Update: There are many solutions to the backup problem. We chose to look at CrashPlan—rather than Carbonite, Mozy, Amanda Enterprise, KineticCloud, the Tivoli Storage Manager, and others that we researched—because CrashPlan offered both better pricing and a better feature set than its contemporaries. So we set out to compare CrashPlan's features to its most prominent competitors. While this isn't an in-depth technical evaluation of the service's operation, it should give you enough information to know whether it might solve your backup-related woes.

We've recently spent a fair amount of time talking about cloud syncing solutions for PCs and mobile devices. In addition to syncing files and data across multiple devices, these services also provide as much off-site backup as most home users need. But power users and businesses often need more control than the typical cloud sync service can offer—whether it’s over what data is backed up and how, which users can use the service, how that data is secured both in transmission and at rest, or any combination of those flavors of control.

For users and system administrators who are less worried about syncing and more worried about keeping their data safe, a cloud backup solution could be the answer. Among cloud backup solutions, CrashPlan is one of the most competitive, both in features and in pricing. For consumers and small businesses, CrashPlan offers a range of versatile and highly configurable products that can back up client data to CrashPlan's cloud servers without requiring users to pay for and maintain their own file servers or network-attached storage devices. Larger businesses and enterprises can also back data up to CrashPlan's cloud, but are given the added option of creating their own on-site backup servers, which should calm security hawks distrustful of using other companies' servers to store important or sensitive data.

CrashPlan basics

There are a couple of reasons why CrashPlan sticks out among other cloud-based backup services: the first is that it is one of only a few to offer any kind of Linux or Windows Phone support—both of these are sort of niche features, but if you need them, that requirement automatically disqualifies Carbonite, Mozy, and a few other names. The second is in its pricing per gigabyte (illustrated in the tables below) which is superior to its competition in most circumstances whether you're a home or business user.

Where it does fall short, however, is in support for server backups. While KineticCloud, Amanda Enterprise, and Symantec Backup Exec.cloud all offer some support for backup of specialized servers like Exchange (and some even offer real-time backup for SQL databases that are in active use, for example), CrashPlan by its own admission has issues backing up such files.

Though the details sometimes differ, all versions of CrashPlan operate in the same basic way: using client software installed on the computer you want to back up, you specify what files you'd like to back up and where you'd like to back them up to. All versions of CrashPlan can use CrashPlan's hosted servers, but other versions can also back up to locally hosted CrashPlan servers, external drives, or even other client computers. Once backed up, you can use the client to restore files and folders to your system.

CrashPlan clients are available for Windows, OS X, Linux, and Solaris operating systems. There are also apps available for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone that let you view and download any file stored on a CrashPlan server.

All versions of CrashPlan protect user data with client-side encryption. The paid plans encrypt files with 448-bit Blowfish encryption before transmission, and transmissions are protected by another layer of encryption. For CrashPlan+ and CrashPlanProE, that's 128-bit Blowfish; for CrashPlanPro, it's AES encryption. Users can specify their own passwords or 448-bit encryption keys from the client, meaning that no one at CrashPlan can actually access your data. The free version of CrashPlan uses (relatively) less-secure 128-bit Blowfish encryption to protect files.

CrashPlan also stands apart from other backup solutions through the power of its client software. Regular end-users can easily perform routine tasks like selecting files and folders for backup and restoration, but power users can also set their own encryption passwords, dictate how much network bandwidth and processor time the backup process can use when the computer is in active use and at idle, and even configure what networks the client can use for backup. You can get pretty specific with that last part—not only can you distinguish between different network media (wired Ethernet vs. WiFi or cellular, for example) but you can also choose between individual wireless networks (letting your computer back up while it's on your desk, but not while you're at Starbucks). The professional versions of CrashPlan also allow you to dictate default values for these settings.

Most backup clients either present a user interface that's so simple that it's restricting (like Dropbox), or so complicated that it's bewildering (like SpiderOak). CrashPlan does a good job of making user-facing functionality accessible while providing access to advanced options for power users and administrators.

