CrashPlan vs Mozy: The Big Fight in a Small Arena
Here at CommQueR.com, we like to make it simple for you to navigate the cloud storage market. Because many online backup services can backup your data, it can be tough to pick the one that’s best for you, especially if can’t decide between two services. In this article, we’ll compare CrashPlan vs Mozy to make it easier for you to choose.
We’re going to be testing CrashPlan for Small Business because the company shut down its consumer wing. Read our best CrashPlan alternatives piece for more on that. To keep things fair, we’ll also test MozyPro, the company’s business-focused service.
If you want another solution, consult our best online backup list to learn which service is on top. Neither of the services in this comparison are on it, though, so it’s up in the air who’s going to come out on top. If you want to know more about the competitors here, read our CrashPlan review and MozyPro review.
If you’re confused about the difference between cloud storage and cloud backup, read our explanation.
It’s prudent to use cloud backup because it can help you save your data when your hard drive eventually crashes. You can use data recovery software to try to recover your data, but that’s not a sure-fire method. You can’t rely on solid-state drives, either, because they experience more data errors, even if their failure rate is less than 1 percent.
Over the next five rounds, we’re going to see how the services compare to each other to help you make up your mind. At the end of each, we’ll declare a winner. Then, after the bell, we’ll do a recap and name the overall winner.
- 1
- Sync Folder
- Max File Size
- Network Drive
- File Link Sharing
- Link Passwords
- Folder Sharing
- 2
1. Value
Good value is determined by how much subscription plans offer for the money. The more plans a service has, the better your options will be. It’s great if the provider offers a free plan or trial, too, so you can test the service. If you’re looking for free plans, read our best free online backup piece.
Those who need unlimited backup, but want a different solution than CrashPlan for Small Business, should refer to our best unlimited online backup list.
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CrashPlan Pro
| 1-year plan $ 10.00/ month $120.00 billed every year |
CrashPlan for Small Business gives you unlimited backup for one computer for $10 a month. That’s not the best value, but it’s not the worst, either. Because it’s a monthly subscription, you can cancel at any time, which is unusual for a cloud backup service. Before buying it, you can use the 30-day free trial to see if it works for you.
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10GB Plan
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50GB Plan
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100GB Plan
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250GB
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500GB
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1TB
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4TB
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MozyPro’s plans provide backup space that you can share between unlimited computers and servers. You can pay on a monthly, annual or biennial basis. Plans start at 10GB and go up to 4TB, but Mozy only quotes prices up to 250GB on its website.
If you need more than that, you have to request pricing. There are also plans without servers that are cheaper than their counterparts.
It’s great that MozyPro has so many plans, but the problem is it starts at 10GB. That isn’t enough to backup a computer or server. If you have several servers, 4TB might not even suffice. The biggest issue, though, is how expensive it is. MozyPro charges a ludicrous $850 per year for 250GB of backup. Other services provide much better value.
CrashPlan for Small Business offers unlimited storage and doesn’t charge as much as MozyPro, so it’s obvious who wins here.
2. Security
The internet is full of dangers, so having good security is a must. Hackers won’t hesitate to target your data with ransomware or man-in-the-middle attacks. They might try to steal your login credentials, too.
The TLS protocol prevents man-in-the-middle attacks from succeeding, while encryption secures your data in-transit and at-rest. Private, end-to-end encryption prevents anyone other than you from reading your files.
Two-factor authentication is important, too, because it helps prevent access to your account if someone steals your password. Still, you should make sure you have a strong password to begin with.
CrashPlan for Small Business encrypts files on your computer using AES 256-bit encryption. In-transit, AES 128-bit protects them. The service will hold your encryption key, but you can enable private encryption if you wish. If you do enable it, CrashPlan won’t be able to retrieve your password, so don’t lose it.
Either way, make sure you have a strong password because CrashPlan for Small Business doesn’t offer two-factor authentication. Data center security is on the level, though. The service maintains 24/7 surveillance and other measures to prevent intrusion. Centers can resist power failures, natural disasters and fires.
MozyPro has strong security features. It invites third-party audits to ensure its data centers are up to the task of keeping your data safe. The facilities can withstand natural disasters, virus attacks and other events that can jeopardize your data. Security staff is on site 24/7 and data centers are protected by closed-circuit TV cameras, gates and electronic key access.
