Year: 2011

94% of Computer Users Still Risk Data Loss

Each of the last four years during June’s Backup Awareness Month, Backblaze has conducted a data backup survey using Harris Interactive. We always ask the same question: are you backing up your computer data and, if so, how often? The results of this fourth annual survey and the three previous ones are: Percent of Respondents… Continue reading 94% of Computer Users Still Risk Data Loss

Backblaze Finds $1 Million Counterfeit Cash

No, I’m not kidding. Just over a month ago we launched Locate My Computer, a free feature of our online backup service, to find your computer if it is lost or stolen. Since then a number of people have recovered their computers. However, one of our customers (let’s call him “Joe” as he requested anonymity… Continue reading Backblaze Finds $1 Million Counterfeit Cash

$94 Trillion Petabyte

IBM is celebrating the 55th anniversary of the first hard drive. At the time, this was a breakthrough that would change the path of technology. However, to put into perspective how far we’ve all come: The hard drive IBM shipped in 1956: Stored five megabytes Cost $11,000 per megabyte Was 60 inches long x 68… Continue reading $94 Trillion Petabyte

Ignite: Lean Startup—Petabytes on a Budget, the Video

Ignite is a “fast-paced, fun, thought-provoking, social, local, global” evening of “high-energy 5-minute talks by people who have an idea.” Specifically, as the presenter you get exactly 20 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds. No running over. No slide remote control. The theme of the evening was “Lean Startup” a set of principles (clearly communicated… Continue reading Ignite: Lean Startup—Petabytes on a Budget, the Video

Is the Backblaze Cloud Bigger than iCloud?

Possibly. A customer yesterday asked, “Do you have any idea how big iCloud is?” I thought it was an interesting question and poked around. Two months ago it was reported that Apple ordered 12 petabytes of storage rumored to be used for its new North Carolina data center. Certainly Apple already has significant storage for… Continue reading Is the Backblaze Cloud Bigger than iCloud?

Your X-Ray on a Pod: Vanderbilt Builds Backblaze Storage Pods

After we open sourced the Backblaze Storage Pod, hundreds of people contacted us expressing interest in building their own. A few have shared their experiences including the team at the Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, where Hampton Albert and others have modified the original design for their own purposes. They explain their approach and… Continue reading Your X-Ray on a Pod: Vanderbilt Builds Backblaze Storage Pods

Backblaze Works Seamlessly with iCloud

Yesterday, Apple announced iCloud, launching in the fall, which lets you sync music, photos, apps, calendars, etc. between your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. As Mac-fans, all of us here at Backblaze are pretty excited about using these features for ourselves! A couple people asked, “How will Backblaze work with iCloud?” The answer? Seamlessly! iCloud will… Continue reading Backblaze Works Seamlessly with iCloud

Lost Your Computer? Get It Back! Backblaze Launches: Locate My Computer

There are many causes of data loss, but a lost or stolen computer has been a guaranteed reason to need Backblaze to recover data. Unfortunately, with some exceptions, the computer itself was gone. Today, Backblaze announces “Locate My Computer“—a new feature of the Backblaze online backup service that shows you a map of your computer’s… Continue reading Lost Your Computer? Get It Back! Backblaze Launches: Locate My Computer

Hello Iron Mountain Customers, Can We Help?

After shutting down its cloud storage business last month, today Iron Mountain sold the entire Iron Mountain Digital business to Autonomy. Why did Iron Mountain shut down the cloud storage business and sell off its Iron Mountain Digital business? According to ZDNet, Iron Mountain “is exiting the digital business because it can’t keep up with… Continue reading Hello Iron Mountain Customers, Can We Help?

Restore Files Within a Date Range

Backblaze has always kept a four week history of all the files we back up—typically referred to as “versioning.” This enabled you to realize that you liked your Powerpoint presentation from a couple days ago, before you added all that amazing clipart, and simply restore that previously backed up version. Today we are launching the… Continue reading Restore Files Within a Date Range

Backblaze on EFactor Network

A few months ago Backblaze joined EFactor, a worldwide network of entrepreneurs. Many entrepreneurs are busily creating content, writing code, preparing business plans, etc.—all while working from a coffee shop or traveling back-and-forth from meetings. At Backblaze, we wanted to offer all of these entrepreneurs our online backup service in the hope that they don’t… Continue reading Backblaze on EFactor Network

Backblaze Release 1.5.2

Backblaze has made a new release available and all users are scheduled to be automatically upgraded over the next two weeks. Below are the enhancements in this release: Release Date: 3/30/11 Version: 1.5.2 Auto-Update: All Users Enabled quick scan of large external drives so files appear quicker in restores (Windows) Fixed label on “Set Private… Continue reading Backblaze Release 1.5.2

Backing Up All Data Is Too Hard: Backblaze Switches to Backing Up Twitter

It’s no secret that providing online backup for all of the data on peoples’ computers takes a lot of hard drives. To be specific, four tons of drives show up every week to our data center to back up our customers’ school papers, birthday videos, and baby photos… So many baby photos. After a week… Continue reading Backing Up All Data Is Too Hard: Backblaze Switches to Backing Up Twitter

Five Years of Twitter in One Third of a Backblaze Storage Pod

Twitter turned five years old yesterday. The service now has 200 million users (including @backblaze) who post over one billion Tweets per day. One interesting tidbit they recently mentioned was that all of those billions and billions of Tweets compiled over the course of half a decade took a mere 20 terabytes of storage space!… Continue reading Five Years of Twitter in One Third of a Backblaze Storage Pod