Everybody likes Mozy--except me, Part 1
For a company in the boring business of online file storage, Mozy gets more than its share of press coverage, and from what I've seen, it's all been positive. Mozy attracted attention back in December 2006 when they started offering unlimited file storage for $5 per month or $55 per year (rounded off).
The first Mozy review I ran across was by Walter Mossberg in The Wall Street Journal ("These Services Make Backing Up Your Files Safe and Inexpensive", December 14, 2006). He liked Mozy, so I spent some time reviewing them for a class I teach on backing up your computer. My opinion differed from Mr. Mossberg's, not for the first time.
Then in January 2007, David Pogue, writing in The New York Times, also liked the service ("Fewer Excuses For Not Doing A PC Backup", January 4, 2007). I blew that off too. But a couple weeks ago the tech Web site Ars Technica published a review of online storage providers by Joel Hruska that recommended Mozy as the best of the bunch ("Online backup solutions: a review", July 16, 2007). For me, that was the final straw. Time to speak up.
The good reviews
In his review Walter Mossberg compared Mozy to Carbonite, another online storage company. He found Mozy "easy to set up and easy to use" and seemed impressed that using the Web-based interface he could restore files on a Macintosh computer. Security is an obvious concern with off-site storage and addressing it he said, "Both companies encrypt the backed-up files and say they don't view them." Finally, he notes that "you can back up multiple computers--but you have to pay extra for each additional machine."
Pogue also found Mozy more flexible than Carbonite, citing as an example the fact that backups can either be continuous or run at specified times and dates. He pointed out that Mozy can back up only changed portions of files, and he liked that you can review 30 days of backups (more on this below). His only criticism was minor, he felt that Mozy might not be the best choice for beginners as some of its options are "novice-hostile."
Writing for Ars Technica, Joe Hruska reviewed Xdrive, Backup/PC, Mozy and Carbonite and concluded: "Of the services we tested here, Mozy Online struck the best balance between functionality and flexibility and is our overall top pick for an online backup service."
My opinions
To start with, I don't like any backup service whose software has to run constantly in the background. The more software running on a computer the greater the chance of something going wrong. I prefer a backup scheme where the backups happen on a schedule and/or on demand. Thus, 99 percent of the time there is no backup software running. I don't like my computer doing stuff without me knowing about it.
And, if I had to go with background software that never shuts down, my preference would be for a mature product. Something that's at version 11 and has been around for years. Mozy is a relatively new company; it was founded in 2005. In December of 2006 when Mr. Mossberg wrote his review, the Mozy application software only ran under Windows XP. Now it also supports Windows 2000 and Vista and they have Mac software in beta testing. This is all too new for me to trust it with something as important as file backups.
Mr. Mossberg's description of the Web-based interface failed to point out that it can't be used for making backups, only for restoring files. As he said, Mozy charges extra for each additional computer that you back up from. The online backup service that I use, which I'm not going to mention both because it's not perfect and this blog is not an ad, allows me to back up files from an unlimited number of computers using their Web interface. This should be a prerequisite for any online storage service you may be considering.
Big sin
Mozy's biggest sin wasn't mentioned in any of the reviews. (Doesn't anyone read the fine print?)
An obvious reason for making backups is to be protected from accidentally deleting files. If your fingers slip while typing, you can wipe out dozens of files and not realize it. Or someone else using your computer might delete them. Or there may be a glitch in the file system and Windows loses track of some files.
If you delete a file by accident and don't notice it, Mozy will delete the backups of the file too. I kid you not.
This is a quote from Mozy.com (as of July 29, 2007): "If you delete the working copy on your machine and then run a backup, Mozy will assume that you no longer need a backup copy, since you got rid of the working copy, and will mark the file to be removed from our system in 30 days...After 30 days, you cannot get these files back."
Pogue made a bad thing seem like a good thing when he wrote: "You can view 30 days' worth of backups, too--a feature that prevents you from deleting a file from your PC accidentally and then finding its deletion mirrored in your latest backup." Mr. Pogue is assuming both that you know a file was deleted by accident and that you try to recover it within 30 days. But if you are not aware that a file is missing until 31 days after it disappeared, it's gone. With my online backup company I could accidentally delete a file, not know about it for years and still be able to recover the last backed-up copy.
