Online Backup Services
From Joseph Luis Wiki
Comparison
| Provider | Win.1 | Linux1 | Mac1 | crypt.2 | Limited MB plan3 | Unlimited MB plan3 | $/MB plan3 | Unlimited BW 3 | Net drive4 | P2P5 | Sync6 | Autodetect changes11 | Public file hosting7 | physical media restore8 | Server location9 | Free online storage (non-trial)12 | Maximum per-file size | External hard drive support13 | Hybrid Option14 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dropbox | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial; transmission and storage only | Yes | Yes; third-party webdav service, 300 MB write limit apply | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | USA | 2 GB | 300 MB on the Web Interface, none on the Desktop client | No | No | ||||
| SpiderOak | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes; Per-user | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | 2 GB | No limit | Yes | |||
| SugarSync | Yes | No | Yes | Partial; transmission and storage only | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes (SugarSync account needed) | 5 GB | ||||||||
| Ubuntu One | Yes10 | Yes | No | No[1] | Yes | No | Yes | N/A (6) | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | 5 GB | 5 TB[2] | No | ||||
| ZumoDrive | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial; transmission and storage only | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | USA | 2 GB | No Limit | ||||||||
| Provider | Windows1 | Linux1 | Mac1 | Encryption2 | Limited MB plan3 | Unlimited MB plan3 | $/MB plan3 | Unlimited BW 3 | Net drive4 | P2P5 | Sync6 | Autodetect changes11 | Public internet file hosting7 | Restore via physical media8 | Server location(s)9 | Free online storage12 | Maximum Per-File Size | External Hard Drive Support | Hybrid Option |
Legend
- ^1 Windows/Linux/Mac - Supported operating systems for thick client (native binary application), which provide background data transmission and setting services.
- ^2 Encryption - Data stored by the service is encrypted. (Transport security is also assumed)
- ^3 Payment method
- L - Pay per computer. Additional fee for storage over a threshold.
- U - Pay per computer. Storage per computer is unlimited.
- M - Pay per unit of storage, but unlimited computers may share that storage.
- B - Bandwidth capping or limits are used on accounts.
- ^4 Net drive - Network drive on file server supports some protocols (FTP, SMB, NAS,...)
- ^5 P2P storage - data spread over many computers based on Peer-to-peer net advantages
- ^6 Sync - Synchronization between computers, and/or mobile devices (PDA, MDA,...)
- ^7 Public Internet file hosting -
- ^8 Restore via physical media -
- ^9 Server location - country where physical servers are located
- ^10 Still in Beta version
- ^11 Whether the desktop client (if available) can detect and upload changes without scanning all files
- ^12 Many backup services offer a limited free plan, often for personal use. Often it is possible to increase the free backup limit through coupons, referrals, or other means that are not included in this column. This column also does not include free trials that are only available for a limited period of time.
- ^13 External hard drive support - Can refer to an alternate backup destination or whether the service can back up external drives.
- ^14 Hybrid Online Backup works by storing data to local disk so that the backup can be captured at high speed, and then either the backup software or a D2D2C (Disk to Disk to Cloud) appliance encrypts and transmits data to a service provider. Recent backups are retained locally, to speed data recovery operations.
Comments
- Dropbox
- Data de-duplication, delta sync, iPhone/Android/Blackberry app available.
- SpiderOak
- Data de-duplication."Zero Knowledge" encryption.
- Ubuntu One
- GPL client
- ZumoDrive
- Cloud appears local to filesystem, content streaming, predictive caching, delta sync
Versioning
Any changes can be undone, and files can be undeleted.
- Dropbox
- Yes
- SpiderOak
- All versions are kept. All files can be undeleted.
- SugarSync
- Five versions are kept. Only the most recent counts towards the storage limit.
Synchronization
| Name | Windows | Mac | Linux | Other OS | Open source | Online backup service | Freeware version | Portable | Detect conflict | File lock | Open file support | Revision control | Detect rename | Detect move | Full duplex transfer, collaborative | Propagate deletes | Case sensitive | Delta copying (block level transfer) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SpiderOak | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes[3] | No, one-way sharing only | |||||||||
| SugarSync | Yes | Yes | No | Yes, Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Mobile | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes[4] | |||||||||
| Ubuntu One | Yes | No | Yes | No | Partial | Yes | Yes | |||||||||||
| ZumoDrive | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes, Android, iPhone, Palm webOS | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||||||||
| Name | Windows | Mac | Linux | Other OS | Open source | Online backup service | Freeware version | Portable | Detect conflict | File lock | Open file support | Revision control | Detect rename | Detect move | Full duplex transfer, collaborative | Propagate deletes | Case sensitive | Delta copying (block level transfer) |
References
- Kerner, Sean (2008-02-13). "Get In Sync with File Syncing Software". Tom's Guide. http://www.tomsguide.com/us/file-sync-backup,review-1060.html. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
- Kerner, Sean (2008-02-27). "Syncing Software Redux: More Options". Tom's Guide. http://www.tomsguide.com/us/file-syncing-software,review-1074.html. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
- ↑ bug #375289: data encryption (client-side as well as server-side)
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ Susie Ochs (2009-06-11). ""Online Storage Battle: Which Cloud Back-Up Service Reigns Supreme?"". MacLife. http://www.maclife.com/article/reviews/online_storage_battle_which_cloud_backup_service_reigns_supreme?page=0%2C1. Retrieved 2009-11-04.
- ↑ ""See How SugarSync Stacks up to the Competition"". SugarSync (formerly called SharpCast). https://www.sugarsync.com/sync_comparison.html. Retrieved 2010-01-13.
