Backblaze for Business Review
Pros
- Unlimited space
- Unthrottled uploads
- Ability to pay via check
- Simple payment model ($50 / computer / year)
Cons
- Minimum of five computers
- No server support (including SQL Server and Exchange Servers)
- No Administrative Console
- No mobile apps
Complete Review
Intro
Backblaze is known for being the simplest online backup solution available. You install it and... well, that's it. Backblaze for Business continues their tradition of simple online backups.
Deployment
Backblaze for Business is a domain site license. Once the account has been set up, a company simply has their employees visit backblaze.com/business-backup and install using their corporate email address. All computers are listed under one main account, which means the company's IT team that has access to this account and can perform restores on behalf of the end users.
Backup
Install Backblaze for Business on each client machine, and you're done. By default, everything is chosen to be backed up. Seeing as though they don't limit your upload speeds and each computer has unlimited backup space, this isn't a problem.
Backblaze backs up your data. This does not include your operating system, applications, or temporary files. By default, files over 4GB won't be backed up, but you can change that to include files up to 9GB.
NAS drives are not backed up. This is because someone could mount dozens of computers, and back them all up from 1 account.
At any time, if you want to exclude files from being backed up, you can do so.
Restore
Restoring files is also simple with Try Backblaze for Business now. Simply login to your account, select the files you want, and download them. If you have to restore more than a handful of files, you may want to use Backblaze's Downloader.
Remote Access
Remote access is an area where Backblaze is lacking. While you can login to their web interface and download the files you need, they do not at this time have apps for iPhone, Android, or other mobile users.
Administrative Console
A common feature for business or pro
online backups is an administrative console where an administrator can login and check on the status of all backups in the organization. However, this is a feature that Backblaze for Business is missing.
A similar, but not an equal, feature that Try Backblaze for Business now provides is weekly or monthly reports, emailed to the administrator. This report includes the last time a machine was backed up, the amount that's been backed up, and how much is remaining.
Support
Backblaze does not provide online chat or phone support, although considering how simple their product is, that might not be a big deal.
You can find answers to most questions from their FAQ, and if you're still having trouble, you can send them an email.
Summary
Backblaze for Business is identical to Backblaze's consumer product, with two additional features:
- Payment can be made by check
- Weekly / monthly reporting
If you're looking for an overview of the backup status via an online tool, you won't find it here. In addition, if you have to backup servers, you'll have to look elsewhere.
But if you have an army of Mac and Windows desktops and laptops to backup, and are looking for the simplicity of $50 / year / machine, Backblaze is right for you.
