crashplan small business login

• Business Online Backup Reviews

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• Unlimited backup
• Good user management
• Backs up external drives

CrashPlan Review

CrashPlan focuses its cloud backup services on businesses, so it is not the best for personal use. However, it has great backup features and supports multiple users, making it worth considering. Read our CrashPlan review to learn more.

• CrashPlan is a good choice for businesses, particularly small business customers, as it offers two plans with unlimited storage capacity.
• CrashPlan has excellent file versioning that does not limit how many versions of a file you can keep. If you want to set a limit, you can.
• CrashPlan has strong security features, but only the Enterprise plan offers the option to manage your encryption keys.

Facts & Expert Analysis About CrashPlan:

What’s in a name? CrashPlan was the original name used for the online storage service. In 2021, the name was changed to Code42 (a reference to ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’). Then, a cybersecurity company bought the service in 2022 and renamed it CrashPlan in 2023. 1

Faster is better : We discuss speed later in this article, but it is worth highlighting just how dramatically CrashPlan’s speeds have increased, particularly for uploads. When we tested the upload speeds in 2021, it took more than an hour on average. In 2024, upload speeds were down to less than 20 minutes.

Not for “home” use : CrashPlan offered a home plan that supported individuals or those looking for personal backup until 2017. 2 The shift to a more business-centric solution meant that CrashPlan Home changed to CrashPlan Essentials, effectively ending personal use for the service.

CrashPlan, previously known as Code42, offers online backup services focused primarily on professionals and business customers. Some elements of the service have changed in addition to the rebrand. Read on to see what’s new or improved and whether it’s a good choice for your business in our CrashPlan review.

CrashPlan makes our list of the best online backup services primarily as a good choice for businesses. As you will see in the sections below, unlimited storage capacity and excellent file versioning are the service’s strengths. However, CrashPlan is not a perfect solution — it is not good for personal use and could be more user-friendly.

Cloudwards.net updated this article to reflect changes to CrashPlan and update the images. Review usedversion 8.8.1, Build Number 36 (PC/Linux), Version 1.0.15 (Android).

This article has been rewritten to include new features, speed test results and pricing.

What Is CrashPlan (Formerly Code42) & Who Is It For?

CrashPlan, a backup product formerly owned and created by Code42, is now part of private equity fund Mill Point Capital. CrashPlan is designed as a secure backup solution for business and enterprise-level customers, but it does have some support for individual users.

Is CrashPlan Good for a Small Business? 

CrashPlan’s generous file versioning and data deletion policy make it great for small businesses. There are plenty of security features to keep data secure, and recovering data from an unexpected event such as ransomware is quick and effective.

Small businesses may be put off by the high cost of the service, which we will cover later. In essence, the best features and storage flexibility come from the Professional plan, but it could be a strain on a small business’s budget.

The Cloudwards Expert Opinion

Jason Stagnitto is a writer for Cloudwards. His writing and research for Cloudwards focus largely on cloud storage and online backup.

CrashPlan is a solid choice for most businesses, but it is not intended for individual or personal use, which certainly limits its overall appeal. It has excellent storage capacity, generous file versioning and a noticeable increase in upload and download speeds. However, it can be frustrating to use, even for those familiar with online backup services.

CrashPlan Pros & Cons

• Encryption key management
• Unlimited storage capacity
• Excellent file versioning
• Customizable backups
• No true private encryption
• Not overly user-friendly
• Not for personal use

Alternatives

Features: What Can CrashPlan Do?

CrashPlan has many features you’d expect from a cloud backup service. It isn’t as feature rich as some competitors, but CrashPlan is a solid option for anyone looking for a functional backup with some nice customization options. 

CrashPlan has unlimited file versioning on all of its plans with no limit, so you’ll never have to worry about losing older versions. File versioning lets you revert to an older version of a file, which is important for many different user types. Additionally, you can set a limit on file versioning, giving you control over your versioning policy.

You can manage the files and folders included in a backup by selecting “manage files” in the desktop app. Add or remove folders and files by selecting or deselecting each item.

One element you can’t change is the system and application backup; CrashPlan will back up these items whether you want it to or not. For most, this won’t be an issue. However, for those who want total control over what gets backed up, CrashPlan only offering partial customization may be an issue.

CrashPlan has robust bandwidth settings that let you manage the send rate when performing backups. Stick with the preset values, such as 100 kbps to up to 2 Mbps, or set a custom sending rate limit.

Other network settings let you restrict network interfaces, though you’ll need to have an advanced understanding of interface addresses, as the options that populate do not have conventional names. The network address resembles a hexadecimal string. You can also enable a proxy server if you have one.

