Carbonite Review
Carbonite is a well-known cloud storage provider that has been around for quite some time. Founded in 2005 in Boston, Massachusetts, Carbonite exploded onto the scene with some of the best deals consumers could find in the industry. They now tout over 400 talented employees who have certainly helped maintain their presence as an industry leader through offering quality features and best in class security. While the competition has become stiff in recent years, Carbonite was one of the first cloud storage services to cater to both businesses and individuals alike.
Features
Since Carbonite was one of the first providers to cater to both businesses and individuals, they needed to build out some nice features from the beginning. While they haven’t truly upgraded these since then, Carbonite is still known for offering competitive features. Everything you need is covered by their wide range of features. Some of their key features are:
- Unlimited cloud storage space
- Automatic, scheduled or selective backups
- Recovery via mail
- Mirror image backup
- Supports: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS
- File sharing (via mobile)
- Full restore
- File Manager
- File versioning
- Geo-redundant storage
We would also like to point out Carbonite’s backup process. While this would generally fall under the ease of use category, we feel Carbonite put a lot of effort into making the backup process more feature-like.
Carbonite Backup Process
Ease of Use
To be honest, Carbonite is not anything extraordinary when it comes to ease of use. Almost all cloud storage providers cater to individuals and therefore the installation process needs to be quick and easy. The user interface needs to be easily accessible and usable as well. Carbonite has done a good job of this but do not expect anything fancy. It is downright simple, and in fact, it is excellent for a beginner. One outstanding factor regarding the installation process is that the Carbonite download does not annoy you with any pop ups like most other providers.
In regard to storing your files: Carobonite makes this as intuitive as any other provider. However, they really impress with their restore option. Many customers who have lost their entire computer to corruption will find that Carbonite offers the easiest restoration process available. It is a simple 1, 2, 3 process. Literally.
Carbonite Restore Manager
Pricing
We generally like companies that offer a limited amount of payment options. 1) it is less likely for hidden fees. 2) it does not overwhelm the customer. However, Carbonite offers a wide variety of payment plans. That said, we understand why. After all, it was Carbonite who needed to cater to both individuals and businesses alike. Therefore, having an array of payment plans was a necessity. We can’t possibly cover all of the payment plans offered by Carbonite however here are the ones we feel offer the best value and are most relevant. For $5/month, an individual receives the unlimited cloud storage plan. For $229.99/year, businesses receive unlimited computers for employees. What is notable is that these plans are HIPPA compliant.
Security
One area of Carbonite’s service that we are particularly fond of is their security. All files are protected by 128-bit blowfish encryption. For the transfer process? Your files are protected by 128-bit SSL encryption – the same encryption used by large financial organizations. Moreover, Carbonite has multiple data centers throughout the US. If one server goes down, the others are there to protect your data. Lastly, each data center is protected by high level security procedures.
Customer Support
Carbonite’s customer support is near perfect. The only quarrel we had with it was that it is not 24/7. However, they rate in the top three in our opinion. They offer email, phone AND live chat customer support (yes, we love live chat). There businesses hours are 7 days a week 8:30AM-9PM (except US holidays). They also run an up to date blog and of course you have access to them through social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Lastly, Carbonite offers a wonderfully laid out and helpful FAQ section should you need immediate assistance.
Summary
If you are looking for a recognized cloud storage brand, Carbonite is a great choice. While it seems they cater more towards businesses now, they are still a top destination for individual storage users. They offer a nice range of features and their $5/month pricing is one of the lowest you will find. Overall and especially value wise, Carbonite is a great choice for all of your data storage needs.
