Mozy Online Backup Review

Pros

• Fully automated back-ups of new and changed files
• File syncing service Mozy Stash is included with Home plans
• DVD restore option included with Home plans
• Mozy 2xProtect™ system creates local and offsite backup
• Data is completely encrypted during backup
• Free plan with 2GB of storage

Cons

• Cheapest plan offers only 50GB of space
• No phone support

Our Score

Ratings Ease of Use Features Warranty & Support Value overall

The Geek’s Take

Mozy Online Backup may only offer 50GB of storage with its basic plan, but throws in enough bells and whistles to make it worth your while. True, it may be a little more expensive than our Editors’ Choice winner Carbonite, but if features like data syncing, DVD recovery, and local backup are important to you and you’re okay without phone support, Mozy is the cloud-based online backup solution for you.

Full Review

Ease of Use

Mozy Online Backup makes backing up your data simple and easy. Initial setup involves signing up for an account, downloading the Mozy application, and following the step-by-step process of choosing which folders and files should be backed-up. The application will even scan your system to find groups of file types that need backing up. Mozy then does the rest, copying your files to the cloud, encrypting them for security, and storing them securely.

After that initial setup is complete, Mozy works in the background, syncing files you’ve edited and copying new files to your back up folders. You won’t even realize your data is being taken care of. It just will be automatically.

Should you need to, restoring files from the Mozy system takes just a few clicks. Perform a full system data restore of everything you’ve backed up, or pick and choose specific files or folders. You can even access your most critical files from any PC or mobile device, in case you can’t wait for the full restore.

Features

Where Mozy stands above is in the features offered even at the basic subscription levels.  Unless otherwise noted, all features outlined below are available with the $5.99/month basic Home subscription.

• Automated backup –  Like Carbonite, Mozy does its backing up automatically in the background. New and changed files are detected and backed up to the cloud automatically without hassle.
• Web/Mobile Access – Mozy lets you access to your files not only from any online computer, but from your mobile and tablet devices too
• DVD Recovery Option – For users with large recoveries, getting a hard disk of your files may be faster than downloading from the web. Unlike the competition, Mozy offers this feature with even their basic plans
• External Hard Drive backup – Mozy’s automated backup works with fixed external hard drives (not SD cards or USB thumb drives).
• Local backup via Mozy 2xProtect™ – this feature creates a backup on a local hard drive in addition to Mozy’s cloud-based servers. This means backups and recoveries are even faster more secure.
• Mozy Stash – Mozy’s file syncing solution to compete with the likes of Dropbox, Stash syncs files between computers, meaning you can work on the same files at home and work, without worrying about version problems. Learn More.

Support

Like the competition, Mozy offers an extensive knowledgebase of how to articles and videos to help get you set up and execute a recovery should the time come, along with US-based live chat and email support (although not with the free 2GB plan) if you need extra help. Unlike the competition, however, Mozy doesn’t offer phone support with its basic Home plans. For that, you’ll need their mid-tier MozyPro subscription level. Kind of lame, but at least the support is 24/7 when you get it.

Value

At the $5.99/month subscription level, MozyHome comes with 50GB of storage space. Plenty to cover all but the largest picture and music collections, but pretty paltry compared to the unlimited space of many competitors. $4 more a month does bump you up to 125GB if you think you need it, which in reality, is a ton of space for a backup. Still, this does put Mozy a bit more expensive than Carbonite’s basic subscription. Keep in mind though, for that extra cost, you do get the extra features with Mozy that you don’t with Carbonite, so it’s a bit of a tradeoff.

Summary

All of the backup solutions in our roundup will keep your data protected automatically and encrypted securely, but Mozy does it with a level of features the others don’t offer. You’ll pay a little more, and sacrifice storage space, but unless you have an extremely large backup, the additional features may be worth it. For us, Mozy falls just short of Carbonite, but is still a pretty impressive cloud-based backup solution.

Can’t decide on a cloud-based backup storage solution? Check out our handy comparison chart!

*Where does this rating come from? Check out How We Review

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