With CrashPlan, you are not limited to only using the cloud to back up your data. If you have an external hard drive or a network-attached storage device, you can connect them to your CrashPlan account and back up your data to either option. NAS is only available on Mac and Linux.

CrashPlan supports Windows servers, but only for small businesses, Ubuntu operating systems and virtual desktop interfaces from Amazon WorkSpaces.

CrashPlan Features Overview

User-Friendliness & Hands-On Testing: CrashPlan Backup Software

CrashPlan is not overly difficult to use once you get used to the workflow process and how the desktop application and web interface interact with each other. It is almost immediately apparent that CrashPlan is designed for businesses. However, it is not as user-friendly as IDrive, for example, which you can read about in our IDrive review .

CrashPlan’s desktop app does not work unless you are logged in to your account on the web. We tested this and weren’t able to use the CrashPlan desktop interface offline. Navigating the desktop app and the web interface isn’t difficult, but it can be tricky to find what you are looking for. The organization and options seemed geared more toward administrators than users.

You need to be logged in to an account not only to use the desktop app but also to download it in the first place. Only after you log in do you have access to the desktop app. If it is your first time using the app, you’ll have the option to create a new backup or replace an existing one.

Regardless of which option you choose, CrashPlan will automatically begin backing up your data. You’ll need to pause the backup if you don’t want it to run. In addition, if you are idle for any longer than a few minutes, you’ll need to log back in to the desktop interface. This is a decent feature for security, but from a user experience perspective, it quickly becomes tiresome.

Visually and functionally, there is no difference between the Mac and PC desktop apps. You can manage your files, adjust settings and restore your data the same way using either one. There are some differences in the folders that are required for a backup, which we will cover in the section on file backup and restoration later.

CrashPlan no longer offers mobile apps for iOS or Android. If you want backup services for your mobile devices, you’ll need to find a different provider.

CrashPlan Pricing: CrashPlan Essential, CrashPlan Pro & CrashPlan Enterprise

CrashPlan is not the most affordable online backup service, though its prices aren’t much higher than its competitors’. However, if you are looking for a budget-friendly service, CrashPlan probably won’t meet your needs.

CrashPlan has three plan options, with each tier offering more features and better customer support than the previous one. The highest-priced plan also offers the option to host your encryption keys. We’ll go into more detail on this feature in the section on privacy.

It should be noted that CrashPlan does not have a personal plan option. However, its business plans have no minimum user requirements, so you could use it as an individual as long as you provide a business name when signing up.

Unfortunately, CrashPlan does not have a money-back guarantee for any of its plans.

CrashPlan has three plans: Essential, Professional and Enterprise. Each plan comes with a 14-day free trial. There is no free version of CrashPlan. When signing up for an annual plan, you have the option to pay a lower price by committing to two years with the Essential and Professional plans.

The Essential plan costs $2.99 per month and is not available as an annual plan. This plan is only for one user, with connections for up to two devices. The backup capacity is capped at 200GB, and it costs $1 per month for each additional 100GB.

The Professional plan costs $8 per user per month, $88 per user per year or $158 per user for two years. It has unlimited backup capacity and supports connections for two devices per user. The Professional plan increases data retention to 90 days, includes role-based access control and supports single sign-on.

The Enterprise plan costs $120 per user per year and is only available annually. It has unlimited capacity and supports up to four devices per user. Features include unlimited deleted file retention, individual user encryption and open API access.

Yes, CrashPlan’s Professional and Enterprise plans have unlimited backup storage capacity for each user. However, based on some anecdotal social media posts, any storage capacity over 50TB seems to have reduced speed and prompts a warning from CrashPlan to reduce the capacity.

We reached out to confirm this with CrashPlan, and we were informed that there is technically a limit. Backup archives can’t go beyond 60-80TB. CrashPlan defines a backup archive as a storage folder that contains a complete backup.

• Storage & price is per user Up to 2 devices per user 30-Day Deleted File Retention
• Price is per user Up to 2 devices per user 90-Day Deleted File Retention
• Unlimited GB
• Price is per user Unlimited Deleted File Retention

CrashPlan Backup Solution: File Backup & Restoration

A backup service is only as good as its backup features and capabilities. How much control you have and the type of backups available are also key considerations. CrashPlan makes it easy to back up your data and even easier to restore your folders or files when needed.

CrashPlan creates an image-based backup by capturing your OS, system data, applications, folders and files. It has options for full, continuous and incremental backups. CrashPlan supports automatic backups, which run every 15 minutes, even if you use an external HDD or NAS. However, NAS is not supported on Windows.

