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Comcast To Launch Online Backup Service
In 10, 50, or 200GB flavors...will count against new cap...

Comcast insiders have informed Broadband Reports that the cable giant will soon be launching an online backup and storage service called Comcast Secure Backup and Share, for which customers can pay a monthly or yearly fee. The plan is to offer several storage options: 10GB worth of storage for $4.99/mo or $49.99 per year; 50GB for $9.99/mo or $99.99 year; or 200GB for $19.99 a month. When launched, users should be able to try it for one month free.

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Once the service is purchased by a primary Comcast account holder, everyone in the family can use the service with their own individual "lockers," though their use contributes to the storage total. If the Comcast broadband account is canceled, users have fourteen days before all content is deleted permanently.

The insider notes that due to copyright concerns, the service will allow users to back up music files, but they won't be able to share them with others. Shared files can of course be accessed from anywhere there's a broadband connection. Comcast tells us this service will contribute towards Comcast's new 250GB monthly cap. We've obtained some screenshots for the service (1, 2, 3) which is tentatively scheduled for launch sometime in late February or early March.

Given the low price of storage and remote storage devices, the $240 per year you'd pay for 200GB worth of storage might be better spent on a low cost NAS (network attached storage) device -- many of which offer storage in the terabyte range for less than $500 -- with no restrictions on what kind of media you can share.

Update: A Comcast spokesman in the comments below confirms that the service will count against your monthly cap. That's probably a necessary move by Comcast, given that excluding this service would have riled up the network neutrality brigades. Still, including it would seem to limit its usefulness.
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Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

Joe12345678

Member

what is the point of 200GB back up with a 250gb cap so you o

what is the point of 200GB back up with a 250gb cap so you only have about 50gb left of other stuff and is the cap up + down makeing it so you may not even be able to use it 100%?

StevenB
Premium Member
join:2000-10-27
New York, NY

StevenB

Premium Member

Re: what is the point of 200GB back up with a 250gb cap so you o

When does this company make any sense. I'll bet half of the people who design services for Comcast don't even know a cap is implemented.
jc10098
join:2002-04-10

jc10098

Member

Re: what is the point of 200GB back up with a 250gb cap so you o

The better response is I bet half the people making decisions or giving advice to Comcast are the same contractors that Rob, Steal, Murder the clinets =P. Hence, ignorance flows from all sides of this river.

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

fifty nine to Joe12345678

Member

to Joe12345678
They will probably exempt the online backup service from the cap, showing what the real reason for the cap is - to protect the walled garden.

swintec
Premium Member
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME

swintec to Joe12345678

Premium Member

to Joe12345678
said by Joe12345678:

what is the point of 200GB back up with a 250gb cap so you only have about 50gb left of other stuff and is the cap up + down makeing it so you may not even be able to use it 100%?
Why would you upload and download and remove 200 gigs of DIFFERENT material every month? Chances are you will put stuff there for long term storage.

u235sentinel
@sprintlink.net

u235sentinel

Anon

Re: what is the point of 200GB back up with a 250gb cap so you o

Why would you use a computer when you can just use cassette tapes to store and move your data from system to system.

Chances are you would put stuff on a tape for long term storage.

Why would you use the service at all when there are better solutions at cheaper prices.

Why not go back to say the whip and buggy. Those worked just fine.

Are you really listening to yourself when you ask your questions. I can come up with some really dumb ones also. The internet is fueling progress in other countries and their economies will come up on top while ours will continue the downward spiral unless we think outside the box for a moment.
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

fiberguy2

Premium Member

Re: what is the point of 200GB back up with a 250gb cap so you o

This post isn't even interesting... cassette tapes? backup storage being equated to the progress of other countries?

The internet is nothing for everyone. I mean by that, as the internet is going to be used based on the person who is using it's needs..

Online back up use is not going to make or break the internet or fuel progress.

You can't make broad statements about other countries. Each country in how it used the internet has a different reason. Some countries, had little in the lines of tools so this was like handing them a gift from above, so to speak. The United States wasn't hurting like you make it sound, and in case you were asleep through the 90's and the early 2000's, the internet super charged our nation like never before.. remember the bubble? If you understand economics better, you'd not make that statement at all. Its easy to fuel progress where there once was none or little.

