Or, just give the trial a whirl and see if you can live with it. Check the location of the data servers if speed is important to you. Speed: Speed, in many cases, is far more dependent upon your broadband connection than that of the online service, though the geographical location of the storage and the equipment in between can make a significant difference. In truth, all the services we’re aware of are near-100-percent reliable. If there are too many outages in service, buy accordingly. Check for news of outages and the vendor’s own service blogs. Availability (hopefully 24/7) can also be important. Some of the larger ones even back up to different geographical locations. Reliability: Generally speaking, data centers are backed up to the hilt.

If private encryption keys aren’t available, read the privacy policy, especially with the free services-there are significant differences. Sadly, using your own key often limits the types of services (e.g., no mobile backup) available. Do NOT lose it, as it is absolutely required to restore your data. Privacy: If you’re concerned about the privacy of your data, make sure you use a service that allows the use of a personal encryption key that you define. Note: iDrive even supports Windows Phone.

Make sure the service you sign up for supports all of your platforms. OS and device support: Most services provide client backup software for the major operating systems (Linux, OS X, and Windows) and both Android and iOS.

Best personal online backup