CrashPlan performs an initial full backup. After that, it performs incremental backups for data already present and only updates changed elements and new additions. Additionally, you can schedule your backup to run continuously. Hybrid backups are possible, as CrashPlan supports onsite and offsite backups.

During the initial full backup, CrashPlan begins backing up your data based on the default configurations. If you want to change your backup data, you’ll need to go to “manage files” on the desktop app. There are a few options you won’t be able to change, depending on your operating system.

CrashPlan on a Mac requires you to back up the “applications” and “home” folders. You can pick and choose what else to back up from your “library” and “users” folders. The PC version has more requirements and includes items like “PerfLogs” and “program files.”

CrashPlan makes it very easy to restore your folders and files when needed. You can use the desktop app or restore from your web account. Both methods work the same way. From the desktop app, click the “restore files” button and select the items you want to restore.

The process is the same from the web. You’ll need to access the “devices” tab from the “administration” dropdown menu. The “restore” option is to the right of your backups. Clicking on it pulls up a menu similar to the one in the desktop app, letting you select which folders or files you want to restore.

You can recover deleted files using the “restore” feature by selecting the option to “include deleted files.” The web app has the option to include deleted files from the restore page. The Professional plans hold deleted files for 90 days, while the Essentials plan offers 30-day deletion retention. The Enterprise plan holds deleted files indefinitely.

CrashPlan Speed

CrashPlan’s backup speed is pretty quick overall and certainly as fast as many of its competitors. During our recent round of speed testing, we noticed a significant increase in upload speeds compared to our previous results.

Upload Speeds

Download Speeds

Notes From the Lab: Our Detailed Speed Analysis

We conducted speed tests using a virtual server located in Ireland with speeds capped at 100 Mbps to ensure a consistent test environment. We uploaded and downloaded 5GB of mixed content twice to find the speed average. Uploads were slower at 5 Mbps but didn’t tax the CPU. Downloads were very fast, hitting 90-100% of the speed capacity.

Security: Is CrashPlan Safe?

Yes, CrashPlan is a safe application that protects your data at rest and in transit. To date, there have been no major data leaks or breaches that have compromised user data.

One element that CrashPlan mandates is two-factor authentication; there’s no way to turn this off. In almost all situations, two-factor authentication is recommended to protect against unauthorized access to your account. However, making it obligatory takes away some agency from the account holder.

There are relatively few security settings to choose from. You can toggle the option to require a password to open the CrashPlan app, and if you have an Enterprise plan, you can manage your account encryption key. This is an important point, as your encryption key is what you — or others — use to access your account.

Despite CrashPlan articles and marketing material indicating that you control your encryption key, this is only true with small business services and the Enterprise plan. Otherwise, you do not maintain control over your encryption keys, so CrashPlan could theoretically access your account. This means that CrashPlan is not a true zero-knowledge encrypted service.

CrashPlan uses AES 256-bit encryption and TLS/SSL encryption protocols to protect your data on its servers and when you transfer data. Most of CrashPlan’s servers are located in the United States, with some servers in Ireland.

Privacy: Is CrashPlan Private?

CrashPlan indicates that it takes its users’ privacy seriously, as it follows privacy principles and regulations from around the world. Examples include the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). CrashPlan includes a data processing addendum as part of its customer agreement.

As we mentioned, CrashPlan does not offer zero-knowledge encryption for every account type. Only the higher-priced plans allow customers to maintain control over their encryption keys. With zero-knowledge encryption, only you can access your account. Without it, CrashPlan could gain access to your account.

Fortunately, it is unlikely that CrashPlan would do so unless they were subpoenaed or faced some other legal requirement. CrashPlan does a good job of maintaining compliance with regulations such as HIPAA and provides plenty of transparency for anyone who cares to take a look at how it handles user data.

As with any cloud-based service, CrashPlan collects data on you based on the information you provide and how you use its services. For a company that places such a premium on protecting personal privacy, CrashPlan collects a lot of user data.

CrashPlan collects standard user data like name, address and billing information. It also collects information on your job and role, which seems odd, as well as any time you engage with its customer support elements.

CrashPlan automatically collects data when you interact with its website, such as information about your device and the network you used to access the website. In some situations, CrashPlan may receive data from third parties.

Most importantly, CrashPlan uses your data to provide its services to you, and it only shares data with its affiliates and business partners. Fortunately, none of this data is personal. However, CrashPlan’s privacy policy and actions are the most intrusive we’ve seen, especially from a company that claims to place a high premium on your individual data privacy.

