We continue our look at online backup services for Windows Home Server with Cloudberry Backup, a relatively new service (the first release was in November 2009) but one that has quickly gained popularity in the community. Initially powered by Amazon’s S3 storage service, Cloudberry has recently added a Windows Azure storage option to the service, allowing the user the choice of where their data is hosted.
Whilst focusing entirely on home server backup (as opposed to client and server backup or folder sync like KeepVault or HomeServerSync), Cloudberry Backup has a very strong feature set, including:
- Full Windows Home Server Console Integration
- Manual and Automatic Backup Scheduling
- Backup Files Since Specified Date
- Backup Encryption
- Backup Compression
- File versioning
- Email notification
- Smart Delete (Do not delete backups of files that have been deleted locally)
Like a number its competitors, Cloudberry Backup is tightly integrated into Windows Home Server courtesy of an add-in downloadable from their website. The service utilises a different pricing structure from other WHS backup services due to its links with Amazon S3, and ultimately that makes life a lot more confusing. Alongside a $29.99/£29.74 fee for the add-in (which guarantees a year of email support and application updates) you also have to pay fees to Amazon. I’ve stated before that I’m not a fan of Amazon S3’s pricing structure, which charges both for storage and for data transferred – this “pay as you play” model guarantees you never know how much you’re going to be charged on a monthly basis, and depending on your usage, you could be in for a nasty surprise. Amazon storage fees start at $.15/months per GB of data, whilst transfer fees start at $.10 per GB of data transferred. An online calculator is available (and is needed) to figure out your estimated costs, but it’s all a bit confusing. I’d much prefer to see Cloudberry offer a flat pricing structure which is easier to understand and allows direct comparison with their competitors – pricing confusion is a big barrier to purchase and would convince me to look elsewhere before I’d even checked out the service.
Installation
If you want to check out Cloudberry Backup before purchasing, a 15 day evaluation license is available for download. The add-in installs directly on your home server via the Windows Home Server Console, with its own tab to manage the service, plus an entry in the Settings menu for configuration.
Once the add-in is installed, what follows is a laborious process to get the add-in working. You’ll first need to enter your Cloudberry license details (or request the trial license), which is easy enough, but that’s just the entree. You then need to select and register with a storage provider, with four choices – the aforementioned Amazon S3 (which is the only provider listed with an account registration link), Microsoft’s Azure Cloud service, Germany’s Dunkel storage and a fourth option, Walrus (the latter two services are unknown to me). Go with Amazon, and you’ll need to register a separate account on the Amazon Web Services site, handover your credit card details, set up a storage “bucket” (think of it as a chunk of storage space), and then find two separate keys which will need to be copied and pasted into the Cloudberry add-in, along with your account details.
To be fair to Cloudberry Labs, this runaround is now wholly of their making – the same is true of any service that utilises Amazon S3, and I’ve been critical of other providers in the past (including HP, whose Amazon S3 powered backup service for the MediaSmart Server has now been pulled). Just bear in mind that you’re dealing with two separate service providers here, two accounts, and two payment structures – one fixed price for the add-in, and variable charges to a second provider for storage and file transfers. Simple it isn’t.
User Interface
Cloudberry Backup offers one of the best looking user interfaces we’ve seen on Windows Home Server. The add-in controls integrate well within the Windows Home Server Console, and you can see a lot of work has gone into creating a professional, credible and friendly user experience, with colourful icons and graphics as well as clear links to various controls.
The Command bar offers wizards for backing up and restoring files and folders as well as an overview of your Backup Plan, folder view of your online storage plus a History log of your activity. The left hand pane provides useful information to get started with the service, with links to setup your Backup Plan (what you want backing up and when), the Restore wizard and a What’s New panel. Given Cloudberry have released numerous updates to their service over the last year with new features, this is worth keeping an eye on.
Backing Up Your Files
Creating your Backup Plan is aided by a wizard which guides you through the options. Two Backup modes are available with varying features. The Advanced mode is preferred, allowing filesizes of more than 5GB, the ability to resume uploads which have failed or are aborted, file encryption as well as the ability to store multiple file versions. Note that you will only be able to access your files stored in Advanced Mode with Cloudberry Backup. If you want to manage files with multiple Amazon S3 clients, then it’s the bread and butter Simple Mode you’ll need, which offers none of those features.
