Options regarding “CrashPlan for Home” closure (my research so far)

[Hazimil]

As we now know, "CrashPlan for Home" ($60/month) is now being discontinued. So what are our options moving forward?

As I need to look into my options, I have done some quick research, and thought I share it here.

Please Note: I have no ties to any of the companies!

Migrate to a CrashPlan for Small Business ($10/month per device)
Pro: No need to install any different software (account change forces internal update to the client)
Pro: Works exactly the same as you are used to
Pro: Unlimited file versioning
Pro: Unlimited protection for deleted files (i.e. never removed)
Pro: NAS counts as “one device”
Pro: Unlimited storage
Con: Will only migrate up-to 5TB of data, so if you have more on your NAS you need to restart the whole backup afresh
Con: Only new/updated backups support the new AES-256 encryption, historical stuff stays on Blowfish encryption
Con: No more computer to computer backups (or computer to NAS backups), but you could replicate this with other free products

Carbonite ($59.99/year -> $149.99/year)
Pro: Unlimited storage
Con: Need to back-up everything again
Con: Basic tier doesn’t automatically backup Videos
Con: Large files (4GB+) must be manually added to backup
Con: No **NIX client, Windows only
Con: Limits backup files to anything under the windows "Users" folders, so will need “tweaking” to work on NAS (in a Windows VM)
Con: Only 3 months of file versioning
Con: Only 30 days protection for deleted files

BackBlaze ($50/year)
Pro: Unlimited storage
Con: Need to back-up everything again
Con: Network drives (NAS drives) or folders shared from another computer not supported (but might be “tweakable” into a VM like we do with CrashPlan)
Con: Limits what file-type can be backed-up
Con: No **NIX client
Con: Only 30 days of file versioning
Con: Only 30 day protection for deleted files

BackBlaze B2 ($0.005/GB/month & $0.02/GB download charge)
Con: Need to back-up everything again
Con: Need to use 3rd-party apps to back-up the data
Con: It’s a on-demand sync-copy, no file versioning/deleted file protection
Con: Download charge

Tarsnap ($0.25/GB storage/month & $0.25/GB bandwidth usage)
Pro: Supports FreeBSD (so should be simple to put in a Jail)
Pro&Con: Works by creating separate archives for each backup you do, thus some file deletion/retention based on how often you run your backup scripts.
Con: Need to back-up everything again
Con: There is no graphical user interface, CLI only
Con: Need to be confident using shell scripts and CLI within FreeBSD
Con: No "live monitoring" of files

iDrive (Free -> $74.62/year)
Pro: 5GB Free
Pro: Supports **NIX (see Con)
Con: Need to back-up everything again
Con: Storage is priced on a tiered basis, 2TB ($52.12/year), 5TB ($74.62/year) [can't see prices for higher tiers]
Con: For **NIX use you need to use a bundle of perl scripts (no client software)

SOS Online Backup ($44.99/year -> $2,999.99/year)
Pro: Unlimited protection for deleted files (i.e. never removed)
Pro: Unlimited file versioning
Pro?: NAS Support in "Home" version (but via network sharing to client PC)
Con: Need to back-up everything again
Con: No **NIX client (but can backup via network shares....)
Con: Expensive! 50GB storage ($44.99/year) to 10TB storage ($2,999.99/year)

ElephantDrive (Free -> $9.95/month per TB)
Pro: 2GB free
Pro: Configurable file versioning control
Pro: Configurable delete files control
Pro: NAS support (Con: not FreeNAS)
Con: Need to back-up everything again
Con: No **NIX client
Con: Gets expensive for large storage (many TB) needs
Con: 2GB limit on large file size

Jungle Disk ($5/month per server then $0.15/GB per month for storage)
Pro: Supports **NIX
Pro: Supports servers
Con: Need to back-up everything again
Con: Minimal charge of $8/month per customer (so one server = $8/month)
Con: Large storage (i.e. TBs) gets expensive, i.e. 2TB = $300/month

OpenDrive ($9.95/month)
Pro: 5 GB free
Pro: Unlimited storage
Pro: File versioning
Pro?: Can map a Linux drive via WebDAV to the cloud (script backups?)
Con: Need to back-up everything again
Con: No **NIX client
Con: Bandwidth limitations

Jottacloud (€7.5/month)
Pro: Unlimited storage
Pro: Supports NAS (but has to be done via Client on windows PC, but might be “tweakable” into a VM like we do with CrashPlan)
Con: Need to back-up everything again
Con: Limited file versioning (last 5 copies only)
Con: Only 30 day protection for deleted files

Other Options
I have tried to look for like-for-like options compare to CrashPlan for Home as thats what I am personally looking for. However another option is to just get some simple cloud storage, for example Google Cloud Storage, Dropbox, Google Drive, SpiderOak, Backblaze B2, Amazon S3, etc., and then use some software like RClone, Duplicati, GoodSync, Syncovery, Arq, etc. to backup your data. For this you need to do your own research I'm afraid, as Its not an option I'm looking at.