Your files are encrypted on MozyPro’s servers. In fact, they are encrypted before they leave your computer and protected in-transit with a TLS connection. MozyPro keeps your key by default and uses 448-bit Blowfish encryption. You can opt for private encryption, though, which switches the encryption algorithm to AES 256-bit.
Like CrashPlan for Small Business, MozyPro doesn’t offer private encryption.
Both services provide sufficient security, but CrashPlan for Small Business wins because it uses AES 256-bit by default.
3. Speed
The initial backup can take a long time. How long it takes will depend on your internet service provider and how close you are to a server. Your connection will be better the closer you are.
Services do better if they allow you to tweak transfer settings, throttle speeds and use a block-level transfer algorithm to help after the initial backup.
CrashPlan for Small Business isn’t among the fastest services we’ve tested. It took more than three hours to upload a 1GB file. In theory, the results should have been closer to seven minutes considering our bandwidth. True, compression, deduplication and encryption processes should complicate the matter, but not so much that it takes three hours.
You can disable some of its processes while backing up your files, but we don’t recommend doing so. If your system resources are low, you can enable throttling and set the client to remove the limit once you’re away. Block-level copying will speed up subsequent backups, though.
MozyPro was much faster on initial uploads. Our tests showed that it needs about an hour to backup a 1GB compressed folder to the cloud. We ran our tests from Bangkok over a WiFi connection with 55 megabits per second download and 22 Mbps upload speeds. The issue might be that MozyPro doesn’t compress data.
Mozy’s one hour for a gigabyte of data is great compared to CrashPlan for Small Business’s three, but not so much compared to the rest of the online backup market. If you need a service that’s fast on initial uploads take a look at the speed test table in our Acronis True Image review.
Because MozyPro is much faster, it wins this round.
4. Ease of Use
It should be straightforward to set up initial backups, carry out subsequent ones and recover your data That way, you can focus on your actual work instead of backing up your data. To ensure that, the desktop client should work on many operating systems and its interface, along with those of its web client and mobile app, should be attractive and intuitive to use.
CrashPlan for Small Business’s desktop client is easy to install and only takes a couple of minutes. It’s not hard to use, but the backup operation could be simpler. It doesn’t backup based on file type so you have to manually tag files and folders for backup. The client is attractive, intuitive and easy to navigate.
It’s complemented well by the web interface, which allows you to check user statistics and monitor file restoration from the dashboard. Views show users, devices and give you the option to create reports.
The mobile app used to let you access your files from anywhere, but CrashPlan discontinued it.
MozyPro requires more work before you can start to backup your data. That said, once you set it up, it has features that ease the process going forward.
It’s straightforward to download the desktop client and the installation doesn’t take long. You don’t have to do much to set up your backup because MozyPro scans your file system and selects the most common file types for backup. It doesn’t have the most efficient interface we’ve seen, but the wizard helps get the job done. It works on Windows, macOS and Linux.
The web interface has an admin console with handy features that make it easy to handle account administration. You can search the connections to your account by user or device and see how much data is backed up and when the last backup was run. The “graphs and reports” section displays backup history and health and lets you set email alerts.
MozyPro’s smartphone app can’t backup your data, but it lets you access it. It is available for Android and iOS.
MozyPro has a smartphone app that helps you access your backup, but, overall, it’s more cumbersome to set up than CrashPlan for Small Business, which has a more attractive and intuitive desktop client.
5. The Verdict
MozyPro nets a win in the speed department, but not much else, making CrashPlan for Small Business our overall winner. It didn’t win easily, though, because the margin in the security category was thin. Its ease of use is better and it provides more value because it’s much cheaper than MozyPro and offers unlimited backup space for $10.
Winner: Crashplan
MozyPro is much faster, though. It only takes an hour to upload a 1GB folder. Users who require fast speeds should think about giving it a try.
What do you think about this comparison? Is CrashPlan for Small Business a better choice for you or do you find redeeming qualities in MozyPro? Let us know in the comments below. Thank you for reading.
Branko has a bachelor’s degree in software engineering and likes to write cloud storage, backup and privacy laws. Naturally, he thinks Assange and Snowden are champions of the internet age. In his spare time, he does all sorts of stuff, including photography, reading, salsa dancing and learning languages. He also likes barbecue, hiking, traveling and skiing. Favorite movie never made: Jodorowsky’s Dune.