1. Stay with MozyHome, and upgrade to the Mozy recommended plan.

Mozy has made it pretty simple to upgrade your plan to fit your current backup needs. There is a “renewal plan” link in the notification email, which will take  you to the Mozy website.

After logging in, you will be presented with your account page, and an alert message. Click on the My Plan link on the left navigation pane, and you will see the recommended renewal plan which will be automatically selected on your next renewal date.

You also have the option to select your plan settings by clicking on the Change Renewal Plan link. Oddly, Mozy had preselected the 125GB/3Computer plan for me, which technically wasn’t accurate, so I could change the settings to the 50GB+2x20GB plan for a total of 90GB which would cover my current backup storage requirements.

2. Reduce the amount of files included in your backup to 50GB or less so you can stay on the cheapest MozyHome plan – $5.99.

If you don’t want to pay for more storage space, you can reduce the amount of data that Mozy is backing up. Double-clicking the Mozy icon in the system tray will bring up the Mozy status window.

Click on the Settings button, and you will be presented with the Mozy Settings window. I am pretty specific on what I back up, so I use the File System tab to choose the exact paths that I want backed up. Basically what I did was go through my user folder, and uncheck what I deemed not critical enough to backup. This part gets tricky though, deciding what you want to exclude from the backup. If you find yourself unchecking everything in order to fit under the 50GB limit, then I suggest you upgrade your Mozy account to add more storage.

After selecting or rather de-selecting files that you no longer want to backup, save the Settings, and run a backup. This will push the settings to the Mozy servers, and once the backup is complete, you will see the “Files backed up” reflect your newly excluded files.

Now that you are under 50GBs your Mozy plan should auto renew to the $5.99/50GB plan on your next billing date.

3. Choose a new backup service.

Of course you have the option is to drop Mozy altogether and start using a new backup service. Reading through some posts on the Mozy Community Forums, there is an expected backlash from longtime Mozy users, and many are jumping ship and running to alternative services. This probably requires the most amount of work, but really not that bad. You will need to uninstall Mozy from your computer, and then cancel your Mozy subscription. Keep in mind though that once you cancel your Mozy subscription, you will no longer have access to the files backed up to Mozy. Lifehacker compiled a list of alternative online backup services, though we haven’t had a chance to test them yet.

4. Drop online backup, and go back to rotating external hard drives.

While writing this post, it occurred to me that another option is to stop using online backup services completely, and instead set up a rotating external hard drive solution. This basically entails purchasing 2 or more external hard drives, setting up a local backup software, and rotating the external hard drive to a remote location on a regular schedule. This of course requires the most leg work, and often times is the exact reason why this backup scheme tends to fail (read as: people get lazy). The upside to the rotating external hard drive backup plan is that it is more or less a one-time, upfront fixed cost. Of course hard drives don’t last forever, so at some point you will need to replace the hard drives, but as hard drive prices continue to fall, it really is a nominal expense.

In the end, whichever method you choose, the point of all this is to have an offsite backup of your data in case of fire, theft, flood, or other catastrophic disaster which would destroy your data.

50GB for $5.99 per month (includes backup for 1 computer)
125GB for $9.99 per month (includes backup for up to 3 computers)

You can add another computer for an additional $2.00 per month. And additional storage in 20GB increments for $2.00 per month. Basically, want another computer? Ok, $2.00 more per month. Want 20GB more storage? Ok, $2.00 more per month.

You should have received an email from Mozy which explains the details of the new pricing scheme, and also makes a recommendation for the appropriate plan for you based on how much storage you are currently using. Below is the email I received.

Dear Andrew,

Thanks for being a valued Mozy subscriber. For the first time since 2006, we’re adjusting the price of our MozyHome service and wanted to give you a heads up. As part of this change, we’re replacing our MozyHome Unlimited backup plan and introducing the following tiered storage plans:

50 GB for $5.99 per month (includes backup for 1 computer)
125 GB for $9.99 per month (includes backup for up to 3 computers)

You may add additional computers (up to 5 in total) or 20 GB increments of storage to either of the plans, each for a monthly cost of $2.00.

While this policy takes effect for new MozyHome customers starting today, your MozyHome Unlimited subscription is still valid for the duration of your current monthly term. Your new plan will take effect on your first renewal after March 1, 2011. Based on your current usage of 1 computers and 89.77 gigabytes, your renewal plan will be $9.99 for a monthly term.

As the leader in online backup, we’re committed to continually providing the highest levels of service and protection that you’ve come to expect from us as well as delivering those innovations you’ve been asking for. For more information on the factors that led to this change, please read my note or visit our FAQ.

Be safe,
Harel Kodesh
President

As you can see in the above email, I am currently using just under 90GBs of storage, which they are recommending that I upgrade to a $9.99 plan, which equates to a $5.99 (50GB) plan + $2.00 (20GB) + $2.00 (20GB) for a total of $9.99 (90GB). And really, $10 per month to backup my files is still reasonable.

Fortunately, Mozy is giving it’s current Unlimited customers some time to digest the new pricing scheme, and continuing unlimited storage until the next subscription renewal term.  As of writing this article, I have 12 more days until my subscription expires, and I am still undecided on what to do – continue with Mozy or move on to another service.