Perhaps you know someone who has had to reinstall Windows? Or had their laptop computer stolen? With Mozy there is a chance it may treat missing files as being deleted on purpose, and delete the backups in 30 days. I have no idea how likely this is, but if something can go wrong, it will. And again, there's that issue of relatively new version 1 software to consider.
Why does Mozy do something that seems so wrong? I think I know.
In their free service Mozy offers 2GB of storage space to anyone who feels like asking for it. The less space someone uses, the better it is for them. In their paid service, Mozy offers unlimited storage for $55 per year. Here, too, the less space a customer uses the better it is for Mozy. In this context, it makes sense for them to delete as many files as possible. It's a natural outgrowth of their business model.
In contrast, Mozy's competitors charge more as their customers use more storage space. It's reasonable to assume that these companies make more money the more data they are storing. Thus, they are not motivated to delete files. In my opinion, you're better off using a company with this business model.
Mozy customers are, in effect, trying to get something for nothing with unlimited storage for only $55 per year. It's too good to be true.
I'm far from done. More tomorrow...
Update. February 9, 2008.
In an attempt to generate commissions someone made a comment to this article suggesting that mozyonlinebackup.com offered impartial reviews. It does not. The site is run by John Pontillo of Fishkill, New York. That the links to Mozy look like
http://www.mozy.com/?ref=99999999&kbid=99999&m=9&i=99
is a giveaway of the true purpose of the site - generating commissions.
See a summary of all my Defensive Computing postings.
Michael Horowitz is an independent computer consultant and the author of several classes on Defensive Computing. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
For me the price and quality haven't been matched by anybody else out there...
EFS encrypted file (file system error one)
I emailed support and got a very fast response - which said that Mozy does not handle encrypted files - hopes to do so, but not in the near future. So if you have any financial or other sensitive date on your laptop and use the Windows encryption so as to protect it when away from home, you can only use Mozy by decrypting, backing up, and recrypting, a very slow process. So it seems to me that Mozy has a HUGE gap as part of an overall data security system
You further argue the more software running, the greater the chance for problems. Can't disagree, but what is that chance? [http://0.5%, 5%, ?%|http://0.5%, 5%, ?%] How much software needs to be running? Does it depend on what software? Hardware?
All of the above is just your opinion. What I can't figure out in my non-technical mind is why a scheduled or on-demand backup is better than constant uninterrupted backup? If you schedule backups every two minutes, how do you recover the important files lost in a crash that occurs in the 1 minute and 59 seconds after your last scheduled backup? [if you schedule for less than 2 minutes you might as well make it constant] You could do on-demand backup every time you do something important, but you also might forget to demand backup (just like you might accidentally wipe out a file).
Wouldn't it be simpler and more foolproof to have backup software constantly on guard? In your model you say you could go back and look for missing files in years and years of archives. If you don't even know you deleted it, how do you know where to look and how much search time would it take to go through years of archived files? If you didn't need it for years, you probably didn't need it now. 30 days is not a long time--maybe 180 days is better. But there is a point beyond which the return on your effort to retrieve the file is no longer warranted.
BTW how many years ago did your storage company begin archiving offsite? How much do you pay? for what services? What version software does your company provide you?
Which online backup service do you currently use or recommend?
On MyOtherDrive there aren't any hidden fees, unlike Mozy. When I had Mozy, there were so many hidden fees it was ridiculous.
IDrive-E is looking very good to me at the moment. More friendly software, keeps multiple backup levels, easier recovery mechanisms, and able to flood my 1Mbit ADSL upload. Still not had to use it in anger; so these comments are still pretty tentative.
Initially I was put off by their own hype, they have clearly been attempting to flood blogs etc with advertisements; this post really IS independent comment.
I've tried it, and it's at least as good as Mozy if not better:
http://www.michaelhorowitz.com/backupscript.html
What's the best "off-the-shelf" service I can subscribe to to backup the computers of my small biz? I just want the security of knowing that if my office burns down I'll be able to retrieve a copy of my office files and operate from home... instead of burying my head in my hands?
The problem with the 30-day purge terms on Carbonite's web site is that apparently you need to read all the fine print and this info is not easy to find.
This is much more than an "inconvenience." I had backups in another format from about 12/2005 and previous and fortunately was able to restore that data. Any work that I've done since then (it's extensive and for the most part irreplaceable) would be catastrophic to lose, as I'm involved in digital media production.
