I’m a big fan of Mozy backup. I use it on my personal server to protect and secure all my personal files (read more about my home setup here), I recommend it to all my home/small office clients, and I install Mozy Pro on most of the servers I maintain. It pretty much runs automatically and its just “set it and forget it”, except for a couple of reasons, which you should keep an eye out for.

Windows Temp Files

Mozy uses the default Windows temp files to store files while they are being compressed/encrypted and transfered. The only problem with this is that I usually configure servers with 2 partitions (on a RAID 5). A C: partition with Windows and a D: partition with everthing else. I usually allocate about 10-20 GB for Windows and the rest for the D partition. The problem is this is that Mozy can end up eating up all of your C: drive, and pretty much locking up the server. To avoid this, I create 4 temp folders on the D: drive, then I change the environmental paths for the system temp files by right clicking on My PC, Properties, Advanced Tab, then Environmental Variables. After I’m done changing the variables, I restart the computer.

Mandatory Upgrades

You should check in with Mozy every once in a while, read their emails (they don’t come often), and probably read their newsletter to stay informed with the company who hold your data, and most importantly because of mandatory upgrades. Mozy sends out emails weeks in advance instructing users to upgrade to the latest version of their software or backups won’t be performed after a certain date. You should not ignore these emails, that is, if you still want your data to be backed up. Updating the software is simple enough, its just a matter of running the installer again. All your settings and preferences are kept.

In my opinion, Mozy is the best solution out there for those who want to protect their data at a very reasonable price. The software installs easily and in just minutes it can start backing up your data to their redundant, secure off-site servers. Mozy home (installable on OS X, Windows XP Home and Pro and all flavors of Vista) is just $5 a month for unlimited data. Yes, unlimited data. 5 GB or 500 GB.

Mozy Pro (installable on Windows XP+, including server editions, is about $4 per server plus $0.50 per GB a month , which is a very good deal for a HIPAA compliant backup solution. If you’re interested in trying out Mozy, remember, your first 2GB are free to backup, and after that, its just $5 for piece of mind. Click here to check them out