Backblaze Review: The BEST Computer Backup Plan

There comes a point in everyone's life when they lose data. It may or may not have happened to you yet, but I can almost promise that your time will eventually come.

My most significant incident was when my Microsoft Surface Pro went to update and could not be turned back on due to hardware and software problems. Microsoft provided a free replacement even though it was not covered under warranty, but I did lose all my data. Funnily enough, after updating Windows, my next task was to back up all of my data off that device...

Many services and products exist to back up your data so that you don't lose it in the event of a hardware failure or software crash. Some of the simplest ones include Google Drive, copying files to an external drive, and even an Apple Time Capsule. There are more complicated ways of backing up this data, too, RSync paired with S3 cloud storage, storing all files on a NAS, and even copying all your data to a drive and having it shipped back to AWS and stored in the cloud for you (read more about this cool program here).

But those options aren't what we're here for. We're here to talk about the easiest and best way to back up ALL your essential documents, pictures, and other files, whether you're on a Mac or Windows computer: Backblaze Computer Backup. For only $9/month, ALL of your files can be backed up securely, quickly, and efficiently with no limit to the number or size of files you store.

Backblaze has a simple and intuitive control panel where you can quickly see all the computers' statuses, how many files they are storing, and when the most recent backup occurred. You are also able to change version history and select files to restore!

Version history allows a copy of every changed file to be stored for at least 30 days since the first upload. For example, if I create a file, upload it, and then accidentally delete it on my computer, as long as I restore it from Backblaze in 30 days, they will retain a copy for me.

There are paid options to increase this time to one year or forever. Forever stores the files in the computer backup dashboard for one year and then transfers them to a B2 storage bucket afterward for permanent storage, which incurs a fee of $0.005/GB/Month, which is one of the lowest in the industry!

All of this backing-up ease is great, but how do you exactly get your data back when something goes wrong with your computer?

In the restore menu, there are three options to retrieve your data. The first allows you to download your files in one (or a couple) big ZIP files for free. The "Save Files to B2" option takes those big zip files you would download and saves them to a B2 bucket for as long as you want to keep them. This option effectively takes a snapshot of your current backup and saves it as a copy in a different location. The third option lets you access your files on a hard drive overnight shipped to your address. This option is fantastic, combined with their Restore Refund program. This allows you to restore your data via a hard drive and then return the drive within 30 days, making this retrieval effectively free! The only cost you have to pay is return shipping back to Backblaze, but this can be the cheapest tracked shipping from UPS, FedEx, or USPS for less than $10. Be aware that you can restore your data as many times as you want per year (paying $189 each time), but you can only return five drives per calendar year.

This allows for easy retrieval of data too large to download over the internet.

So, the question remains: Will I continue to pay for this service and recommend it to others? Yes!

This is the best way I have found to keep all of my data safe with no data limits and easy retrieval.

You can sign up for a free trial using this link to try it out!

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