I have no idea where my high school graduation photos are. I’m sure they’re packed in some box in my garage. I have, however, scanned...]]> It’s May– a time when students celebrate their graduation from high schools and colleges. Some of us at Code 42 were remembering our own graduation experiences and sharing our graduation photos.

I have no idea where my high school graduation photos are. I’m sure they’re packed in some box in my garage. I have, however, scanned them into my computer, so I used CrashPlan’s mobile restore feature to share them.

Using the app on my iPhone, I found a totally tubular picture of myself from high school and emailed it to my coworkers.

Hm. Maybe somethings are better left in boxes after all.

“Security is more than just encryption protection,” Huffnagle said. “There’s a cost associated with what you’re backing up, an integrity of data that’s more...]]> Supporting scientists in the world’s leading institution for ocean research that runs over 300 programs across all seven seas, Systems Engineer Nate Huffnagle knows he needs to be prepared for anything.

“Security is more than just encryption protection,” Huffnagle said. “There’s a cost associated with what you’re backing up, an integrity of data that’s more than numbers; it’s years of someone’s work.”

In the case of two researchers working in South Africa, CrashPlan PROe’s automatic backups saved their life’s work. Their laptops were stolen in the middle of the research trip, along with the critical reports, presentations and important data stored within them. “We said, ‘Go buy replacement laptops, then go to this web site and download the CrashPlan PROe client,’” Huffnagle said. “Once they logged in and clicked ‘Restore’ in PROe—boom! Everything came back, and they were right there where they’d left off. No loss of data whatsoever. That right there sells itself. We trust CrashPlan PROe, so it’s okay to put all those valuable eggs in one basket.”

Watch Nate talk about why he trusts CrashPlan PROe, and learn how it can solve your enterprise endpoint backup concerns.

We engineered CrashPlan to be easy to use: just download, sign up and you’re done! But if you’re curious what else CrashPlan can do, or if you’d like to customize your backup experience, we...]]> If you’re new to CrashPlan, welcome! You’ve started your fearless digital life, and you’ll never have to worry about backups again.

We engineered CrashPlan to be easy to use: just download, sign up and you’re done! But if you’re curious what else CrashPlan can do, or if you’d like to customize your backup experience, we have just the thing.

Join me on a quick tour of CrashPlan in our latest how-to video. After watching this, you’ll know:

• Where to check when your last backup occurred.
• How to add additional folders and external drives to your backup selection.
• How to control CrashPlan’s use of your computer’s processor/CPU when you are away or present at your computer.
• How to limit how much of your internet bandwidth CrashPlan will use, to avoid interfering with streaming video (Netflix, Hulu), gaming or other activities requiring high bandwidth.

For more tips tricks, be sure to check out our extensive online documentation.

CrashPlan’s super-cool mobile apps were updated to v.3.5.4 yesterday. With these free apps, CrashPlan users can get to any of their files backed up to the CrashPlan Central cloud, virtually anytime, anyplace.

Take the survey, watch the video, win a Sphero

We’d like to get your thoughts...]]>

CrashPlan’s super-cool mobile apps were updated to v.3.5.4 yesterday. With these free apps, CrashPlan users can get to any of their files backed up to the CrashPlan Central cloud, virtually anytime, anyplace.

Take the survey, watch the video, win a Sphero

We’d like to get your thoughts on our mobile app.  Take the quick 6-question survey and you’ll get a chance to win a super-cool, mobile-controlled Sphero robotic ball.

At the end of the survey there is a link to a short video that shows just how useful CrashPlan’s mobile apps can be.

Thanks for your help, and good luck.

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY AND ENTER THE CONTEST.

The latest version of the CrashPlan mobile app is now available on the iTunes App Store, the Google play Store and Windows Phone Store. Contest Terms & Conditions here.

Of course, what she means is that when she asks her patients, we all tell her how diligent we are while cleaning our teeth. But she sees and knows the truth: the vast majority of us don’t actually follow through on our lofty claims.

The...]]> My dentist has a saying: “Everybody flosses, but nobody flosses.”