Carbonite is currently working on the problem. I intend to post the results here when I get them. If they are a company worth their salt at all, they should be able to restore deleted data from their servers - right?
iDrive offers 150GB of space for $4.95 a month in their iDrive-E Pro version, in which they never delete data on the server side. Check it out. Does any one have experience using this service?
Another (recommended, in retrospect, if you are using any online backup service) is to also use a concurrent hardware backup solution such as an external hard drive.
I started an online backup MSP company several years ago based on Evault. That product and Asigra are still hands down the very best at what they do. However, the cost for individual users to backup their systems is way to expensive. Once I left the company, I had to find a replacement and Mozy Unlimited has replaced 85% of my request. Rumor has them being purchased by EMC. It will be interesting to see where they take the company. My bet is away from the individual users and more to the SMB platform.
Personally, I use AngelBackup.com for my online backups. Their software keeps multiple versions and never deletes a file unless you specifically tell it to.
http://backupreview.googlepages.com/
My first tech support request, which came within a day of using it, went unresponded to for about 5 days. That was not the only time an inordinate delay for tech support occurred.
But the main problem was, the software just did NOT work! I signed up at the end of January, and here in early April, Mozy has not succeeded in backing up my 60 GB of data! I have had it running several times daily. The software kept quitting, or connecting but failing to actually upload anything. I exchanged email with multiple tech support people, and went through about 5 upgrades, each upgrade promising to fix the problem that was stopping me from uploading data.
I cancelled today after an upgrade to the most recent version failed to work at all, despite several uninstall/reinstall procedures.
IMHO, Mozy for Mac is not even reliable enough to qualify for a Beta test status. I do personally know ONE Mozy for Mac user for whom this actually seems to work. He is happy. But it seems possible from internet reviews that he is in the minority.
In response to my repeated attempts to problem-solve for Mozy, they extended my contract by 2 months, for free. But I found that the amount of time I was spending trying to get Mozy to work was not worth "free," even.
Good luck to Mozy, and I hope they get their sluggish technical support times improved, and that someday they have a product worthy of marketing to the Mac community. We Mac users expect better.
Yes, it does do versioning, but it only keeps 30 days of history. If you delete or change a file, you've got 30 days to restore it or request a DVD copy of it before the history of your file is deleted. If you want more than 30 days of history, there are other products out there, but they will cost significantly more.
By now I've exhausted almost all known online backup programs; iDrive was even worse.
The only one I haven't tried is Carbonite and I've heard so many bad things about that I'm not even going to give it a shot.
These online backup programs are poorly coded and sluggish beyond belief, and invariably complain at some point I've exceeded my free storage quota when I've put nowhere near even HALF the allotted amount of material up on their site. At present I am backing up my data to a 16 Gb USB drive and bringing it into work every day. Inconvenient and poses a risk on the weekends, when I don't regularly back up, but far more reliable than junk like Mozy.
These failures are the result of companies looking for low cost programmers, basing products upon rapid development frameworks, and rushing products out the door. A skilled developer can craft a good application, even using rapid development frameworks, but needs time and must test correctly. Don't blame software engineers for the results of using low skilled programmers to create junk products!
Scheduling is a must.
Stability is a must.
Privacy/security is a must.
Auto-compression is very helpful.
However, keeping my documents indefinitely - is an intolerable legal liability.
It's not that I'm doing anything illegal, it's just that if I'm sued for any reason, I have certain legal obligations to provide those files. Ask the former Arthur Andersen about that.
For example, if I have the expectation of "discovery", then I must retain all related files. This means I must turn off any automatic file deletion programs. If Mozy continued deleting my documents, I'm toast as the courts would be obliged to assume I had something to hide.
On the other hand, if I don't have the expectation of discovery (at the moment), then a file retention policy and software (such as delete backed up files after 30 days) is a valid defense for not having backups on hand older than 30 days from the date of any expectation of discovery (basically the day my lawyer tells me I'm about to get sued and to unplug my shredder). Why would I care about having indefinitely old files on hand? Well, they're "discoverable", so I'd have to turn them over to any jerk stupid enough to file suit rather than work things out. And do you really want somebody mean enough to sue you wallowing through all your old e-mails, text messages, etc? Ask the (soon to be) former mayor of Detroit Kwame Kilpatrick about that.
In short, a solid backup application must be able to enforce a sound file retention policy by automatically deleting old files after a specified period of time- while also offering the ability to shut down this process as needed if you get the dreaded call.
