What’s Mozy?

Mozy is an online backup service.  For $5.00 per month, Mozy gives you unlimited storage for all of your files. The Mozy program runs in the background on your PC or Mac, and backs up your files on a daily basis using your broadband connection.  Your files are encrypted while they are sent to Mozy’s servers so that your data is kept private and safe.

Before I signed up, I tried Mozy for free.  They let you download the Mozy program and open a free account which allows you to store 2 gigs, no credit card needed, just an email address.

Here’s how it works:

1.  Go to Mozy.com to get a free Mozy Home account.  All you need is an email address to sign up.

2.  Download & install the Mozy program.  They have a version for Windows and Mac.

3.  Run the Mozy program in order to select which files (or folders–that’s easier) you want to back up.

4.  Your files automatically back up at the time you specify, but the first backup takes a while.

Here’s where I waffled for a week or so.  The free 2GB of backup space is great, but if you have tons of photos and music, it’s hard to choose what to back up.  Basically the free trial gives you access to the software so you can get the feel for how it works.  You can pick a folder to back up, and Mozy will send it to their servers until you’ve used the 2 gig limit.

I need more than 2 gigs!

I decided I liked Mozy (the interface was clean, and the setup was simple), so I upgraded to Unlimited storage.  This is where you sign up with a credit card, and either pay $5/mo (what I do) or pay in advance for 1 or 2 years, and get a month or three for free.

The initial backup

Once you’ve upgraded, prepare to wait a while for the first big upload to Mozy’s servers.  I had close to 50 gigs of data, and it took me over a week on a fast connection.  At first I checked “All Folders” and Mozy’s little program said it would take 12 days or something.  I ran like that for a while, but wanted the satisfaction of knowing that the backup had completed, at least partially.

Instead of backing up *everything*, I changed Mozy to send the most important stuff first (photos and documents) which took a few days.  After that process completed (Mozy says “Your last backup completed on such-and-such day”) I went back and selected All Folders again, and Mozy began to prepare and send my video and music files, applications, etc.  This took another 4 or 5 days, but now the daily backups run whenever I set them.

One note that even when I was doing the “big” initial backup, Mozy would wait until the computer wasn’t being heavily used, and you can change the program to run at different times, and when the computer is less than say, 60% busy, or whatever percentage you use.

The best part?  There’s no more worry or wonder of “What if…?”  Instead, Mozy provides peace of mind along with secure backup.

One note about online backup is that there are several companies offering the service, and many for about the same price.  I chose Mozy because they had a native Mac application (most are Windows, but Macs are beginning to be included by many providers).  I also had read online that Mozy has good customer service, which was imporant to me as well.

What happens when my hard drive crashes?

What if you lose your files?  Mozy will let you restore files from their program, so if your machine completely dies, and you install Mozy on your new or repaired machine, you can restore your photos & music by downloading them through Mozy’s program.  If you’re in a hurry, you can have Mozy copy your files to DVD, which they send to you via FedEx (extra fee applies for this service).  Downloading my 50gigs over DSL could take a while.

In conclusion

I’m glad I signed up for Mozy.  While I could have continued to back up files to DVD-Rs, or an external disk, Mozy adds an extra layer of protection and peace of mind by providing safe, off-site storage for our important files, and keeps up with new photos and music on my machine in case I forget to do my own manual backup at home.

I’ll also be sure to tell my friends, so that the next time their hard drives go belly-up, I can help them restore their files from Mozy.

(updated 11/1/08)