Of course, what she means is that when she asks her patients, we all tell her how diligent we are while cleaning our teeth. But she sees and knows the truth: the vast majority of us don’t actually follow through on our lofty claims.

The same concept applies to backing up computers: No one wants to admit they willingly put critical business data at risk. But the numbers tell a different story. If you have friends or coworkers who “always floss,” consider sharing some of these frightening facts on Twitter:

1. Over half of critical corporate data resides on unprotected PC desktops & laptops. (Source: Computer Troubleshooters. 2012) [Tweet this]
2. 30% of companies surveyed report that they do not have a data recovery program in place. (Source: Computer Troubleshooters. 2012) [Tweet this]
3. 60% of companies that lose their data will go out of business with 6 months of the disaster. (Source: Computer Troubleshooters. 2012) [Tweet this]
4. According to a Kensington study, the average cost associated with loss or theft of mobile devices exceeds $49,000. (Source: ChannelProSMB. 2012) [Tweet this]
5. Over half of the organizations surveyed by Comptia in 2012 reported a data loss within the last 12 months. (Source: IT Knowledge Exchange. 2012) [Tweet this]

Ready to Come Clean?

If you don’t have an automated endpoint backup solution in place, you’re putting your organization’s data at risk. However, there is a way to prevent the pain of data loss. CrashPlan PROe’s high-performing backup solution continuously and invisibly protects the data stored on endpoint devices. That way, your data is protected, no matter where you or your employees work. Isn’t that a good feeling?

(But you’re on your own with your dentist – sorry….)

Looking for more statics about data loss and enterprise backup? Make sure to check out the following sources:
• ChannelProSMB
• Computer Troubleshooters
• IT Knowledge Exchange

When you choose to adopt a computer with CrashPlan, you’re basically telling CrashPlan to assume...]]> Getting a new computer doesn’t mean you have to upload all your data again. Using CrashPlan’s adoption process, you can transfer your old computer’s identity to your new machine, so you can continue backing up without having to re-send data.

When you choose to adopt a computer with CrashPlan, you’re basically telling CrashPlan to assume the identity of the previous computer’s installation. As a result, CrashPlan takes on the settings, backup file selection and backup archives of the computer that is adopted. If you’ve recently purchased a new computer to replace your current computer, or if you’ve restored your data to a new or reformatted hard drive, you’ll want to go through the adoption steps to pick up your backup where the old one left off.

This video shows the CrashPlan step-by-step adoption procedure:

If you have questions about this or any other CrashPlan process, please connect with a Customer Champion.

We’ll send you a 1TB external hard drive to use for your first backup. After...]]> If you have a lot of personal information to back up (at least 300 GB), your initial online backup may take a little longer than desired. Save time and bandwidth when creating your initial backup with CrashPlan’s optional seeded backup solution.

We’ll send you a 1TB external hard drive to use for your first backup. After you receive the seed drive, simply back up your files and send it back to us. The pre-paid shipping label is on us! We’ll transfer the data directly to CrashPlan Central, which takes a lot less time than backing up over the Internet.

Learn more about our seed service straight from the Customer Champion team in our latest video:

For more information, please visit CrashPlan’s seed service article.

- Matt Buchanan, Buzzfeed

The topic of computer backup is not often thought of as exciting. However, in the digital age, backup is as important as an oil change is to maintaining a car, or a checkup is to...]]> There is nothing more boring and awful and NECESSARY than backing up your computer.

- Matt Buchanan, Buzzfeed

The topic of computer backup is not often thought of as exciting. However, in the digital age, backup is as important as an oil change is to maintaining a car, or a checkup is to good health.

What can be a bit more exciting is when, after some mishap befalls you computer, you realize that all your data is protected.

We launched the CrashPlan Data Rescue Stories so all our users can experience a bit of that excitement (relief?) without having to go through the misfortunes that precede it. Below are our winners of 4-year CrashPlan+ Family Unlimited plans . . . and some thoughts as to why they were selected.

