Acronis is a well-respected name in IT circles, and when they release a new application people tend to take notice. They were nice enough to give me a heads up that their online backup app for Windows was now ready for download. A good reputation is a big deal when you're selecting an online backup provider, and Acronis certainly has that. So how does their Online Backup stack up? The desktop application is as easy to use as any other I've tested on Windows. Sign in to your account, select the files you want to upload, and fire up the backup job. You can back up multiple computers into the same storage space: each machine will appear on its own tab in the Online Backup interface (as above). The calendar strip along the bottom provides a nice, easy way to keep an eye on your backup history. To restore data, you'll need either the desktop application or to fire up web restore using Internet Explorer or Firefox. The process is simple and as speedy as any other service on my 5 meg DSL connection. Storage is one area which might need to be addressed. Paid accounts are $4.95 per month (or $49.99 per year) for 250GB. When you're competing against providers like Mozy, Carbonite, and BackBlaze (who all offer unlimited storage), 250GB might not be enough to entice most single-system users.
If you're looking for a thrifty way to back up a quarter terabyte of crucial data from multiple systems, however, Acronis Online Backup is a great option.
Bonus: until February 15th 2010, you can save an additional $20. Sign up for a full year, and pay just $29.95.
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/online-backup/
Tags: acronis, carbonite, mozy, online backup, OnlineBackup
