Review of IDrive Online Backup: With military grade encryption
Read the in-depth review about IDrive Online backup service, one of the user-friendly online backup solutions that work across multiple devices. It is also one of the cloud storage service provides free 5GB data backup and sync space that never expires.
IDrive Online backup is one of the leading online backup services out there in the market. When it comes to online backup, there are a lot of service providers now available on the market, but most of them can be only used for backing up certain kind of files and folders. A few online backup services are capable to backup almost everything the user has, so they offer vast amount of storage space required for the job, but sadly, they are steeply priced and sluggish. Others, like Dropbox, gives quick access and fast backup speed, but provide less space to store data. Let's find out what iDrive has to offer!
IDrive offers no unlimited storage options, but it does provide sufficient room to fulfill your backup needs. Prices are also very reasonable, and various features that are incorporated into their plans are substantial. IDrive offers a free 5GB storage service that also features an extra 5GB of sync space. Pro Personal accounts begin with 1TB of storage space and it can be extended to a maximum of 10TB at a reasonable price. For business needs, one can go for business plans, which are good for backing up servers and set up sub-accounts for company staff. The business plan starts out with 250GB to a maximum of 12.5TB. While not unlimited, this is quite good and a lot more than an average person will ever use. According to the company, there are no restrictions for uploads and downloads as long as user has enough room to store it. The application comes loaded with handy features such as incremental backup, continuous backup, 256-bit encryption, full data encryption, archiving, etc. Not to mention, like many others, IDrive also lets you sync files across several devices, including PCs, Macs, iOS and Android devices.Interface and Features of IDrive Online Backup
The Dashboard of IDrive is easy to use and it comes with a lot of handy features to organize your saved data. You would love the various views that IDriveSync provides while you are looking around for the information you've saved. There you can make use of the TimeLine view that helps you to browse all documents and files chronologically, by the date they were modified, or you can browse by file name or directory name. In case, you save a lot of photos, then you can check out them one by one or you can make use of the Gallery view. Just like many other online storage backup services, you get access to your data anywhere in the world via web. The sad thing is the web user interface is a tad confusing and slow, and you may take a while to find the way to your documents if they are hidden down in the file structure. 
IDrive offers a scheduler feature that enables you to set up exactly when it must run backups, and it makes sure modifications you are making to a file are updated to the storage for keeping it safe. Like many other backup services, this one also provides file versioning option. Just in case you made modifications to a file and you wish to go back to a previous version of that file for some reason, then you could make use of this feature. According to the company, IDrive saves up to 30 previous versions of all files, which is good, but many backup services provides more than that, some even providing unlimited versioning.
It offers incremental backup, which means the whole file doesn't have to be backed up all over again when a file has been modified - just the modified part. If you prefer continuous backup, then it can be configured to backup data continuously to the IDrive, and you can set it to backup data in real-time or 10, 30, or 60-minute intervals. Another thing I liked about the IDrive is its ability to resume the backup process even after the disconnection, whereas some backup service providers force you to upload the files all over again if the process gets interrupted because of the lost connection. This feature certainly will save you time and effort.
Security is another plus point of the IDrive. In order to safeguard against all illegal access and hacking to your private data, it encrypts your files and documents with 256-bit AES military grade encryption. It encrypts every data packet before it goes out of the system and then once again when it's stored. On top of that, you'll get the option to choose your own personal encryption key during the installation, which is highly recommended, and make sure it is very complex. However, I could not find an option to retrieve the lost key, which means if you lose it, your data is gone too. Every file you save on the storage will be mirrored to one of their data centers, which are highly secured and continuously monitored to makes sure your data is safe and sound.
As I mentioned, IDrive works across multiple devices, and it does offer an app for iOS, Windows and Android devices. Using the app, you can remotely gain access to the storage and browse through your files, and of course you can download whatever in there. It also comes with a sharing feature so that you can easily share your files or entire directories with a single tap. There you can even shorten the URL so you can copy-paste it into the message you are gonna send, without overwhelming the receiver.
Finally, talking about the support, IDrive provides live chat and email support 24/7. Phone support is available from Monday to Friday. In their website, you can find a slew of video tutorials, how-to articles and FAQs. I found their FAQ section really useful, where usual questions, no matter how simple or complex, are answered in a good and easily understandable way. There is even a dedicated online forum available, where you can ask questions about your doubts, which will be answered as soon as possible by forum moderators or any other experienced IDrive users.Conclusion
IDrive is a well featured and one of the user-friendly online backup solutions now available in the market. It offers ample storage space up to 10TB in Pro Personal plan, which is more than enough one would probably ever use. It features top-of-the-range security, excellent support across the device, a good mobile app and a lot more features that totally automate your backup needs. When it comes to performance, it is extremely fast in backing up and restoring data, and of course the Internet connection speed plays a big role. And, certainly it won't be a good idea to go for any of the online backup services if you really have slow Internet connection. As I said before, IDrive is very secure, especially if you encrypt data with your own private encryption key, but the only downside is you won't able to retrieve the files once you lost the key, according to the company. Maybe it is retrievable with the help of the support team, but I don't think they would bother doing so. Overall, it's a good choice for home users and those who have multiple machines that require online Backup.
