A Mozy by any other name is...Fabrik. Though resold by Hitachi-owned Simpletech, the only differences between Mozy and Fabrik are the name and the revision of the client software that sits in your system tray waiting to back up your files. That means Fabrik falls under industry giant EMC's umbrella. The 128-bit or 448-bit Blowfish encrypted data you send to them is safe--a lot safer than that data you back up locally.
A 2GB Fabrik account is free, which may make some folks wonder (as in "nothing in life is free"), but it's actually a leader to the $5 a month unlimited plan. The company figures in the age of digital photos and video, most users will eventually pony up the cash for more space. $60 a year is a small price for peace of mind--even in this economy (take a look at recovery services prices!)
When you install Fabrik, you can have it scan for common data files it recognizes such as pictures, movies, Quicken files, Office files, etc. and do a pretty thorough job of it. Or, you may add files explicitly or create filters (e.g., *.xlsx). Fabrik will back up when CPU usage falls below a certain level or when the computer has been idle for a specified period. You may also set the program back up at a specific time and leave your PC alone the rest of the time--probably a better bet under most circumstances. Restoring files is a simple matter of clicking on the Fabrik virtual drive in Explorer and dragging back the files you want.
I've used Fabrik and Mozy for several years--concurrently, even--with great success. 2GB of free online storage means you can keep safe the files you would cry over losing. If there's a downside, I've yet to find it.
Note: This link downloads the software, but you will need to visit the vendor's site to sign up for the service.
--Jon L. Jacobi
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