Today I signed up for and installed Carbonite Online PC Backup on my HP notebook. This backup and recovery software is unlike the traditional backup-to-disk ones because it isn't just software but a service as well and backup is done over to Internet to secured remote servers (that aren't even mine).

I have to say that this is quite a novel idea. Previously I use EMC Retrospect and have my files shipped off to an external Maxtor 300GB harddisk. It was a fine solution as long as I remember to plug the USB cable in when I reach home. I guess this solution is much better for desktops than laptops.

My favourite thing about Carbonite is actually the "set and forget" nature of it. Installation is just a single wizard-driven setup executable and an online registration. After which you pick the files you want to back up (by default its My Documents and Desktop) and bob's your uncle! Backup is done is the background over your broadband connection and it picks up when you're computer's idle and slows down when you're working.

The only things to grapple with here is trusting these servers and the time it takes to backup and restore. It will take a few days to backup all my data (excluding programs) but once that is done, it is only incremental backups that take place. A complete restore will take about half that time depending on the speed of your broadband connection's downstream.

Apparently disk space is unlimited and the service will cost you US$49.95/year. I'm running a 3 month trial now, so I'll decide if I want to pay by September.

Next step, get my mum on it so I don't have to play tech support when things go wrong.

Screenshots: Above these two screens pop up upon successful installation for further customisation. Below the dots that appear on the files indicate their status of back up.