Conclusion so far:
I have decided to migrate to the "CrashPlan for Small Business" edition, as it still does everything I need. OK, it will cost an extra $60/year (excluding the short-term discounts), but $10/month is still cheap for protecting my NAS data.

I hope you found this useful?

Yours
Jonathan

 

[Tim1962]

Thanks for sharing your research/effort etc...

you say works exactly as before

Migrate to a CrashPlan for Small Business ($10/month per device)
Pro: No need to install any different software
Pro: Works exactly the same as you are used to

I think you need new software but its seamless

However it doesn't do computer to computer any more, only to attached drives. Not sure the position of backing up to NAS drives though... (I always struggled with that on CP Home though already)

Would make great resource when you are done, thanks

 

[Hazimil]

I think you need new software but its seamless

According to Code42 "The account conversion process automatically updates the CrashPlan app on your computers. Instead of the green-themed CrashPlan for Home branding, you'll see the blue-themed CrashPlan for Small Business branding."

However it doesn't do computer to computer any more

Updated

Thanks.
Jonathan

 

[adrianwi]

Thanks for the comprehensive roundup! Although I've still got about 9 months to change my mind, at this point I think I will just migrate across to the Small Business plan. First year will only cost $30 (if I'm calculating their 75% discount correctly) and $120 thereafter. I always thought the $60 annual price tag for CrashPlan was pretty cheap, given I'm using over 4TB of storage, and since running it through a CentOS VM on FreeNAS its worked perfectly.

Still time to change my mind, but at the minute that's where I'm heading....

 

[fracai]

B2, Glacier, etc. are decent options, but they also require 3rd party software. Should we add a section here for evaluating those software options? Or create a new post?
I've started looking at:
Duplicacy
Dupliciti
Duplicati
Borgbackup
Attic
Restic

 

[mOjOmadness]

Any plan on adding a list of free services here?

 

[fracai]

Any plan on adding a list of free services here?

I don't think such a thing exists. While there is certainly free software for performing remote backups, I don't think you're going to find anything that provides free storage space of any significant volume.

B2 does provide 10GB free with each account, but that's not going to cover much.

 

[danb35]

Pretty much any cloud storage can be used with rclone; probably the bang-for-buck winner is Google Drive. You can buy legitimate unlimited-storage accounts from authorized resellers for $10/mo ($120/yr) (and (probably) less-legitimate "lifetime" accounts off eBay for a one-time cost in the low double digits). Supports any computer/OS rclone will run on (most *nix varieties and Windows). Encryption at your option, with keys stored locally. Don't really even need a jail to run it.

Edit: I'm currently a little over 4 TB in my encrypted Google Drive storage with rclone.

 

[Hazimil]

B2, Glacier, etc. are decent options, but they also require 3rd party software. Should we add a section here for evaluating those software options? Or create a new post?
I've started looking at:
Duplicacy
Dupliciti
Duplicati
Borgbackup
Attic
Restic

Hi, happy for someone to do the work on that :) - it's not an area I'm interested in so not something I would want to spend time looking into, sorry.

Any plan on adding a list of free services here?

Not really many "free" options out there, a few services offer limited storage (but not enough for NAS users), however there are numerous free/opensourced software packages to backup your data to your own cloud subscription. Just google it :)

I have "finished" my research for now, and plan to migrate to the CrashPlan for Small Business option. Lets see how that goes (as I can still change my mind later!).

Jonathan

 

[nello]

Con: No more computer to computer backups (or computer to NAS backups), but you could replicate this with other free products

I want to offer remote backup from desktops/laptops (multiple sources) to my FreeNAS (single, remote destination) over the Internet.

What "free products" replicate CrashPlan's "computer-to-computer" backup feature?

 

[danb35]

What "free products" replicate CrashPlan's "computer-to-computer" backup feature?

Urbackup. Though your remote users would need your public IP address, and you'd need to forward a port to the Urbackup jail.

 

[nello]

Urbackup

Cool, there are even instructions on how to run it in a FreeNAS Jail:
https://www.urbackup.org/freenasserverinstall.html

 

[nickt]

Beside being quite irritated that the Crashplan "home closure" is a thinly veiled price increase, it seems that the upgrade to Crashplan Small Business is the best choice for me. Ho hum.