CrashPlan Customer Support

CrashPlan has many excellent customer support tools. It has live chat, email support and a robust, searchable knowledgebase. CrashPlan also has a blog with good general information, as well as other information like announcements and release notes.

Live Chat & Email Support Speed & Quality

The live chat option is one example of great customer service. You can connect with a live person after answering a few chatbot questions. During our testing, the customer service rep was friendly, responsive and helpful.

The same is true for its email assistance, which has a standard response time of one business day. Support services are based on your plan, which you’ll be prompted to indicate on CrashPlan’s “contact support” page.

CrashPlan vs Other Online Backup Services: How Does It Compare?

CrashPlan has several strong competitors vying for your cloud backup business. We mentioned IDrive in this article, and for good reason. It is more user-friendly than CrashPlan and has a pricing structure accommodating a broader customer base. We pitted these two against each other, which you can read about in our CrashPlan vs IDrive article .

CrashPlan and Backblaze both have excellent backup features, and both offer unlimited storage capacity. However, as you can see in our CrashPlan vs Backblaze article, there are some significant differences in how each service approaches features and useability. You can also check our Backblaze review to learn more about it.

The Verdict: Is CrashPlan Worth It?

CrashPlan is a good cloud-based backup option, especially for businesses. It has nice backup features and provides plenty of customization for what you back up. Restoring data is easy. CrashPlan is not the most user-friendly tool, though, especially for personal use. However, it is a solid option and certainly worth considering.

Do you have any experience using CrashPlan? Do you prefer other online backup providers? Is there a better backup option for businesses? Let us know in the comments section below. Thanks for reading our article.

FAQ: CrashPlan Review

Yes, CrashPlan is worth considering, especially for businesses.

CrashPlan is a secure service that protects your data with AES 256-bit encryption and TLS/SSL encryption protocols.

Yes, CrashPlan is HIPAA compliant.

CrashPlan is used to back up the data on your computer. It is very effective for businesses and multiple users.

• CrashPlan Cloud Storage Vendor Code 42 Grabs $52.5 Million In VC Funding – CRN
• CrashPlan is shutting down its cloud backup service for consumers – The Verge

We have been loyal customers of Crashplan for 10 years and they have made hundreds and hundreds of dollars out of us.

Now, when we try to contact them for the first time ever because there is a problem caused by THEIR lousy system, they are absolutely impossible to get hold of.

They encourage you to use their chat support. What is this? Simply and purely a ‘bot’ that doesn’t answer the simplest of questions. No human being whatsoever!

They have a phone number. No matter which options you select, you are sent to an automated message. It sends you to their help section. No human being once again!

I could go on and on.

I’ve wasted HOURS trying to get hold of Crashplan, all to no avail.

We are in a dire situation now with our backed up files and when are trying to reach out to Crashplan they are making it IMPOSSIBLE for us.

Therefore I’d recommend you stay clear. When you are in a situation like ours you will realise that they are simply not available for you!! Therefore there is absolutely no point paying Crashplan hefty amounts of money if you can’t access your files when you actually need them.

Everybody else all over the internet is saying the same thing.

Avoid, avoid, avoid!

I’ve been with CP for about 4 years. Generally reliable and support here is SLOW 2 days return email to start the ticket. UPloads of 350GB takes up to 7 days and CP is good at making excuses for this. I have 95Mbps download and 37Mbps UPload. My large backup files of this size should take 2 days at that speed – max. I’m in the middle of such a backup right now and I’m on the 4th day and only a fraction is done. I don’t know where the coke is but CP tells me, incredibly, I am backing up to their Aussie outpost server in North Sydney only 10-15kms away. Nothing makes sense with these people and I’m at the point where i am now looking closely at Backblaze. Their support people just never seem to empathise – if they did I’d feel like they actually understand me,. my frustration and what I’m trying to explain to them. A definite love/hate relationship but not a lot of love coming from their side. If they’d only be more communicative. They ask for me to complete “service” surveys all the time – God knows why, nothing ever improves over the years. A real shame with a product/service with so much potential.

agree with slow as…. since dedup is’nt customizable crashplan is useless… I’ve got a 4 TB Backup photos and videos so no duplicate data… my outgoing speed ist 10 MBit (German Telekom 50/10 MBit) and crashplan is backing up with 150 KBit/s and the CPU is at average 80% sooo IT’S A JOKE!!!! Don’t use it!!!!

minus 5 Stars or less….

Their customer service is awful. I have been trying to cancel my trial for over a week.

