The best online Backup Services

Data security is becoming increasingly important. You do not want to lose important documents, vacation photos, or carefully curated music collections and should therefore create local backups or make use of practical online services just in case you experience a system crash. Backing up data on the internet has several advantages:

• You can access your data from anywhere in the world, which is especially important for mobile devices.
• The service makes it easy for you to set up regular backups.
• Your files are safely stored in a professional data center, protected from theft, fire, or other sources of danger.
• If you also have all your data in the cloud, you can be much more relaxed when it comes to ransomware, since your data is safely stored in another location.

In recent years, the amount of online backup service providers available has increased. To know which of these providers is the right one for you, we will present several, highlight their advantages and disadvantages, and compare the different providers.

With IONOS Cloud Backup, you can back up all your data to just one provider – whether it’s a PC or a server, tablet or laptop, or even cloud infrastructure. With preconfigured backup agents, you can easily set up the various online backup measures, deciding when and how often the caching takes place, and how long they should be stored on IONOS servers. The incremental approach ensures that the online backup service always backs up the only data that is new or has changed since the last backup. If necessary, you can also compress the backups you have made to make the most of the available storage.

The fact that IONOS is one of the best online backup providers is due to the high-performance data centers, which are among the most secure in the world – with ISO certification, firewalls and the latest SIEM and IDS/IPS technology. Of course, both the data transfer, the backup server (SSL/TLS), and the backup data itself (256-bit AES) are encrypted. In terms of storage capacity, you as a customer have maximum freedom - as an alternative to fixed offers with 50, 100, or 250 GB of storage, you can also use the Flex plan, where you only have to pay for the storage space you need (per gigabyte) per month.

While the IONOS cloud backup is primarily aimed at large business customers, private users and SMEs will find MyDefender a great option for cloud storage. The simple management and setup stand out, making this a particularly user-friendly solution. Thanks to the web user interface, everything is easy to control and once set up, doesn’t require any complicated management. Online backups can be carried out automatically according to previously defined guidelines.

IONOS offers four different packages: 10 GB, 100 GB, 200 GB, or 500 GB. If you’re in need of yet more storage capacity, you can pay a small additional fee per GB per month. Contracts can be extended and canceled monthly, making it super easy to swap tariffs as and when needed.

Compatible operating systems are Windows, macOS, and iOS and Android on mobile. Windows users benefit from an additional backup service that includes protection against ransomware. During the upload, Windows data is checked for viruses to ensure all backups remain secure.

Similar to competitor products, IONOS MyDefender scores points with its high security standards. Servers are ISO-certified and operate according to European data protection principles. In general, data is encrypted via 256-bit AES.

When you choose to back up your data online with Carbonite, you won’t have to think about how much storage space you need. Instead, you select the different packages according to how many and which devices you want to back up. This means that the offer starts with one computer, then several computers, up to complete servers. Carbonite also offers even greater safety for major customers.

The service provider offers various extra packages. For SMEs, the option to backup Microsoft 365 data could be particularly interesting. All data generated by one of the programs in the suite are stored in the cloud. This makes it a useful backup, but also allows you to work from a wide variety of devices.

Carbonite provides software for Mac and Windows so that online backups can be created smoothly and automatically. The program automatically looks for newly created files within folders that have been added to the monitoring. There are also apps for iOS and Android that you can use to perform your data backup on the Internet.

Blackblaze also imposes no limits on its users – neither in storage, nor in file size. The vendor has software that either constantly monitors your computer and takes note of all changes directly or works according to a schedule that you set yourself. This automatically includes all files in the system, so you do not need to specify what you want to back up beforehand. You can also choose the upload speed yourself, or have it adjusted automatically if you don’t want to sacrifice your entire bandwidth for online backup. Blackblaze uses SSL and AES encryption. A two-factor authentication system is also built in.

Two special features make Blackblaze stand out: on the one hand, there are the self-built memory modules called Storage Pods. With the Storage Pods, the company creates their own hardware. The blueprints are open source and are freely available in the Blackblaze blog. Netflix, for example, has also started to build its memory storage units along the lines of Blackblaze. On the other hand, Blackblaze stands out from the cloud backup provider crowd with its method of data recovery. Of course, you can download your data as usual, but Blackblaze also offers to send you data in the form of a 256 GB flash memory or an 8 TB hard drive.

Despite what the name might suggest, IDrive has no affiliation with Apple products. The US-based company offers users a backup plan that can cover all devices with just one package. However, the required storage capacity for this needs to be selected in advance. In the private sector, you have the choice between 5 and 10 TB. In the unlimited free version, each user already has 5 GB at their disposal.

Software provides Drive for Windows, macOS, Linux (in the business segment), iOS, Android, and Windows Phone. What’s more, the company offers an offline storage option with IDrive Express. Large amounts of data can be stored on an external device that IDrive sends to users without burdening their internet connection. When you have completed the backup, return the device and the company will add the data to the backup online storage. This is particularly suitable for initial backups where the entire system must be stored.

Acronis offers a backup software for private customers that allows you to organize both local storage and online backup in the provider’s cloud. Between 500 GB and 5 TB are available, depending on which subscription you select. The company is therefore pursuing a 3-2-1 backup. This means that there is triple storage of all data on two different technologies, one of which should be external. For enterprise customers, Acronis even has on-site solutions that can be used in combination with a hybrid disaster recovery service, for example.

For at-home users, the software Acronis True Image also includes active protection against ransomware. A built-in artificial intelligence constantly monitors the system for suspicious activity and can warn you about different blackmail programs. The software also gives you the option of converting a complete backup to a virtual drive, subsequently creating a test environment where you can try out new software.

SugarSync goes beyond a standard online backup service. Aside from online backup, the service helps you synchronize files on all your devices. You select specific folders or have all folders monitored directly and backed up online. Any changes you make locally are also made in the cloud. This makes it possible to start a document on one device and finish it on another. This works with PC, Mac, iOS, and Android. Since all files are in the cloud, you can easily share them with friends or colleagues.

Individuals with just one user can choose between 100 GB, 250 GB, and 500 GB. Business customers can also register multiple users. Here, the storage capacity starts at 1 TB. All data is stored in the cloud with 256-bit AES and is transmitted exclusively through TLS, as is the case with most providers.

Each of the best online backup services has its advantages and disadvantages. We have summarized the most important information for you so that you can keep an overview.