Carbonite

Carbonite is one of the leading backup services for individuals who wish to maintain a copy of their computer data. The company first appeared in 2006, and since that time it has become the backup of choice for thousands of computer users. There is a Personal Plan which costs $71.99 per year, and other plans are provided which offer more features at an additional cost. All plans provide unlimited backup. Once a subscription has been purchased, Carbonite will execute an initial backup of all data. This can take a considerable amount of time. Once this initial backup has been completed, the software updates on a regular basis to backup any new files or changes that have been made to existing ones. There are no limits imposed on the size of a file that can be backed up. However, all files that are larger than 4GB do not backup automatically. They must be manually added. The same is true for video files unless the user opts to purchase the Personal Prime plan at $149.99. It is noteworthy and appealing that this software does not impose fair usage limits. It also does not throttle users who have a large amount of data to back up. Windows and Mac both support the use of Carbonite, and there are also apps available for Android and iOS devices. It is possible to access files that have been stored with a convenient desktop application. They may also be accessed from a web app through the browser. The encryption used for both uploading and storage is 128-bit, and it is also possible for users to create their own private keys for added security. Continuous backups can be scheduled which are performed every minute, but this can affect system performance. This is especially the case on older systems that do not have a lot of memory. It is somewhat frustrating that Carbonite will only back up certain file types by default. Others have to be manually added. The user can also change the default settings to back up more file types, but those new to the program may not know this. Another problem is that users can't choose how much bandwidth will be used for backing up files.