CrashPlan

Pros

CrashPlan is really easy to use. I love using it because I can backup to another computer for FREE! The only part of the app that is pay is if you want to backup the the Code42 cloud. If you don't use the cloud, you get easy & free backups! The versioning is also really nice. We can restore a file from any point along it's life. CrashPlan is used to backup our general file server, our email server, and our SQL database dumps. I can centrally restore any file from any server from my location. We migrated to CrashPlan from Windows Backup. It took a lot of overhead out of our backup procedure. CrashPlan has also saved our files from Virus' on a few occasions. With the outbreak of Ransomware, CrashPlan really helps save our files from being encrypted.

Cons

CrashPlan is written in Java, which means, it's pretty much the only reason I have Java installed. Supposedly, a non-Java client is coming, but who knows when or if that will happen. It is also _really_ difficult to manage on a headless server. You basically have to create a SSH tunnel, then from a separate computer 'fake' out that installation of CrashPlan into thinking it needs to connect through the SSH tunnel. Done properly, your desktop CrashPlan will connect to the CrashPlan backend on the headless server. It would be really nice to be able to manage a headless server without any SSH tunneling, or port forwarding, or any of that.

Pros

The client is customisable. It can be deployed silently and is configurable from the machine or can be locked and the configuration done via the server.

New abilities allow the user to restore data form their backups if starting again on a new machine. This can aid migrations and ease pressure on facilities.

Strong encryption, compression and an easy to use interface make using the client a pleasure.

Documentation is very detailed and easy to read and follow along.

Code42's support are extremely helpful and pleasant!

Cons

Recent redesigns of the client and server interface have left things confusing. The attempts to make the whole system minimal results in it being more difficult and annoying to use. Some features are difficult to find or too many layers deep now. The interface is also less responsive than the previous versions and often doesn't update for a long period of time.

The web interface for the main server does not work properly in Safari which is a big annoyance for us and our users.

Code42 seem to be continually changing the name of the product. Crashplan Pro. Crashplan ProE, now Code42 platform. It can be confusing and again frustrating.

Code 42's support team are excellent! I cannot praise them enough. However I do not have the same experience with the Sales team, Code42 are after certain customers and in that refuse and do not want to help other customers which has propogated bad will throughout the community that has supported them from a startup.

Pros

Installing, maintaining, and updating the PROe server is trivial on both Debian Linux and OS X. (One-click updates directly from the administrative console would be a nice addition, since locating update files on the Code42 site is not as quick as it perhaps should be, but that's a minor nuisance).

Likewise, installing and configuring clients is fast and easy, and once the client software is installed on a workstation, the administrative console allows control of all client settings, saving legwork. Client access can be restricted to ensure that backups are not interrupted, and CrashPlan PROe has a complete set of legal hold tools available in a separate administrative interface should your organization require them.

The client is lightweight and offers good granular control over bandwidth use. The server is extremely flexible, allowing any number of storage points on any number of running servers, even across server platforms, and the CrashPlan architecture further allows any client to be delegated as a storage point for other clients, in the case of, for instance, a satellite office scenario, disaster recovery, or server maintenance.

Cons

The only real operating nuisance I've encountered is browser incompatibility with the otherwise lovely administrative console, which does not scale properly for Mobile Safari, and which presents a baffling "server disconnect" message on Safari for OS X. On the desktop, one can simply use Firefox or Chrome, but a proper mobile Safari theme--or even the ability to permanently eliminate the client download prompt when accessing the console from a mobile browser--would be a huge improvement for those of us who do an increasing amount of our admin tasks from our mobile devices.

The ugly is that this wonderfully designed, private cloud backup system, which was once my first choice for small business clients, is now available only in packages of 25 licenses and up. Not only does this make no sense from a supply side—Code42 incurs no storage or infrastructure overhead from private cloud backup, so one would think they would prefer to sell these licenses—but it arbitrarily shuts out small businesses from a product which is otherwise perfect for the small business use case, forcing these businesses, often creative firms which generate multiple gigabytes of new data each hour, to rely on Code42's public cloud product (try uploading 2 terabytes on virtually any broadband connection in the US) or, more realistically, to look elsewhere for onsite backup solutions.

I used to recommend CrashPlan PROe to all my small business clients. I can no longer do so, not because the product is not excellent—it is—but because Code42 literally will not sell it to them if they can't buy 25 or more licenses. The mind boggles at whatever bean-counterish logic led to this decision, which both locks small businesses out of an otherwise ideal product for their needs, and amounts to Code42 throwing away all potential revenue from those in the small business sector who cannot rely on public cloud backup alone.

I'd encourage small businesses and consultants working with small business to contact Code42 anyway, and put some pressure on them to revise this policy. CrashPlan PROe is otherwise as close to a perfect product as I have seen in the last ten years of IT, and it is simply foolish to refuse to sell it because a client has a smaller budget or smaller needs.

Pros

It runs continuously in the background to ensure that the files selected are backed up.
The Crashplan client automatically backs up to ensure that customers are using the very latest client and are not in danger of security leaks.

The Crashplan client is cross-platform and will run on Linux and Mac

Cons

Code42 appears to have removed their plan for standard household users and now only has plans for small and large businesses. Unfortunate for the average household computer user.

When I used Crashplan for backup in Beijing, China, the upload speeds were horrendously slow. I assume this was not the fault of Crashplan, but the result of serious Internet throttling by the internet provider or by state security apparatus in China where all connections to the outside world are severely curtailed. Backing up 200gb of data took nearly half a year. But my experience was likely unusual.

Based on other user reports of Crashplan, the upload and download speeds are quite good.

Pros

This was the best and lowest cost backup tool on the market...when the Home product was available. In August of 2017 Code42 shifted away from Home and is focusing on enterprise and small business. The Home product was AMAZING. It backed up quickly, offered unlimited storage, and allowed you to backup multiple computers at the same time. Plus you could back up to other friend/family's computers to avoid having to pay for the service at all. This had everything a home user could want and at an amazing price. NOTHING came close. And I mean NOTHING!

Cons

Unfortunately, Code42 has left the Home market and is focusing on enterprise and small business. For those two segments, this is a great product, but I feel like dropping the Home market is a disservice to their existing Home user base. They should have allowed existing customers to continue forward with their Home product and Home product pricing. I get that they want to change their focus, but moving away will really hurt. That's a bad thing, but it speaks to the excellence of their Home product.