Mozy argues that based on their historical data showing significant growth in the creation of data (pictures, videos, music, etc.) adjusting their pricing scheme would ensure that they would remain viable into the future. Mozy also argues that other companies may offer “unlimited” storage, but will throttle your transfer speed after a certain point, while Mozy will offer the best service possible all the way up to your storage limit. I appreciate this from a user standpoint, and also a business standpoint. It is good that Mozy is taking a realistic approach in its long term business strategy, we will have to wait and see if other services follow suit.

Lifehacker wrote an article covering several online backup alternatives in the wake of Mozy dropping unlimited storage. Some of the suggestions look promising, though we will need some time to test out some of those services ourselves.

MozyHome already had some great features, but since then Mozy has upgraded their service, and now backs up your files faster and includes an option to simultaneously backup your files to a local external hard drive as well as their online storage. While free online backup is a great deal, and really leaves no excuse for not backing up your critical data; Mozy also offers unlimited storage for about $5 per month. Most people spend more than $5 a day on coffee, and I think it is a small price to pay to protect your files (music, pictures, documents, email) against fire, theft or flood. To put it another way, if your computer were stolen tomorrow, do you have a copy of your files somewhere?

Mozy has actually simplified the installation process to get you backed up quicker and easier. So we’ll go through the new installation and first-run steps.

Go to https://mozy.com/registration/free and register for an account. Enter your email address and set a password.

Fill out the survey, you don’t need to put your actual information, but all of the fields are required to be completed.

Your account is now created, check your email for the verification email from Mozy, make sure to check your spam/junk folder just in case.

Click the link in the email from Mozy to verify your account, then proceed to download the Mozy client.

Download the Mozy client for your operating system. Save or Run the file.

Now, click the Next button to install Mozy. You can uncheck the “View the license agreement” option to bypass the next step. Or, be a responsible end-user and actually read the license agreement.

Carefully read, word by word,  line by line, the license agreement, all the way to the bottom… just kidding. Click the Install button.

Mozy will then proceed to install.

Enter the email address and password that you used when you created your Mozy account and click Next.

You will see that Mozy automatically scanned your computer and selected the recommended files to backup. At the bottom of this window you will also see that Mozy will protect your backed up files with it’s standard encryption. You have the option to modify the encryption options if you are so inclined to do so, though we recommend that you just use the standard encryption.

The setup is now complete, click Finish to start your first backup.

The initial backup can take several minutes to several days or weeks depending on how many files you are backing up, and how fast your Internet connection is. Ideally after installing Mozy for the first time, leave your computer on as much as possible to expedite the initial backup process.

Once Mozy has completed your backup, you will see a pop-up notification in the System Tray.

Double-click on the Mozy icon to open the status window to see how many files have been backed up. Here you can also access the settings, restore options, and even upgrade to unlimited storage.

Check the mozypro.log file to see what error messages you have. Here is what we had:

18Apr2010 12:58:51 mozyprobackup.exe: Error: Failed to add to set contents (11: DB_CORRUPT[11]: database disk image is malformed)
18Apr2010 12:58:52 mozyprobackup.exe: Error: Failed to add to fs contents (11: DB_CORRUPT[11]: database disk image is malformed)
18Apr2010 12:58:52 mozyprobackup.exe: Error: Failed to load set contents (11: DB_CORRUPT[11]: out of memory)

And here is the fix from Mozy Technical Support:

1. Delete C:\Program Files\MozyPro\Data\cache.dat.
2. Restart the MozyProBackup service and start another backup.
3. Enter the MozyPro configuration, make a change and save. Then start a backup

Go to www.mozy.com/home and click on the sign up button for MozyHome Free.

Enter your email address, and set a password.

Mozy requires that you take a basic survey, you don’t need to put your actual information if you don’t want to, but all the fields are required to be completed.

Your account is created, now check your email for a verification email from Mozy, make sure to check your spam/junk box just in case.

When you open the Mozy email, click on the link to verify your account, and download the Mozy client.

Download the Mozy client, for your operating system (either Windows or Mac). Save the file to somewhere you can easily access, like the desktop. If prompted, Run the Mozy installer.

Ok, almost there, click the Next button to install Mozy.

Enter the email address and password that you used when you created your Mozy account.

All data uploaded to Mozy is heavily encrypted to protect your data. Mozy gives you the option to either use their default encryption key, or use your own key. It is highly recommended that you use Mozy’s encryption key.

Now you can choose which files you want to backup. As you can see, Mozy automatically tries to backup all files on your computer, which is a good thing, but in this case I want to limit my backup to 2GB so that my Mozy service remains free. Uncheck which files you do not want to backup, in this case I chose not to backup my music and photos. After your files are under the 2GB free limit, click Next.

Mozy will then test your Internet connection to ensure that you have the minimum amount of bandwidth to upload all your files. If you have a DSL, cable, or wireless 4G type connection, then you should have no problem passing this test.

The next screen allows you to choose how fast your backup will happen. Basically, this slider allows you to choose how much of your system resources Mozy can use to backup your data. Move the slide closer to Faster Computer, and Mozy will limit how much processor and bandwith it will use. This will keep your computer faster during a backup, but the backup will take longer. Move the slider closer to Quicker Backups and Mozy will take up more processor and bandwidth, but your backups will happen quicker.

And that’s it! You have completed configuring Mozy to remotely backup your data. You now have the choice to let Mozy start the backup immediately, or let it run when your computer is idle.

When Mozy completes a backup successfully a message will appear showing when the backup completed, and how much of your Mozy quota you are using. You can opt to not have this message appear after a successful backup.