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Backblaze launches free update, potentially increasing speed of Mac backups more than five-fold

Backblaze is today launching version 4.0 of its Mac backup app, potentially allowing file uploads to happen five times faster. This will primarily be of benefit for the initial backup, which can take several weeks. Faster downloads will also be available when restoring from a backup.

Although you’ve always been able to choose how much of your upload bandwidth the app uses, latency issues meant that the app didn’t always take advantage of higher speeds. You can now assign multiple processes (or threads, in Backblaze’s terminology) to the job. The company says those more than 500 miles from its California data center should see the greatest benefit.

It won’t magically add extra bandwidth out of thin air, and the company suggests limiting usage to two or three threads, but if you’ve told the app to use a decent chunk of your upload capacity and it isn’t doing it, adding an extra thread or two should help. The update is free to all users.

Backblaze costs $5/month for unlimited backup per Mac, including any connected external drives.

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Comments

  1. Tim Baker (@IAmTimBaker) - 10 years ago

    I think you mean it’s $50/year for backup, not month. :)

  2. Howie Isaacks - 10 years ago

    Backblaze is crap. They can make it instantaneous and I still would not use them. Nope. Go with CrashPlan Pro or CrashPlan Pro Enterprise. Crashplan is far more reliable. It’s protected with 448bit security, and they have awesome support. Backblaze has lousy support. Their attitude with me a couple of years ago was that their software doesn’t need support. A cocky attitude doesn’t fix problems. I canceled their crap service immediately after hearing that and when to Crashplan. It may cost more, but when you buy cheap, you get cheap, and you deserve cheap.

  3. eriktarloff - 10 years ago

    5 bucks a month not 50

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Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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