients don’t, so it’s as easy as clicking a link and then Purchase Extension.

Of course, if you have any trouble at all, please let us know. We’d be happy to help with this extension process at no charge because we believe in backups.

While you’re in your account, I suggest you test your backups. Try a few items from your computer and do a sample restore. That way in an emergency you know how to do it. If you don’t feel comfortable doing that, please let us know. We’re running a Backup Checkup special until the end of March. We’ll test your backups and make sure they work for just $40. That’s only half our normal hourly rate. We can do that remotely so you don’t need to leave your home, or at our office, or on-site (travel rates apply). If you need anything else done during the service call ,it’s at our normal hourly rate. We recommend yearly computer checkups to predict and prevent future problems, so if it’s been a year since we’ve seen you let us know so we can schedule a full checkup.

Remember, to go forward, you must backup.

Photo by Duy Hoang on Unsplash

Lessons from Houston: Why You Need Better Backup

September 4, 2017 by doctordave

The damage from Hurricane Harvey has been heartbreaking. Sadly one of the casualties of the flood has been people’s data. Not just business data like customer lists, orders, and invoices but personal stuff like irreplaceable digital pictures and documents. While disasters aren’t preventable, data loss is.

From online forums and stories I’ve read, many business and residential customers thought they had a good backup. Apple’s Time Machine automatically backs up the computer to a hard drive connected to the computer. Windows 10 and earlier versions have a similar function. This isn’t enough and is insufficient as a primary backup method.

The problem, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, is that during a disaster everything near by the computer gets destroyed. Water gets everywhere and damages all electronics. While we don’t get many hurricanes in Kansas and Missouri, we’re not immune to water problems.

You might think the most common disaster on-site is some kind of natural disaster. It isn’t. It’s water. Just last week a client’s water heater broke flooding her basement. Her basement had a computer. Fortunately, she had an online backup, so she was fine.

Due to disasters that can occur on-premise, we always recommend online backups.

As I mentioned last week, our preferred vendor is Backblaze. For $50 a year they securely backup your computer in the cloud. Simply put, cloud backups protect you against all disasters. Backing up to a hard drive next to your computer isn’t the best way to backup your computer.

To encourage people to use a secure backup system, we’re installing Backblaze at no charge for clients. Just message us and we’ll set up an appointment for you. We won’t charge for the install; you’ll just owe Backblaze their yearly fee. We’ll even run a diagnostic scan while we’re on your computer at no charge. It’s just our way of making sure you’re protecting your important stuff!

Photo by J. Daniel Escareño

Alternatives to CrashPlan for Online Backups

August 27, 2017 by doctordave

Earlier this week, CrashPlan announced it was discontinuing its pricing for home users. Although our primary recommendation for online backup is Backblaze, some of our clients were using CrashPlan. We suggested CrashPlan to larger families since the family plan backed up ten users for $150 a year. In my family, we used CrashPlan but will discontinue immediately.

Short Soapbox and Commentary

I can’t give a recommendation without expressing my disappointment in the way Code42, owners of CrashPlan, handled this change. I’ve been a user of their product for a decade. I used to pay for three years at a time. When my subscription came up for a renewal, I didn’t understand why they wouldn’t support a multi-year plan. Now I know! They gave no notice or warning. We had clients renew the day before the announcement and had their credit card charged. For some clients, the “pro” plan is a cost increase of close to 1000%. That big of a change deserved a slow rollout. The new pricing is $10 a month per machine, so a minimum of $120 per year per computer.

Given the way they handled this change, I wouldn’t trust them with my data. Moreover, I don’t trust any recommendations they make as far as alternative services. Even if I thought Carbonite was the way to go (which I don’t).

My Recommendation: CrashPlan Users Switch to Backblaze

I’ve been a fan of Backblaze for years. I switched my primary Mac from CrashPlan to Backblaze. I trust the product, but kept my CrashPlan subscription to backup less-critical computers in the house. They backup unlimited data on your system for $50 a year. They’re the cheapest and the best backup plan out there.

In comparison, Mozy charges $65 a year for just 50 gig of data and Carbonite charges $60 a year for the most “basic” plan that doesn’t include backup of large files like video. Most users would opt for the “plus” plan at $75.00 a year.

Starting with an online backup plan aka “the cloud” takes time. Your computer has to send copies of all the files to the service over the internet. That can take a few weeks or even several months. Of course, once the files are there, the service only backs up the changes. Those changes are nearly instant. It’s the initial backup that’s hard.

Because it takes so long for an initial backup, I suggest starting with Backblaze ASAP.

If you wait until your CrashPlan subscription expires, you might lose data in the gap. You want to make sure all your files are safe and secure with Backblaze before your CrashPlan expires.

Given our experience, the average user should plan about three months for all their data to get to an online service. For a short time, you’ll be paying for two backup services. You might think that’s wasteful, but given the importance of your data, I think it’s worth paying an extra few dollars doubling up. If your hard drive dies before Backblaze gets all your stuff, and your CrashPlan expires, you’re out of luck!

Our Deal to Clients: Free Backblaze Installs

Unlike CrashPlan, we value our residential clients. We want your data backed up. If you’re a Crashplan customer, we’ll uninstall Crashplan and install Backblaze at no charge. You’ll just owe Backblaze the yearly subscription fee of $50 a year or $95 for two years (that’s what we recommend). While we’re looking at your computer, we’ll even do a diagnostic scan at no charge. We now have some pretty cool tools that not only scan for problems, but warn us if a problem develops later on your computer. We’ll install that warning software at no charge as well. It’s just our way of making sure you always have a working computer and your data is secure and safe.

Photo by nerolf