Preserving your e-books: Free backup service could help
You can’t own e-books for real—at least not if you suffer a hard disk crash and your faves vanish. Oh, and how about another kind of crash, the eBookAd kind? Just how safe is your online book locker?
And so I’m delighted to learn of the Mozy service for online backups through the Net. Up to 2G of storage is free for personal use, and you can buy unlimited storage for $4.95 a month. Walt Mossberg has the details. A similar service, Carbonite, exists, but Mossberg prefers to Mozy around since the related software is more flexible.
Important caveats: Don’t trust even Mozy in full; consider other backup options as well. Also beware of DRM schemes that might interfere with recovery of lost books. Don’t rely on Mozy or similar services without testing them in advance. And remember: DRM comes with a host of other negative issues, too, for e-bookers interested in long-term ownership.
December 27th, 2006 at 9:39 am
Good article. I’m suspicious of free services; you can’t really rely on them to provide support if needed. I had that issue with yahoo mail. What if for some reason or another my email account was accidentally deleted? Yahoo really doesn’t have responsibility or obligations unless you are paying for the account. I’d pay $50 a year just for the peace of mind.
December 27th, 2006 at 10:14 am
There are many more such services, so shop around. Even my ISP now provides a secure space I can use for back-ups.
You always need to store one back-up copy off-site, and professional back-up services are at least in theory as useful as any other off-site location you might find.
December 27th, 2006 at 5:20 pm
Mozy also has a paid option, if that’s what makes you feel more at ease.
I use the free option and I love it! Of course I also make regular backups on an external usb drive so I am not 100% depending on Mozy.