Carbonite

A couple weeks ago I asked you to name the best free backup program for Windows.

And, boy, what a response! Hundreds of people chimed in with dozens of great suggestions, ranging from Windows 7's built-in backup utility to folder-syncing backup hacks like SyncToy.

Today, let's talk online backups. I'm a big believer in the diversified backup plan, one that combines local and cloud-based solutions. The reasons should be obvious: an external hard drive can be stolen, destroyed in a fire, or even wrecked by malware. That's less of a crisis if your data also lives … Read more

Let's say you're a boat builder. You've built a beautiful boat. It's called the SS Carbonite. It took years, but it's finally done. You've planned the launch for months, and both you and the person who bought the boat are excited to set it afloat. But on launch day, a storm blows in. The wind is whipping, the sea roiling. Only the crazy storm-watchers are out at the docks. Your boat is sea-worthy, but to launch in these conditions will be tricky and dangerous. What do you do?

If you built Carbonite, the online backup company that filed its IPO papers back in May, you launch anyway.

Congratulations, you've just turned what should have been an exciting celebration into a ghoulish spectacle. The few people not huddled indoors waiting for the storm to pass watch your launch. It doesn't sink! But it does take on some water.

Carbonite (Nasdaq:CARB), which went public today, initially expected to raise $122 million in its IPO, raised instead just $62.5 million. And that was in part because it launched into the middle of a hurricane.

As Don Reisinger reported earlier, Carbonite CEO David Friend says, "I'm not so concerned about the stock price today. I'm more concerned what the stock price will be a year or two years from now."

I'll grant that it's the job of a public-company CEO to maximize stock price for his shareholders, but until the moment the company went public, his job was to maximize return for his earlier-stage investors. And at that, he appears to have cost early investors 50 percent of their projected returns. … Read more

Shares of Carbonite, a company that provides online backup services, are up today in their first day of trading.

The company's shares, which started the day at $10, hit a high of $13.40 today before leveling off at their current $11.88 per share. Although Carbonite might be happy with its first day of trading, the company's initial offering was substantially lower than it had originally projected. Rather than the initial $15 to $17 a share offering price, Carbonite said earlier this week that it had to reduce its opening range to $10 to $11 per share.… Read more

Online-backup company Backblaze (Windows | Mac) announced on Tuesday that it has opened its service up to businesses. Backblaze will charge companies a flat fee of $50 per computer per year.

Backblaze's service mimics other, more popular services like Mozy (Windows | Mac) and Carbonite (Windows). Users need only to download its uploading software to their computers and create an account. Once complete, Backblaze starts backing up the contents of the user's computer to its data center.

Backblaze backs up all files on the computer, except for the operating system, temporary files, apps, or files over 4GB in size. Uploading … Read more

Customers who lost data after it had failed to be backed up properly by service provider Carbonite in 2007 may have few legal remedies, a lawyer said on Monday. Meanwhile, Carbonite is suing the hardware manufacturer and reseller for charges including breach of warranty, breach of contract, fraud, and unfair and deceptive practices.

Carbonite filed a lawsuit last week against hardware maker Promise Technology and reseller Interactive Digital Systems, alleging it was sold $3 million worth of defective equipment, which affected backups of 7,500 customers.

In its lawsuit, filed in Massachusetts' Suffolk County Superior Court, Carbonite claims it lost … Read more

I've been a fan of Han Solo since the roguish spice smuggler first appeared in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. But even if you're a similarly hard-core follower of the Millennium Falcon's captain, you must step away from this desk. There's only one custom model of Solo frozen in carbonite (Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back), made by Tom Spina Designs for a client seeking a combination of art and furniture in this piece. That means look, but don't touch. So best to suck it up and settle instead for this … Read more

I wanted to revisit some of the products that didn't work for me yesterday, since my personal demo demon seems to have moved on.

I'll start with Titanize, the unknown online backup product. Titanize competes with services like Mozy and Carbonite. But it offers features that the others don't, and it is worth serious consideration if you're looking for an over-the-Net backup service.

For basic backups, it's much like Mozy and Carbonite. It's easy to set up, and it runs in the background, sending your new and changed files to its secure servers. But … Read more