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.
When you get a new computer, you might wonder what to do with the old one, especially if it works. We work with Connecting For Good in Kansas City to help refurbish and distribute these computers to needy families. However, there are some other uses.
With all the recent and continuing breaches, one thing we learned is you can’t rely on a company to tell you. Breaches are reported months and sometimes years later.
I’m not talking the fat police either. I’m talking about someone going to jail based on what a fitness tracker told police.