Crashplan is NOT for small business now. We had 67 seats, that’s 4 devices per seat. They have now said they are changing the rules that minimum purchase is going to be 100 seats now, or in other words, be a company with around 400 devices. They expect us to pay the extra, we’re not going to. We’ll go with COMET. But since INCYDR took over I’ve been complaining it is SLOW, DEAD SLOW, they don’t care. They also moved our data from one data centre to another and threw away the ENTIRE HISTORICAL backup sets. It’s appallingly badly supported and even complaints are ignored. If you’re a large customer, honestly, be careful. They’ll change the rules as they see fit, you might fit their minimum size now but will you when they next change it?

Hi Ian, I’m sorry to hear you’ve had such a difficult time. It sounds like you may have fallen into a problem which was caused by confusion during a corporate change.

CrashPlan is no longer part of Code42 as of August of last year (2022).

During that transition, users of CrashPlan and Code42’s Incydr were split along product lines with both organizations agreeing to support the customers we were responsible for. It sounds like your organization had purchased Incydr rather than CrashPlan at the time of the split which would match with the information you have shared.

It also sounds as though you have been informed that Incydr is no longer the proper fit for your use-case(s). I’m sorry to hear that.

If you’d be interested in having a conversation with someone about using CrashPlan (which has no connection to Code42) we’d be happy to continue doing what we have been doing for our customers for the past 15 years and protect your users’ data. We have a strong small business presence and have been reinvesting in that product and our customers using it.

You can find more information about CrashPlan here: https://www.crashplan.com/en-us/pricing/business/

Information about the split can be found here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220803005732/en/CrashPlan-Receives-Investment-from-Mill-Point-Capital

If you’d like more information or to have a conversation you can reach us here: https://www.crashplan.com/en-us/company/contact/

All the best and sorry again.

Decent product when it works but good luck getting support. They take about a week to respond and not very helpful when they do. Current issue with potentially patching and their response is it is a Microsoft issue, we won’t fix it even though it prevents their product from functioning. Be warned.

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You can tell that an article is fact checked with the Facts checked by symbol, and you can also see which Cloudwards.net team member personally verified the facts within the article. However, providers frequently change aspects of their services, so if you see an inaccuracy in a fact-checked article, please email us at feedback[at]cloudwards[dot]net. We strive to eventually have every article on the site fact checked. Thank you.

CrashPlan for Small Business cloud backup review

Crashplan delivers solid performance for a reasonable price.

Tom's Guide Verdict

CrashPlan for Small Business costs twice as much as Backblaze, but its advanced features may be worth the cost for some users.

Unlimited storage

Supports NAS drive backups on macOS and Linux

Extensive security and backup-scheduling options

Excellent download and upload speeds

Supports ToTP two-factor authentication

Expensive compared to most of its competitors

Relatively resource intensive during backups

Minimal feature set

Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what's best for you. Find out more about how we test, analyze, and rate.

Number of devices backed up per subscription: Unlimited, at $10 per month each Storage limit: Unlimited Backups of tethered external drives: Yes Backups of network storage drives: Mac, Linux only Backups of mobile devices: No Operating system/application backups: Yes, but not recommended Backups to local drives: Yes Two-factor authentication: Yes Drive shipping: No

In August of 2017, CrashPlan announced that its widely used CrashPlan for Home service (then our top pick among the best cloud backup services) would be shut down. The company referred its consumer customers to its rival Carbonite .

At the time, the $10-per-month pricing for CrashPlan for Small Business seemed to put it out of consideration for consumers. 

But as consumer-oriented competitors' prices have risen around it, CrashPlan's strong feature set has put in back in play for a certain category of home user.

CrashPlan for Small Business isn't going to unseat the likes of Backblaze or IDrive in simplicity or affordability. However, its combination of unlimited storage and unique features make CrashPlan for Small Business worth looking at for some home consumers.

Read on for the rest of our CrashPlan for Small Business review.

Online-backup services, aka cloud backup services, make an online backup of every personal file on your computer. Some of these services also back up system files, applications, smartphones, tablets and external hard drives to the cloud. Most of them offer unlimited (or at least several terabytes of) storage for a flat subscription fee, and many, including CrashPlan for Small Business, can also back up your computer to a local external hard drive.

CrashPlan for Small Business: Cloud backup services defined

Online-syncing services like Dropbox or OneDrive are different. They create online copies of specific files and push them out to all your devices so you can always access to the latest files. But it would be expensive and impractical to use an online-syncing service to back up all your files.

If you have thousands of photos, videos, or music files you want backed up to a safe location, a cloud-backup service is what you need.

