Digital Home Thoughts: CrashPlan Offers Off-site Backup with No Monthly Fees

"Easy and Automatic - No buttons to push or CDs to burn. Simply install CrashPlan and it quietly runs in the background protecting your files without slowing you down. No Monthly Fees - With CrashPlan and your own destination, there are no fees or extra charges like other off-site backup products and no limits on how much you can back up. Off-site Security - Your files are encrypted, off-site and at multiple destinations of your choosing. Only off-site backup protects your files from theft, fire, and other local disasters. CrashPlan insures your privacy by encrypting your files before they are sent, keeping personal files personal. Cross Platform (Mac, PC, Linux) - CrashPlan gives you freedom in choosing your backup destinations. Back up your new Mac to your old PC, your laptop to a friend's desktop, whichever you want. Worried about using too much space on a friend's computer? No problem! CrashPlan will use an attached USB drive to hold your files."

Even the best laid backup plans often leave out the off-site backup component. This is especially true for home users. The off-site options out there have often had certain limitations. Most involve a monthly fee and require you to actually trust the company you are backing up to. My off-site plan has been to rotate USB drives to an off-site location once every few weeks along with daily at home backups within my network. For the importance I place on my data, I think this is adequate, but if your needs require something a little more robust and you have a friend you can backup to, a $24.99 one-time fee is all it takes.