Our intention was to use the free MozyHome account until we ran out of storage, and then switch to either Carbonite or Mozy’s paid service. Well, it has been almost 6 months and I personally still have plenty of room left in the 2GB limit (and I save everything).

In addition to Mozy’s e-mails making us laugh, they impressed us with a recent update to their Home service that introduced a new feature we originally wished they offered: documents now have colored icons to quickly identify back up status. This was a benefit that made us lean towards Carbonite in the past, so we are happy to see that Mozy added it too.

We have been satisfied with our Mozy Home service so far, so when the time comes to upgrade to a paid service, our decision is going to be a bit tougher than we thought. If you are looking to back up your data (and you should be), I suggest giving Mozy Home a try. It’s easy, it’s free, and it’s useful - what other incentive do you need?

So when we began evaluating the best solution for us, we focused on companies that target individual users and/or small businesses. Our primary needs include: a low monthly or annual fee, at least 20GB of storage per user, and scheduled back up times so we don’t have to worry about performing the backup ourselves. The top three companies that showed the most potential were: Carbonite, Mozy, and Box…

Carbonite:

• Utilizes a desktop application that loads all your data initially and then continuously updates when documents are added or modified.
• Can store unlimited amounts of data for one flat annual fee of $49.95
• They use a colored dot system so you can quickly identify the backup status of a document

Mozy:

• Mozy offers MozyHome that is $4.95 per month for unlimited storage, or MozyPro that charges you based only on the storage amount you predetermine
• Both MozyHome and MozyPro utilize a desktop application that performs manual and/or scheduled backups

Box:

• Offers both storage and file sharing (which wasn’t one of our main criteria, but is a plus)
• They do not use a desktop application that performs automatic backups; the backups need to be done on a manual basis through their website or via e-mail
• The maximum storage capacity available in their Business option is 15GB for $19.95 per month

Even though Box offered file sharing, which is a nice bonus for the price, either Carbonite or Mozy will most likely end up being the online data storage tool that we choose. The perks of their lower costs and automatic backups, outweigh the other offerings that Box provides.