On the desktop, Backblaze displays an icon in the notification tray. It gives you quick access to the Backblaze Control Panel, a shortcut to the website’s View/Restore Files section, and the option to inherit a backup state for new setups. Backblaze does not integrate with Windows’ File Explorer or macOS’s Finder, so you can’t right-click on a folder or file to quickly add it to your backup set. Carbonite Safe and IDrive both support this feature.
(Credit: Backblaze/PCMag)
The Backblaze interface is compact and well-organized, even if it doesn’t look as sleek as Acronis True Image or SpiderOak. I had no problem finding and changing individual settings. Note that Backblaze’s restore capabilities are only accessible via its web app. To configure your backup settings, open the Settings panel. The options include changing the backup device name and selecting which hard drives to back up.
In the Performance tab, you can manually set threading and throttling preferences, but most users should just leave it on the Automatic setting—unless you aren’t transferring a lot of data. Backblaze calculates how long it will take to back up the computer based on the last file transfer speed.
By default, backups in the Schedule tab are set to occur continuously. In other words, Backblaze monitors file changes and updates the stored version in real time. I prefer this method as it mitigates the risk of losing changes if a hard drive crashes before a scheduled backup. Alternatively, you can pick a time for a daily backup or set it to run only when you hit the Backup button. The latter two options are useful for people limited by system resources or bandwidth.
Here’s where things get a bit irritating. Instead of letting you select which folders to back up, Backblaze backs up everything by default, except for some system folders. You are responsible for excluding the files you do not want to include in your backup. No other service I’ve tested works this way. I prefer the flexibility of inclusion-based selection systems that let me select exactly what I want to upload. It’s tedious to manually exclude every file you don’t want backed up.
Backblaze’s back-up-everything approach doesn’t conflict with storage limits because it offers unlimited space. However, there’s one potential reason to slim down your selections: to conserve system resources and bandwidth, especially if you choose the continuous backup option.
Another related issue is that Backblaze’s backups mirror the structure of your hard drive, so seldom-used folders, such as ProgramData and Recovery, are backed up by default. I would rather Backblaze give me the option to narrow the initial backup selection to specific user folders.
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