Thinking about the comment from Code42 that:

"The account conversion process automatically updates the CrashPlan app on your computers. Instead of the green-themed CrashPlan for Home branding, you'll see the blue-themed CrashPlan for Small Business branding."

I am wondering just how "automatic" the process actually is for a FreeNAS jail user.

I'm sure we've all had the experience of "automatic" upgrades to the CrashPlan client in a FreeNAS jail are anything but smooth (although we've all got rather good at doing them manually!!).

So my question: has anyone been through the "automatic conversion process"? Did it make merry hell with your existing FreeNAS jail based client? Or was it actually painless?

Thanks,

Nick

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

BackBlaze B2 ($0.005/GB/month & $0.02/GB download charge)
Con: It’s a on-demand sync-copy, no file versioning/deleted file protection

Actually, B2 has built-in per-bucket lifecycle settings, aside from what the 3rd-party integrations offer (see below).

Con: Download charge

Well, you can have them mail you your data in a pinch.

I want to offer remote backup from desktops/laptops (multiple sources) to my FreeNAS (single, remote destination) over the Internet.

What "free products" replicate CrashPlan's "computer-to-computer" backup feature?

I know of two options, one 'free for now' and one very inexpensive. Specifically, HashBackup and Arq Backup are full-featured backup apps, both able to backup to an SFTP destination, i.e. they will work over the internet if your NAS is listening for public SSH connections. You would need a static IP address or a dynamic DNS service so the clients could find the NAS.

As a bonus, both apps are multi-destination-capable and integrate with many cloud storage services.

I'm a user of both apps, though I don't send from remote clients to the NAS, only via LAN:

• The NAS pulls from each client via rsync.
• The NAS backs up to B2 using HashBackup (de-duplication across all clients FTW).
• Each client backs up to Amazon Cloud Drive using Arq Backup.
• Each client backs up to a portable USB drive via Time Machine (bonus - Time Machine backups on external drives are bootable).

Thus, two onsite and two cloud backups of everything I care about.

 

[Ericloewe]

rsync.net supports ZFS replication, but is on the expensive side.

 

[Ericloewe]

Another service that may be of interest:

https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...lnode-com-to-freenas-users.47842/#post-403457

 

[bbabich]

B2, Glacier, etc. are decent options, but they also require 3rd party software. Should we add a section here for evaluating those software options? Or create a new post?
I've started looking at:
Duplicacy
Dupliciti
Duplicati
Borgbackup
Attic
Restic

+1 for https://www.duplicati.com/ - Seems to work a bit more reliably than TimeMachine on our OSX boxen when regularly off-net...

 

[bbabich]

Has anyone considered Sia? http://sia.tech/

Also, for those putting data 'out in the cloud', how much usually ends out 'up there'? Seems a few TB isn't uncommon...

 

[fracai]

Sia is ... interesting.
My reading is that it's a cooperative storage cloud, a mashup of BitCoin and BitTorrent. This is attractive in that it sounds like it should really drive costs down, but I can only find really rough estimates of how much that cost actually is. The site has costs for storage and download at $2/TB/month for storage and $1/TB/month download. They compare this to S3 as being a tremendous cost savings, but I can't tell if these are tiers or can be divided out to a rate per byte. Plus, I've seen a few references to the price changing, sometimes dramatically. I suppose this is to be expected with a crypto currency, but that doesn't suggest the stability I'd be looking for.
They've been around since 2015, so I'm guessing that this is mostly just unfamiliarity on my part with how the pricing works out. I also haven't seen how any of the software options would set Sia as a target. Or if their own software supports incremental backup.

 

[adrianwi]

Well, I had another look at the CrashPlan Pro offer and migrating basically extends your current home subscription and then give you 75% discount (so $2.50/month) for the first year and then $10/month thereafter.

My subscription was through to 21/04/18, so only $30 through to April 2019 seemed like too good a deal to refuse.

Migration was painless, and by clicking the button in the e-mail, signing in and accepting some terms, everything else was automatic. When I logged into my VM running CrashPlan I noticed CrashPlan had shutdown and the desktop icon was named CrashPlan Pro. When I launched it it was blue instead of green (with a few less options for computer-computer backups) and it had started a scan of my existing backup.

It's still running, but hopefully tomorrow everything will be in sync and I'm good for another 18 months at least. Will have another look at things then, but assuming it continues to work without any issues, I don't think $120/year is bad for a 4.2TB (and growing) offsite backup.

UPDATE - yes, all up to date on the Small Business version! If you're looking for the simplest option, I suspect this is it, and actually cheaper for the first 12 months.