In your home: CrashPlan and CrashPlan+

Product Supported clients Pricing CrashPlan+ Windows (XP and up), OS X (10.4 and up), Linux, Solaris, iOS, Android, Windows Phone 10GB, one computer: $2.50/month, $24.99/year, $44.99/2 years, $59.99/3 years, $69.99/4 years

Unlimited, one computer: $5.00/month or $49.99/year, $89.99/2 years, $119.99/3 years, $139.99/4 years

Unlimited, up to ten computers: $12.00/month or $119.99/year, $199.99/2 years, $269.99/3 years, $287.99/4 years Carbonite Windows (XP and up), OS X (10.5 and up, $59/year tier only), iOS, Android, BlackBerry Unlimited data, one computer plans with varying feature sets available for $59, $99, and $149 a year. Mozy Windows (XP and up), OS X (10.5 and up), iOS, Android 50GB, one computer: $5.99/month, $65.89/year, $125.79/2 years

125GB, three computers: $9.99/month, $109.89/year, $209.79/2 years

Add additional computers for $2 per month per computer

Add 20GB of space for $2 per month Dropbox Windows (XP and up), OS X (10.4 and up), Linux (Ubuntu/Debian, Fedora, source code available), iOS, Android, Blackberry 2GB: Free

50GB: $9.99/month or $99/year

100GB: $19.99/month or $199/year SugarSync Windows (XP and up), OS X (10.5 and up), iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile 5/6, Symbian 5GB: Free

30GB: $4.99/month or $49.99/year

60GB: $9.99/month or $99.99/year

100GB: $14.99/month or $149.99/year

500GB: $39.99/month or $399.99/year Box Windows (XP and up), OS X (10.6 and up), iOS, Android, BlackBerry 5GB: Free

25GB: $9.99/month

50GB: $19.99/month

Compared to competing home backup solutions like Carbonite and Mozy, CrashPlan+ comes out ahead in both pricing and supported platforms, with its one-year unlimited data plan undercutting all of Carbonite's unlimited data plan's and Mozy's 50GB plan. CrashPlan+ also supports both Linux and Solaris, while Carbonite and Mozy support just Windows and OS X (and Carbonite's OS X support, bizarrely, is limited to the bottom-tier plan).

In the home, CrashPlan+ is also competing not just with older offsite backup vendors like Carbonite and Mozy, but also newer cloud-based sync services like Dropbox, which I’ve included here for comparison. Higher pricing per gigabyte makes the sync services less appealing for use as backup destinations for large amounts of data, but they’re also more flexible when it comes to accessing your data from multiple devices—in other words, there’s plenty of room for overlap here.

CrashPlan+ comes in a few different varieties—10GB and unlimited storage options for individual users, or a family plan that offers unlimited storage for up to ten computers in the same household or family (there don’t appear to be any geographical restrictions, as long as everyone is using the same ID and password and you don’t go beyond ten computers). In addition to being able to use cloud storage, external drives, and your other computers for backups, the consumer version of CrashPlan will let you create your own personal “cloud” with other friends using CrashPlan. Using either codes or email invites, friends can set up one-way or two-way backups between their systems, gaining many of the benefits of off-site backups without requiring you to pay CrashPlan to use their cloud. The real-world usefulness of this feature will depend on the quality and quantity of your friends, but it’s an interesting addition I didn’t see in any other products.

The free version of CrashPlan strips the product of some of its most appealing features for home users—you can’t backup to CrashPlan’s cloud, and as we mentioned before, your data is encrypted with 128-bit Blowfish encryption before transmission rather than the 448-bit encryption used by the other products. You can still use it to store backups on external drives, your other computers, and your friends’ computers, so if your needs are simple you can still get by with it, but at that point it might be simpler to use built-in backup technologies like Windows Backup or Time Machine for simplicity’s sake.

Listing image by CrashPlan