Carbonite Business Review
carbonite.com/en/business/data-backup
Our Rating:
Reviewed Mar 8, 2011
User Rating
Rate Carbonite Business: |
| Tweet |
Pros
- Valet Setup service
- Anytime Anywhere access to your data
- No
per-computer
licensing fees - Free 30-day trial
Cons
- No unlimited option
- Can be costly for companies with lots of data
Complete Review
Intro
Carbonite's Small Business and Premier Business backup differ from their home-user product in that you buy a fixed amount of backup space, but share that amongst unlimited computers.
Deployment
Once you've signed up for Carbonite's Small Business backup, you can start inviting users to download the software to backup their computers. Installation takes about 10 minutes per machine and does not require users to close their open applications or restart their computer. Most of the default settings are fine for the majority of small business operations.
However, if you need help, Carbonite can remotely access your computer and install the software for you (they call it Valet Setup).
Backup
With Carbonite Small Business backup, your computer will automatically and continuously be backed up to Carbonite's data center in "the cloud." Carbonite will automatically back up
- Documents
- Spreadsheets
- POS files
- Pictures, photos & graphics
- Videos
- Financial & accounting files
- CRM files
- and more
All files of these types that are saved in the Users folder will be backed up automatically. If there's a file you want backed up that's not in the User's folder, you'll have to add it manually.
Like all online backup services, Carbonite Small Business does not back up applications and operating system files.
If you wish to backup SQL Server or Exchange Server data, you need to first purchase Carbonite's Business Premier service, then read how to backup SQL Server and how to backup Exchange email with Carbonite.
Unlike their home product, with the small business backup you can back up external hard drives.
Restore
You can easily restore your data with Carbonite Small Businesses backup by using the client software, or by logging into the Carbonite website. Carbonite will keep deleted files for 30 days. During that time, you can access the files either via the client software or Carbonite.com website and have them downloaded back to your computer.
If you have to do a full restore, ordering a hard drive may be a time-saving move. Carbonite Business customers can have a copy of their backup shipped to them on an external hard drive.
Remote Access
Carbonite is a leader in mobile access to your data, and with their Anytime Anywhere apps available for iPhones, iPads, Android and Blackberry phones, you will have access to your backed up data anywhere you have an Internet connection.
Administrative Console
Carbonite's Dashboard allows you to quickly see the backup status of your company's computers. You'll be able to see how much space the entire company is using, how many computers each employee is backing up, how much space each employee is using, and when their last backup was successfully completed.
The Dashboard will also notify you if you're about to run out of backup space, or if a computer hasn't successfully backed up in some time. This is also the spot where you can invite users to download and install Carbonite on their own computer.
Support
Carbonite's business backup support is US-based, available 8am to midnight EST via phone, online chat & email. In addition to this, they also offer a support center which offers video tutorials, how-to guides and troubleshooting tips.
Summary
Carbonite's Small Business backup system costs $229 / year for 250GB of backup space, or $599 / year for their Business Premier package, which includes 500 GB of backup space and can handle Microsoft Windows Server backups. Additional storage is $46 / year for 50GB, or $89 / year for 100 GB.
Comments
Review by Online Backups Review
