We recently introduced the new Backblaze Business Backup featuring Groups. If backup management for your business is part of your job description, Groups can make your work a lot easier. What is a Group? Groups centrally manage billing by an administrator. Admins can also (optionally) keep track of the Group members’ backup statuses, Backblaze B2… Continue reading Four Ways Groups Makes Business Backups Easy
What “Rogue One” Teaches About Data Backup
I finally got a chance to see “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” recently (I know, I’m late to the game, but I was off my feet for a few weeks around the holidays). It got me thinking about data backups and data security. Whether you’re in a small business, an enterprise, the Imperial Forces,… Continue reading What “Rogue One” Teaches About Data Backup
Backblaze B2 for Beginners: Inside the B2 Cloud Storage Web interface
Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage enables you to store data in the cloud at a fraction of what you’ll pay other services. For instance, we’re one-fourth of the price of Amazon’s S3. We’ve made it easy to access thanks to a web interface, API, and command line interface. Let’s get to know the web interface a… Continue reading Backblaze B2 for Beginners: Inside the B2 Cloud Storage Web interface
Backblaze Hard Drive Stats for 2016
Backblaze has recorded and saved daily hard drive statistics from the drives in our data centers since April 2013. At the end of 2016 we had 73,653 spinning hard drives. Of that number, there were 1,553 boot drives and 72,100 data drives. This post looks at the hard drive statistics of the data drives we monitor. We’ll first look at the stats for Q4 2016, then present the data for all of 2016, and finish with the lifetime statistics for all of the drives Backblaze has used in our cloud storage data centers since we started keeping track. Along the way we’ll share observations and insights on the data presented.
Troubleshooting Tips for SSDs
Need help troubleshooting a problematic solid state drive (SSD)? Here’s a list of problems SSD users commonly run into, along with some suggestions on how to fix them. SSD Failure Let’s go over some of the warning signs of a potential SSD failure. Any of these could be indications that an SSD is on its… Continue reading Troubleshooting Tips for SSDs
Introducing the New Backblaze Business Backup
Today, we’re pleased to announce the new Backblaze Business Backup. We’ve spent the better part of the year building new functionality for our business and group users and are excited to release that functionality, Backblaze Groups, to the world today. What is a Group? Groups are a collection of computers paid for by administrators, whether… Continue reading Introducing the New Backblaze Business Backup
Backblaze Begins: Celebrating a Very Special Anniversary
2017 is a milestone year for us at Backblaze: This year is our 10th anniversary. Our official birthday—based on our papers of incorporation—places that date in April. But January 15th was another important date: It’s when the work on what would become Backblaze first started in earnest. Brian Wilson, our intrepid CTO and CFO, began… Continue reading Backblaze Begins: Celebrating a Very Special Anniversary
CES 2017: Trends for the Tech Savvy to Watch
This year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) just wrapped up in Las Vegas. The usual parade of cool tech toys created a lot of headlines this year, but there were some genuine trends to keep an eye on, too. If you’re like us, you’re probably one of the first people around to adopt promising new technologies… Continue reading CES 2017: Trends for the Tech Savvy to Watch
Introducing Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage Lifecycle Rules
Lifecycle Rules enable the Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage service to automatically hide and/or delete older versions of files stored in Backblaze B2. This capability is available for the Web GUI, CLI, and API. Lifecycle Rules are applied to some or all of the files in a Backblaze B2 Bucket with each bucket having its own… Continue reading Introducing Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage Lifecycle Rules
2016: The Year in Tech, and a Sneak Peek of What’s to Come
2016 is safely in our rearview mirrors. It’s time to take a look back at the year that was and see what technology had the biggest impact on consumers and businesses alike. We also have an eye to 2017 to see what the future holds. AI and Machine Learning in the Cloud Truly sentient computers… Continue reading 2016: The Year in Tech, and a Sneak Peek of What’s to Come
Data Storage Disasters SMBs Should Avoid
No business wants to get caught off guard when disaster strikes. We look at five data storage disasters just waiting to happen to small to medium-sized businesses and how to avoid them.
Backblaze 2016 Year in Review
It is hard to believe that 2016 is nearly over. It has been a busy year as Backblaze continued to grow. We have 30% more employees, 30% more hard drives, and 45% more data than this time last year. Here are a few of our highlights from 2016. 20 billion files restored. There are many… Continue reading Backblaze 2016 Year in Review
Release 4.3.0—The Rollover Release
The current version of the Backblaze Computer Backup and Backblaze Business Backup applications is being updated to 4.3.0.1 on the PC and 4.3.0.2 on the Mac. The list of fixes, changes, and updates is as follows: Update the version number to 4.3.0. Roll the build number back to start at 1. End of list. If… Continue reading Release 4.3.0—The Rollover Release
Tips to Survive Family Tech Support
This is the time of year when a lot of us travel home for the holidays. If you’re the most technical person in the room—heck, even if you’re just the only one who knows how to turn on a computer—some of your less technically-minded relatives might depend on you for help with their gear. If… Continue reading Tips to Survive Family Tech Support
How to Reclaim Lost Hard Disk Space
Running out of disk space? You’re not the only one. We’ve all been there. You try to save a file or install a new app and get a message telling you there isn’t enough space. Here are five common mistakes that cost us extra hard drive space we don’t need to waste—and what to do… Continue reading How to Reclaim Lost Hard Disk Space
20 Billion Files Restored
On September 1st, we asked you to predict when Backblaze would reach our 20 billion files restored mark. We had a ton of entrants!! Over two thousand people hazarded a guess. It is our pleasure to announce that we’ve finally hit that milestone, and along with it, we’re announcing the winners of our contest. Before… Continue reading 20 Billion Files Restored
Backblaze Restore Rename & Downloader Update
The latest Backblaze Computer Backup enhancement centers around our free web restore process. Disaster recovery (when folks need to restore all of their data) is actually not the most common use of Backblaze restores. What’s more common? Small downloads of just a couple of files. Folks often find themselves either saving over a document or… Continue reading Backblaze Restore Rename & Downloader Update
Joe Joins the Data Center Team
The Backblaze data center team continues to expand and we have a new hire in Joe! Joe’s joining us as a data center site manager and will be learning the ropes with our core data center team in Sacramento! He hails from a local alt-weekly newspaper and enjoys cycling, but let’s learn a bit more… Continue reading Joe Joins the Data Center Team