[SOLVED] I have some questions about Backblaze cloud backup ?

WrongRookie

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Oct 23, 2020
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So my cousin suggested to use Backblaze for backing up my stuff for long term and now I have subscribed to a one year plan to back up my stuff. The thing however I'm not able to understand is why Backblaze needs to backup the C: Drive? I don't have anything important there except windows and apps that install to C by default.

The other thing I'm not able to understand is that they stated that it cannot be as a secondary storage and for whatever reason, you must insert external drives to it so that it can be backed up from those drives. What happens when those external drives fail? What happens if I run out of USB ports to insert additional drives that I need more data to be sent there?

Is their unlimited data storage really unlimited? This right now is not something I'm able to understand.
 
Solution
Backblaze just backs up everything. Rather than depending on the user to choose what to backup and missing something. When you restore. You can just limit it to what you need.

You can't use Backblaze as secondary storage. Because they are a backup service. Not a cloud storage or sync service. You backup data and have to wait for restore images to build. Making it useless for regular cloud storage.

They aren't an archival storage service, just a backup service. That means they will only keep backups of your current state. That is data of drives currently connected. Once you delete a file or disconnect a drive. The clock starts ticking. That data will be removed from the cloud after 30 days (365 with a plan upgrade). The only time the...
Backblaze just backs up everything. Rather than depending on the user to choose what to backup and missing something. When you restore. You can just limit it to what you need.

You can't use Backblaze as secondary storage. Because they are a backup service. Not a cloud storage or sync service. You backup data and have to wait for restore images to build. Making it useless for regular cloud storage.

They aren't an archival storage service, just a backup service. That means they will only keep backups of your current state. That is data of drives currently connected. Once you delete a file or disconnect a drive. The clock starts ticking. That data will be removed from the cloud after 30 days (365 with a plan upgrade). The only time the timer doesn't countdown is if the computer is offline. They'll save the last connected state until the computer reconnects, you delete the backup or stop paying.

Why don't they keep disconnected drives backed up forever? Because they wouldn't be so cheap if they did. Too many people and companies would abuse the service if they did that. By using it as a cheap unlimited archive.
 
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Solution

WrongRookie

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Oct 23, 2020
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Backblaze just backs up everything. Rather than depending on the user to choose what to backup and missing something. When you restore. You can just limit it to what you need.

You can't use Backblaze as secondary storage. Because they are a backup service. Not a cloud storage or sync service. You backup data and have to wait for restore images to build. Making it useless for regular cloud storage.

They aren't an archival storage service, just a backup service. That means they will only keep backups of your current state. That is data of drives currently connected. Once you delete a file or disconnect a drive. The clock starts ticking. That data will be removed from the cloud after 30 days (365 with a plan upgrade). The only time the timer doesn't countdown is if the computer is offline. They'll save the last connected state until the computer reconnects, you delete the backup or stop paying.

Why don't they keep disconnected drives backed up forever? Because they wouldn't be so cheap if they did. Too many people and companies would abuse the service if they did that. By using it as a cheap unlimited archive.

...I suppose that has its uses. After all, if my drives fail, it counts as a safety measure of backup.

But thanks for the answer. Guess I'll need more storage.
 

WanderMoon

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Dec 31, 2015
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The only time the timer doesn't countdown is if the computer is offline. They'll save the last connected state until the computer reconnects

question about this don't want to highjack thread....sorry....

but what if you backed up than used a vpn to change your ip and block whatever background process backblaze uses to do its backups from accessing the internet?

or what if you do the back up with like a docking bay via an extra laptop or perhaps a 2nd computer or a mothball?

would that be able to extend the count down clock? i think if you did a back up with a mothball or laptop you dont really use than shut it down and reconnect the hdds to your main pc would work right?

sorry im not trying to like be shady or anything like that...i guess this is more of a question of loopholes and idk if anyone here would think badly of this specific issue. i apologize...im not even sure how to word this cause i wouldnt ever try to get away with anything scammy to service providers. but i personally dont feel like using another pc to do the data backups of say storage hard drives to extend whatever count down clock your referring to is something like that especially if youve already paid for the service.