Winner: Larry N.  I installed CrashPlan on my father’s (92-years-old) Mac mini. There have been a couple situations where his master investments Excel spreadsheet has been messed up and CrashPlan makes it a snap to restore a recent good copy to his desktop. Since CrashPlan is always running silently on OS X he doesn’t have to concern himself with doing backups. It just works.

Why we picked Larry  Estimates vary, but well over 90% of computer users fail to back up their computer files adequately; many not at all. However, when those of us who understand the importance of data protection find the time to help friends and relatives back up, we protect them from the emotional mayhem that comes with data loss.

Larry’s story also highlights the fact that users do not have to experience a total data loss to get every-day benefits from CrashPlan’s continuous backup.

Co-winner: Dennis O.  I don’t have a rescue story and I hope I never do, but the point of backing up is not because you need to, it’s because you hope you don’t.

Why we picked Dennis too  Dennis felt so strongly about data protection that he submitted a story that he didn’t have to a blog visited by people who already back up. We love that spirit!!

Keep your stories coming
To those who submitted stories, we sincerely appreciate your willingness to share. We’ll do this again soon,  so please keep the CrashPlan Data Rescue Stories coming.

During a recent TechTarget event, independent expert and TechTarget contributor Brian Madden presented a session titled “Ten ways to make consumerization work for you.” Among Madden’s tips were four that struck a...]]> The consumerization of IT is much more than just a passing phase, and it can provide benefits for both employees and the enterprise.

During a recent TechTarget event, independent expert and TechTarget contributor Brian Madden presented a session titled “Ten ways to make consumerization work for you.” Among Madden’s tips were four that struck a chord with our team.

1. Tip: Accept the reality.

The constantly changing consumer technology landscape now drives a constantly changing technology landscape in the enterprise, which includes both smartphones and tablets. IT departments with the imagination to be flexible and the confidence to ease their grip on incoming devices will recognize the benefits of IT consumerization in the workplace. However, they first must understand IT consumerization as a reality. “If you want to figure out how to deal with consumerization in your organization, the first step is acceptance,” Madden said.

2. Tip: Don’t give up on data protection. 

Amazing as it may seem, some companies declare that users are responsible for their own backups on their own devices. Sadly, research has shown most users will not take the time to manually back up. With an automatic endpoint backup solution like CrashPlan PROe, IT leaders can rest easy, knowing corporate data on endpoint devices is safeguarded at all times.

3. Tip: Rethink network security.

Mobile device connections can open up a host of security issues. When dealing with mobile devices, endpoint security policies are an important part of network protection, because they require each device to comply with certain standards before network access is granted. CrashPlan PROe’s end-to-end security supports dual-factor authentication and provides a unified admin console that can be used to manage backup for an entire enterprise—including policies, profiles and data retention.

4. Tip: Strike a balance between lockdown and freedom. 

As Alyssa Woods explains in her TechTarget article about Madden’s presentation, “There is a spectrum between complete device lockdown and total freedom, and IT needs to find a balance. Users tend to want freedom, but admins have to reach a happy medium that provides security and meets compliance requirements.” Providing users with the tools—like CrashPlan PROe—needed to protect their data no matter what device they’re using can help your organization empower employees to select their own technological devices, all the while knowing that data can be quickly and easily recovered whenever needed.

What are the greatest challenges IT consumerization presents to your organization? What are your tips for succeeding in today’s age of IT consumerization? Share with us by leaving a comment below. 

via Carsten L. – I have been using CrashPlan for many years to back up...]]> April 25th Edition

We’ve received many compelling stories from CrashPlan customers who almost lost their data, but restored it through CrashPlan. The last installment of our Data Rescue Stories includes tales of restoration from Carsten L. and Keifel A.

via Carsten L. – I have been using CrashPlan for many years to back up personal data, such as photos, as well as work-related documents. Since I wanted to have several non co-located backups, I installed CrashPlan on my work computer as well as my home computer and linked them to my CrashPlan account. This made it easy to perform bi-directional backups of important data.

Until recently, I hadn’t needed to actually restore any files, but an upgrade to a piece of software which was supposed to manage my personal documents, such as tax statements, health insurance files, and credit card statements caused hundreds of files to disappear from my home computer’s hard drive. It was hard to say how many files were actually gone, since these documents were mostly of archival nature and reached back more than a decade.

