I thought I'd take a few moments and talk about Carbonite.  However, but we talk about that software specifically, lets talk about a more generic problem.  Most everyone has things on their computer that they definitely do not want to lose.  Whether that be family photos, tax documents, homework or that code you've been working on its a real pain the butt if you lost them.  So what do most people do?  They burn a copy to CD or DVD and stick it on a shelf somewhere and forget to update it regularly.  Or they buy an external hard drive and backup things to it, occasionally, again forgetting to update that regularly as well.  So let's assume you are one of those methodical people who regularly perform backups to CD/DVD or an external hard disk.  That's great but your data still isn't protected.  So what is the best solution to regularly back up your data so its safe from not only computer failure, but catastrophic failure like your house burning down? Carbonite.

Last year or so, I discovered an online backup software program called Carbonite.  So what makes this software awesome? I'd thought you'd never ask.  For starters, all my information is stored on their servers.  Meaning in the event of a fire, I still have my data.  Secondly, it monitors the files and directories I tell it to and detects changes in real time.  This is absolutely a killer feature, because the largest amount of data I could lose would be the amount of data that hasn't yet been uploaded to their servers after the save starting at the failure.  Third, they don't place an upper limit on the amount of data you can back up.  They do mention on their site, that the limit is really set by your ISP and the limits of your upload speeds.  However, I believe I have upwards of 30 gigabytes backed up and never have a problem, but I'm not changing gigs of data every single day either.  Fourth and the best reason, price.  Its only 55 buck for a one year subscription or 100 for a two year subscription.  For my money and time, that is a price you simple can't beat.  Fifth, security.  Carbonite stores your files encrypted and they encrypt them twice prior to storage so you can rest assured those embarressing Christmas photos will not get leaked out to the internet.  I have also recently discovered a new reason to love Carbonite and that is for setting up a new computer.  I recently purchased a new computer and was transferring my iTunes music manually when I realized I could simply restore the files from my Carbonite backup, which I needed to transfer to my new computer anways.  Let me tell you, the transfer of data is much, much easier with Carbonite.  I simply pick the files I want from the Carbonite backup and tell it where to put them and wait.  As of this writing, it has restored almost 900 files with another 250 or so to go. 

So whats the moral of the story?  Get out there and find an online backup solution that fits you and your particular needs.  However, I doubt you'd find a better deal than Carbonite.