Much better is indefinite retention plus the ability to purge files when no longer wanted as part of the backup. That means that the files you want will always be available to restore, but those you think you might not want someone to find during a legal discovery can be purged as you like.
I elected to use my own encryption key. I created it the usual way, using the MozyHome GUI. I created a backup key as well, when I was prompted.
I started a backup, and noted this cute little entry in mozy.log:
mozybackup.exe: Warning: User encryption set, but key is missing.
Wondering if this meant my files were going out in plaintext, I sent an email to support. It was ignored.
I later decided to test whether my files were encrypted. I knew I could do this because the PDF manual says that if I use my own key, Mozy won't be able to decrypt the files upon restore, and I'll have to use the separate "Mozy Decrypt" utility.
So, I chose a file on my drive that I knew had been backed up to Mozy, and I securely deleted it. I then used Mozy to restore it. AND IT WAS NOT ENCRYPTED! I repeated the test just to make sure. Same result--the file was on Mozy's servers unencrypted! Either that, or Mozy was using its own private key, and NOT the key I told it to use. It really doesn't matter which of these scenarios is true, because in the latter case, I don't feel secure because Mozy employees would have access to my data.
I couldn't remove Mozy fast enough after that. I guess you get what you pay for. From now on, I'll backup to the FTP server provided by my web host. It may still be someone else's server, but at least I have some amount of control over it.
If you are familiar with setting up servers on your own, it makes even easier. Some software allows you to maintain your own backup server, so that you do not need to suspect too much security issues, and everything will be under your control. As I know, the cost is quite low when compared to Mozy, especially if you backup large amount of data.
I don't want to advertise here, so I am not going to post the names here. Try google with "online backup software", and you will see there are lots of choices.
If you are familiar with setting up servers on your own, it makes even easier. Some software allows you to maintain your own backup server, so that you do not need to suspect too much security issues, and everything will be under your control. As I know, the cost is quite low when compared to Mozy, especially if you backup large amount of data.
I don't want to advertise here, so I am not going to post the names here. Try google with "online backup software", and you will see there are lots of choices.
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by GeriatricCareManager
August 3, 2008 10:04 AM PDT
- Who really owns information backed-up, if it is not made available on demand?
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Reply to this comment
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (39 Comments)Since the end of June 2008, I have made several requests from Mozy to produce backup copies of my hard drive; have sent requests for clarification on the timeline for delivery that have been ignored; have been charged for the disks that I did not receive; have had a demand for a refund of monthly fees refunded ignored; and continue to be charged the monthly fee, since I cannot cancel the account for fear of losing my information.
In most recent correspondence to Mozy, I indicated I had a reasonable expectation to have my information when request in a reasonable time, to which Mozy replied:
?I'd like to draw your attention to the line in your email where you quoted "Mozy recovers your data and burns it to DVDs usually within 2-3 business days." This is true that usually it's 2 to 3 business days. However, nowhere in that line do we say that that time frame is a guarantee. We are working hard to give our customers the best service we can and would like to apologize again for the delay.
While we aren't obligated to offer such a refund, I decided to refund your cost because we highly value our customer satisfaction and because we want you to know that we're sympathetic to your situation.?
Subsequently, I received (via FedEx, 07.22.08) an Iomega drive that doesn?t work. The very nice customer service representative returned my email within 24 hours to indicate she is doing what she can to resolve the matter. In the meantime, I have no data. How many people can go over 30 days without data that they would otherwise expect delivered within a reasonable time? This raised the question, ?Who really owns information backed up,? for which a fee is being charged by a "provider" on a monthly basis to hold information that is not available?
During this process, I have complied correspondence to file a complaint with the BBB and Federal Trade Commission, and will be requesting from my bank a return of funds for services not delivered.
Now, to be fair, I did have a hard drive crash previously and Mozy was the provider which returned the data requested within a week, but now it appears they have a different timeline they feel comfortable with, however it has not disclosed in their policies.
Backup measures I am taking now are with Carbonite and Maxtor while I wait, and anticipate receiving in today's e-mail, "Thanks for using Mozy! Your credit card ending in XXXX was charged automatically $4.95 today for a monthly subscription to Mozy. Your card will be charged again on August 03, 2008 as long as you don't cancel
your subscription...Thank you! - The Mozy Team