Luckily, I had added the software’s database location to CrashPlan and was able to restore several gigabytes worth of files from my work computer to my home computer. I then compared the restored files to the ones from before the data recovery and saw that entire categories of documents had been purged from my computer by the faulty document management software. CrashPlan has changed the way that I am performing backups and I am confident that it is able to restore documents accurately whenever the need arises. Thanks for creating this fantastic service.

via Keifel A. – My daughter’s 5-year-old Macbook Pro stopped powering on about a week before she was heading back to school in the wilds of Vancouver Island. She was out of the country at the time, but I was able to get her a new machine, restore all of her data from the CrashPlan backup and ship her new machine to her at school. No fuss, no muss, no interruptions.

Thanks, Carsten and Keifel! We’re so glad CrashPlan was there to help.

Reading through all of our entries, one thing is clear: data loss is much more common than we’d like to believe. Be sure to protect your digital life with CrashPlan today, so you can recount your own data rescue story in the future.

• Data Rescue Stories from Chris P., Leah P., and Terry R., Part 1
• Data Rescue Stories from Benjamin H., Toni B., and Darren T., Part 2
• Data Rescue Stores from Jason F., Stian H., and David H., Part 3

But how do you choose the right cloud...]]> CrashPlan PROe, Code 42’s enterprise endpoint backup solution, allows companies to store data in the way that works best for their organization. CrashPlan PROe’s cloud-based endpoint backup solution provides the enterprise with a wide range of data storage options: public cloud, managed private cloud and hybrid cloud.

But how do you choose the right cloud backup strategy for your company?

In this video from MacIT 2013, Code 42 Software/CrashPlan PROe’s Principal Engineer Andrew Renz discusses how companies can leverage a variety of cloud backup strategies—public, private and hybrid—to confidently protect enterprise information. Renz shares wisdom gained from experiences selecting and/or deploying enterprise backup solutions for Apple, Oracle, Expedia and Intuit.

Learn more about how CrashPlan PROe supports private, public, and hybrid cloud strategies by visiting our cloud destinations webpage.

via Jason F. - I had a hybrid Seagate hard drive that housed my entire VMware test environment along with...]]> April 18th Edition

Stories of potential data loss and triumphant recovery continue to be shared on our CrashPlan data rescue stories form. Here are some of our more recent tales, shared by CrashPlan backup users:

via Jason F. - I had a hybrid Seagate hard drive that housed my entire VMware test environment along with tons of data. The drive started to fail read tests to the point where it was hanging the system up, not allowing it to run at all. I was able to replace the drive and in under three hours my whole profile was back on my MacBook Pro including all email settings, favorites, desktop pattern, etc. I had both a local copy on my network and a copy on Code 42′s servers and recovered from the local copy. As an IT expert I have ‘been there done that’ with recovery and this was very slick. Highly recommended for all my customers on their personal computers!

via Stian H. – I had organized all my photos and media files from a bunch of portable hard disks and from several computers we had in our house to a brand new HTPC. This was quite an operation and took a lot of time, since I’m an eager photographer. The HTPC was synced to my CrashPlan account. A couple of days after all the files on the new HTPC were backed up to CrashPlan Central, the mainboard of the new computer burned. Fortunately I got a new one and could easily download everything from CrashPlan and not have to do all the file transfers again.

via David H. - I ran out of space on my main HD, so I moved some files (that I use less) to a new, second HD to make room on my main drive. Then I added the new drive to my backup. I expected CrashPlan to consider the moved files as ‘new’, but it’s a lot smarter than I’d imagined! The CrashPlan technology recognized that the files were the same but just moved. Uploading the 400 GB of data that I shifted around to the cloud would have taken weeks to complete. Thanks to CrashPlan’s intelligence it only took 2 hours! Thanks for making such an awesome backup system!

Share your CrashPlan story with us!

Data Rescue Stories from Chris P., Leah P., and Terry R., Part 1

Data Rescue Stories from Benjamin H., Toni B., and Darren T., Part 2