LaCie CloudBox: The Ultimate Office-Backup Solution?
There are two kinds of people in the world: those who have lost data, and those who will. I'm in the former category, which is why I'm constantly advocating a consistent, reliable, diversified approach to backups.
LaCie's CloudBox kills two backup birds with one stone, offering local network-attached backup that's automatically duplicated to online servers. In other words, it's a hard drive, but also a cloud drive. It's the best of both worlds in one set-it-and-forget-it solution.
Take a look at the preview video, then meet me below for some thoughts:
Because the CloudBox connects directly to your network, it can upload files to LaCie's servers even when your PC is off. That's key, because the initial upload can take days or even weeks, depending on how much data you're archiving.
What I don't know is if you can schedule backups to run only during off hours. I hope so, because otherwise the CloudBox might consume an inordinate amount of bandwidth during the workday.
Currently LaCie is offering only a 100GB version of the product, though it's safe to say larger capacities are forthcoming. The 100GB CloudBox sells for $199 and includes one year of backup service. Renewal rates have yet to be announced.
I'm working on getting a review unit from LaCie, so stay tuned for answers to these and other pressing questions. In the meantime, what do you think of the CloudBox? Is it just what the backup doctor ordered, or are you satisfied with more piecemeal solutions (like a USB hard drive and Dropbox)?
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