CrashPlan for Small Business: Costs and what's covered

CrashPlan for Small Business is $10 monthly per device for unlimited storage. That's it. There are no tricks or upsells, and no discounts for purchasing multiple years or adding multiple computers. You do get a 30-day free trial period.

This gives CrashPlan for Small Business the most expensive base option in our testing. At $120 per year per computer, it's twice the cost of Backblaze, which also offers unlimited storage. And with IDrive Personal, you can back up an unlimited number of computers with a total 10TB storage cap.

Once you start comparing it to other services, however, CrashPlan for Small Business seems more reasonable. It's about the same price as Carbonite Safe Plus but offers more features. With Acronis True Image, backing up a single computer to 1TB of storage costs $125 per year; 5TB of storage boosts that to $285.

Given the business focus of the service, it isn't surprising that CrashPlan offers a few features unseen in its consumer-oriented competitors. File versioning, which we'll cover in more depth later in this review, is just one example; CrashPlan for Small Business lets users configure the retention time of both old versions and deleted files.

Like Acronis and IDrive, CrashPlan lets you create a local external backup of your data. Both Windows and macOS come with their own local-backup solutions, but it's convenient to have one built right into your online-backup solution.

CrashPlan also supports backup of external hard drives physically connected to your computer, something most other online-backup solutions offer. With CrashPlan you can also backup files on a network attached storage (NAS) device using macOS or Linux, but not Windows for some reason. Windows users with NAS drives should instead look to IDrive or Acronis, but both lack unlimited backup storage.

The combination of unlimited storage and NAS support makes CrashPlan an unbeatable option for anyone who manages large media libraries with a NAS, as long as you use macOS or Linux.

While most online-backup services won't back up system files or applications, CrashPlan for Small Business can if you want it to. But the CrashPlan website warns that doing so could interfere with the backups of your personal or business files.

I was a bit surprised to find that CrashPlan had no physical-drive-shipment service for the initial seeding process or in the event of significant data loss. Backblaze, Carbonite and IDrive offer these services, which save a lot of time and bandwidth if you've got several terabytes of files to back up or restore.

CrashPlan for Small Business supports Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, macOS 10.13, Android 5.0 (Lollipop), iOS 11.0 and later versions of each, as well as Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.6 through 8.2 and Ubuntu LTS versions 16.04, 18.04 and 20.04. Macs using the new ARM-based M1 chips are supported, but no other ARM-based computers are.

There's a full chart with scheduled end-of-support dates and detailed breakdowns of different Windows 10 builds on the CrashPlan website.

None of the other services that we tested offer feature complete Linux support, and most don't support it all. If you use either Red Hat Enterprise Linux or Ubuntu, your search for an online backup solution is probably done.

CrashPlan for Small Business: Performance

We tested each cloud-backup service using a Lenovo Yoga C940 14-inch laptop with a 10th-generation Intel Core i7 CPU running Windows 10 Home 64. Mobile apps were tested on a Google Pixel 3 smartphone running Android 10 . Each service's software was uninstalled from both devices before another service's software was installed.

Our test set of files to back up consisted of 15.6GB of documents, photos, videos and music. We uploaded this data to each cloud backup service and then restored a 1.4GB subset of these files to the Lenovo Yoga C940.

We used the GlassWire network-monitoring application to monitor upload and download speeds and the built-in Windows Resource Monitor to track CPU usage. 

Our tests were conducted in Middleton, Wisconsin, using TDS Telecom Extreme300 Fiber home internet service, which theoretically provided up to 300 megabits per second (Mbps) down and 300 Mbps up. Real-world speeds were typically closer to 50 Mbps down and 60 Mbps up during testing.

Our initial upload of the 15.6GB of files to CrashPlan's servers took approximately 1 hour and 29 minutes, with an average transfer speed of exactly 27 Mbps.

Restoring 1.4GB of video files from CrashPlan took approximately 5 minutes and 50 seconds. According to Speedtest.net, our connection provided 53-Mbps download at this time, while CrashPlan delivered the files at 34.4 Mbps.

CrashPlan was the second-fastest service on the initial upload, 23 minutes behind Backblaze. Acronis and IDrive were just behind CrashPlan, by 2 minutes and 7 minutes, respectively. 

CrashPlan did manage to claim the top spot in the file-restoration test, with Backblaze just behind it at over 7 minutes, then Carbonite at 9 minutes 30 seconds and Acronis and IDrive well behind the rest at over 15 minutes and over 16 minutes.

