Introducing release 4.1, the latest update to our Backblaze Personal Backup and Backblaze Business Backup clients. This is our first major release with our new product names. What new names, you say? Our initial product, delivered eight years ago, was Backblaze Online Backup, a good name. Over time we added a second product, Backblaze for Business. Then several months ago, we added our third product, Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage. It was at that time we decided to rename the first two products. Backblaze Online Backup became Backblaze Personal Backup and was for individuals, and Backblaze for Business became Backblaze Business Backup for companies and organizations with five or more client computers. Here is what’s new with release 4.1.
Improved Resilience for Data Uploads
For B2 Cloud Storage, we built out a highly durable and reliable load balancer infrastructure. In release 4.1, the internal API calls were updated to use this new Backblaze B2 load balancer set up. The highly redundant nature of this design will leverage the Backblaze B2 networking infrastructure to improve connection availability and reliability for both Backblaze Personal Backup and Backblaze Business Backup.
Inherit Is the New Transfer
In another case of changing names, we have renamed the “Transfer Backup State” feature to “Inherit Backup State” beginning in 4.1. The functionality is the same; you can move Backblaze to another system and “Inherit” your backup status on your new computer—without having to re-upload your data. This is a time-saving and bandwidth-saving feature when moving your Backblaze backup from one system to another. Please read the Inherit Backup State instructions in our Knowledge Base before you start to get the best results.
Retina Display Improvements on the Mac
Mac users with a Retina display will be seeing Backblaze Personal Backup a little clearer with release 4.1. We updated the graphics so they display better on Retina capable screens.
Exclusions
We all know that Backblaze automatically backs up the data on a PC or Mac. By default, we exclude certain files from the backup, for example, applications and system files. This works fine for about 99% of our customers, but there are some users who want to know more. Until now, the list of files being excluded was buried deep in our code and hidden away from prying eyes. Release 4.1 makes it a little easier for the 1% of you who are curious about which files are being excluded. Check out our knowledge base to learn more about file exclusions.
Supported Platforms
Version 4.1 of Backblaze Personal Backup and Backblaze Business Backup can be installed and is supported on the following client operating systems.
- Mac OS 10.6 or higher
- Windows XP (32-bit)
- Windows Vista (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Windows 8 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Windows 8.1 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Windows 10 (32-bit and 64-bit)
Release 4.1 Details
Version:
- 4.1.0.952 for Mac OS clients
- 4.1.0.951 for Windows clients
Clients:
- Backblaze Personal Backup
- Backblaze Business Backup
Availability: 14 June 2016
Upgrade Methods:
- Immediately when performing a “Check for Updates.”
- Immediately as a download from Backblaze Updates.
- Immediately as the default download on backblaze.com.
- Auto-update will begin in the next couple of weeks.
Cost: Free as an update for all Backblaze customers and active trial users.
Questions: Please contact Backblaze Support at https://www.backblaze.com/help.html.
