Backblaze for Mac

Backblaze has opened its $5-per-month backup service to Macs, touting simplicity and automatic support for external hard drives. The service is said to use military-grade encryption, and offer emergency overnight back-ups on USB hard drives or DVDs. In a field crowded with competitors such as Mozy, Carbonite and iDrive, Backblaze is banking on its "effortless" client, which backs up critical files whenever it detects an active Internet connection. All files are selected automatically, except for the operating system, applications, temporary files and any over 4GB.

Recent beta testing is said to have prompted the company to make improvements to the client software, including a new interface that monitors backup of USB, FireWire, Boot Camp and Time Machine external drives.

Users can browse backed-up files and choose to restore a single file or a group of them all at once. All data is sent over an encrypted connection, and stored in encrypted form; users have the option of choosing their own encryption key, not available to Backblaze staff. The service works with Intel-based Macs running OS X 10.4 or higher. The $5 monthly fee applies per computer but provides unlimited transfers.

by MacNN Staff