The usage portion of the testing is where things fell apart a bit for CrashPlan. During the initial backup process, the CrashPlan application used an average of approximately 7.26% of our Lenovo Yoga C940's CPU resources. This is more than double that of the second-most-intensive option, Carbonite.

Usage stayed high throughout the initial backup and varied considerably from 5% to 17%. Fortunately, this resource consumption dropped below 1% following the initial backup, so if you can plan your backups for off-hours (which CrashPlan does enable with Flexible Scheduling) it won't be noticeable in day-to-day use.

CrashPlan for Small Business: User interface

CrashPlan doesn't break the mold with its desktop user interface. It's the same basic status screen other backup services have, with file management and settings options. While the file-picker interface could use a little modernization, the app is functional and quick and does have a slightly more up-to-date feel than many of its competitors.

CrashPlan does offer considerably more settings options than the competition, with more granular control over how and when your computer backs up, how long the backups are retained and some added security options. Again, given the business focus, a lot of these controls make sense, although I wouldn't mind seeing a few make their way over to the consumer apps.

Under Usage you have a multitude of options regarding when you will receive alerts and reminders regarding your computer not being backed up. 

You can also set the exact CPU percentage you would like to allow the computer to allocate to your backup when you are away from or present at your computer. Finally, you can choose to have backups stop if your laptop battery gets below a certain percentage.

Network settings let you control the bandwidth and exclude specific networks if there's a location from which you never wish to backup.

Security gives you three options for unlocking the CrashPlan app. You can use the password you created when you signed up for the service, which can be recovered. Or you can use a separate Archive Key Password, which can offer a password-recovery question. Finally, you can use a Custom Key that has no account-recovery options.

Finally, Backup Sets is where you dictate the frequency and versioning options for your backups. You can either set this to a continuous mode or set specific days and/or times that you would like the backups to run.

Versioning options are extensive, with the ability to set different version retention for each week, between a week and 90 days, between 90 days and a year, and beyond a year. You can also set how often deleted files are removed, from one day in intervals up to a year, or you can opt to never remove deleted files.

CrashPlan also lets you manage the file-restoration process from within the app, which most consumer backup services don't let you do. You are presented with options regarding where to download the files, how to deal with duplicates and file permissions.

CrashPlan for Small Business: Mobile apps

The CrashPlan for Small Business mobile app covers the basics of offering you the ability to download any file that you have uploaded to your CrashPlan account. The interface is quite stark, particularly when using it for a single device, but the app is extremely responsive.

The app also lets you use your smartphone's biometric security, i.e. a fingerprint reader or facial recognition software, to both log into the app and access protected archives. Most consumer backup solutions don't do this, but with CrashPlan targeting businesses with this product, that perhaps explains why it was more front of mind.

CrashPlan for Small Business: Extra features

CrashPlan For Small Business doesn't have many extra features, except for the extensive versioning and NAS support.

It does offer more security than most cloud-backup solutions. CrashPlan for Small Business supports time-based one-time password (ToTP) two-factor authentication via mobile authenticator apps such as Google Authenticator or Authy. I was surprised to find that this isn't common among consumer cloud backup services; Backblaze is the only other option I reviewed that offers it.

Like most other services, though, CrashPlan uses AES-256-bit encryption in transit and at rest, so your data is decrypted only on your own devices. Here Backblaze is the exception in the wrong direction, offering only AES-128 bit encryption.

CrashPlan for Small Business review: Bottom line

CrashPlan Pro for Small Business doesn't have a lot of extras, but the core feature set is impressive regardless. Much like Backblaze , this cloud-backup service is designed for you to set it and forget about it.

Given the rather expensive cost, I wouldn't recommend CrashPlan for Small Business to most home users. But for anyone who requires extensive versioning options or who accesses a large NAS from macOS or Linux systems as part of their workflow, the added cost for CrashPlan For Small Business' professional features and unlimited storage capacity may well be worth it.

A self-professed "wearer of wearables," Sean Riley is a Senior Writer for Laptop Mag who has been covering tech for more than a decade. He specializes in covering phones and, of course, wearable tech, but has also written about tablets, VR, laptops, and smart home devices, to name but a few. His articles have also appeared in Tom's Guide, TechTarget, Phandroid, and more.

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• Photo_Phyllis Without any notice that I'm aware of, CrashPlan changed its policy of allowing users to choose "never delete" for their files. I explicitly confirmed this was the policy in April 2021 (I changed computers and due to slow internet, wasn't able to restore them all at that time). In February 2022, when I tried to access the older files, they were all gone. CrashPlan's customer service was pretty cavalier - basically - yep - we changed our policy and your data is gone. Pitiful. Reply
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Cloud Backup Solutions for Small Businesses: Everything You Need to Start

If you’re a small business that wants to back up your data, you’re likely aware of the 3-2-1 backup rule . This rule essentially states that you need to keep three copies of data at two different locations, with one of these locations offsite. Following this rule can help you avoid data loss, and the most secure and reliable offsite location tends to come from a cloud backup provider.

But there are a variety of cloud backup solutions for small businesses that can play a significant role in improving your company’s data resilience. How do you choose the right one for your needs?

4 Tips for Finding a Cloud Backup Solution for Your Small Business

Finding the right cloud backup solution for small businesses involves understanding your backup needs and ensuring the provider can meet them. Review these four tips for picking an exceptional cloud backup solution:

1. Evaluate Your Cloud Backup Needs

Before you select a cloud backup provider, you’ll want to do an assessment of your digital workspace. This includes evaluating:

How many computers does your small business use? You’ll need a backup solution that covers all the devices necessary for your business.

What type of files need to be backed up? Some files, like high-quality video files, require significantly more space to store.

How much data do you plan to upload to the cloud? Related to the questions above, this requires gauging a rough estimate of the overall amount of data that must be protected through backup. Since backup requirements can increase, it’s often a good idea to choose a solution that offers flexible or unlimited backup options.

Does your team work remotely? If so, your provider will need to support cloud backup for remote devices. 

What operating systems does your team use? Many Companies use multiple operating systems (such as Windows and macOS). As a result, most small businesses prefer to use a cloud backup solution compatible with multiple operating systems.

2. Check That the Cloud Backup Solution Supports Your Data Disaster Recovery Plan

Any cloud backup solution you select should meet the standards you’ve established in your data disaster recovery plan . 

A disaster recovery plan should feature a recovery time objective (RTO) and a recovery point objective (RPO). A good cloud backup solution will ensure you can meet your RPO by automatically backing up your files at the intervals your RPO established. The solution should also offer recovery speeds that support your RTO to ensure your team can get right back to work after a data loss event.

Besides supporting your RTOs and RPOs, a cloud backup solution should allow you to prioritize data for backup and recovery. By allowing you to prioritize types of files for backup, you can reduce the risk that important files aren’t backed up before a disaster. Additionally, data prioritization is essential for data recovery , as it allows you to recover the most important files first. With data recovery prioritization, you can cut down on productivity losses by recovering the files your team needs for work before restoring less important ones.

3. Ensure the Provider Can Securely Store Your Data

One of the main benefits of using a cloud backup provider is that it stores your data in an offsite location that should protect you from ransomware attacks and data loss due to disasters. However, if a provider doesn’t have top-grade security features, your data could be at risk.

While searching for a secure backup cloud provider, ensure they follow industry-standard encryption protocols, hold relevant certifications , and offer access controls. 

Checking that a provider follows HIPPA, SOC 1, SOC2, ISO27001, GDPR, and CCPA standards can ensure your data is properly stored and secured. Additionally, your data ideally should be encrypted before it’s transmitted to the backup destination to guard it against threats during transit.

4. Endpoint Backup Solutions

While you can find a few different types of cloud backup methods, endpoint backup solutions can often be the right choice for most companies. This type of solution copies data from your small business’ endpoints and stores them in an offsite cloud, ensuring the files on these devices are continuously archived in a secure location.

A great endpoint backup solution will back up your data every 15 to 30 minutes to prevent a significant amount of data loss after a disaster. Other features you’ll want to look for in an endpoint cloud backup solution include compliance with various data storage standards, fast data recovery after a disaster, and unlimited cloud backup. 

CrashPlan: Cloud Backup Solutions for Small Businesses

When you’re looking for cloud backup solutions for small businesses, CrashPlan is ready to help. Our secure endpoint backup solutions are designed for simplicity, security, and reliability. With our solutions in your corner, you’ll receive automatic backups every fifteen minutes, continuous data protection, role-based access settings, and unlimited versioning. 

Since CrashPlan uses minimal system resources, our continuous backups won’t interrupt your team’s workflow, and will ensure continued protection against data loss. 

Learn more about our small business cloud backup solutions today. If you’re ready to see how CrashPlan can handle all your endpoint backup needs, please sign up for our free trial .

About the Author

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CrashPlan® provides peace of mind through secure, scalable, and straightforward endpoint data backup. We help organizations recover from any worst-case scenario, whether it is a disaster, simple human error, a stolen laptop, ransomware or an as-of-yet undiscovered calamity.

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