/Utpoia

And these days, more people in this category, like Karl said, will use other hard drives, or hell, even DVD's to back up data.. cassette tape is, like you said, the whip and buggy.

And the downward spiral? What is this "downward spiral" you are speaking of?

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK

KrK to u235sentinel

Premium Member

to u235sentinel


Hear that noise? It was the clue train passing you by.

mod_wastrel
anonome
join:2008-03-28

mod_wastrel to Joe12345678

Member

to Joe12345678
said by Joe12345678:

what is the point of 200GB back up with a 250gb cap...
Overage fees when you exceed your limit--the only difference being, I guess, that you aren't a candidate for having your connection terminated when you do exceed it (although I wouldn't be too sure--"mistakes" happen).
JazzJRabbit
join:2003-09-27
Wheaton, IL

JazzJRabbit

Member

Caps?

Well, you won't be able to access your NAS from all over the world.

Other than that what I'm really wondering is how this will play with Comcast caps. Seems silly to introduce 200GB backup plan when monthly cap is 250GB. Anyone using that much data to backup is likely to go over the monthly cap.

Sith HMP
I Did What?
Premium Member
join:2004-04-25
Bloomington, IL

Sith HMP

Premium Member

Re: Caps?

I can access my Linksys NAS200 from anywhere in the world. With two 500g drives and the unit itself, I paid just under $300.

What I would really like to see Comcast do is provide the darn bandwidth meter they said would be done this month.

P.S. Dear Comcast, January ends in nine days. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.
rugby
I think I know it all.
join:2000-09-26
Plainfield, IN

2 recommendations

rugby

Member

Re: Caps?

Offsite backup storage has definite advantages. Your NAS can be stolen from a physical location, or a fire can burn down the building. Servers sitting in a data center are protected and the chances of them burning up or walking away are slim.
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

1 recommendation

fiberguy2 to JazzJRabbit

Premium Member

to JazzJRabbit
Wait.. wait wait wait WAIT a minute..

What is the party line here anyway?

The other day, people were crying that CDV wouldn't be traffic shaped (which I agree with) becuase it's a competing service to other VoIP providers. ugh.

Now, they offer an online back up service and it WILL be part of the traffic shape and people are wondering why?

Perfect time to answer the question.. what do you want comcast to do? This is getting absurd..

Comcast is a provider of services. They offer TELEVISION, first, then Internet and now phone. They are primarily hard line services. If people here had their choice, comcast would only be an internet provider, nothing more. (And I know this is a little off your particular post, but I think it's appropriate here at this point)

I've heard arguments about people saying that their Internet caps are in place to protect their televisions service.. um.. duh? When did their TV service take a back seat to everything else? Comcast was in the phone business BEFORE they were in the internet business, and again, the internet should take front row seat over the other lines. (Yes, CDV is new and they have ramped up their phone service as of late, but it doesn't matter)

What it sounds like here, to me, on BBR, is that Internet is a drug and they are addicted.. touch their drug and they freak out.

It just doesn't seem that ANY provider out there is going to be able to win even if they try to lose. Maybe it's time for people to just take a bit of a chill pill for a bit and realize that they can't have it all ways.

Yes, people MAY go over their caps on this service, if they use it stupid. This service is also not likely for everyone out there, and it certainly doesn't have to bee for everyone.

Not everyone wants to use a hard drive as back up, not everyone wants to use online back ups, not everyone wants to use a CD/DVD, or as one said "Cassette tapes".. what's even worse is when people come here crying for options and choice and then on the other cheek cry foul and call some of these choices that people may want, "stupid" or "outdated" or "ineffective".. becuase it's not the way THEY'D do or want to do it.

Dogfather
Premium Member
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA

1 recommendation

Dogfather

Premium Member

Yeah...sure

Until some peanut head in the ivory tower says it's not a money maker and gives you 30 days to find an alternative. For $100 I can buy a hefty external and at $20/mo could accumulate multiple TB of externals along with a license for Acronis, Superduper, Ghost or any of a zillion other great backup software solutions.

What a rip off.

If you're a business, off site backup is very important, but for residential use which this is obviously geared toward, this is beyond dumb.

Chuckles0
Premium Member
join:2006-03-04
Saint Paul, MN

Chuckles0

Premium Member

Re: Yeah...sure

said by Dogfather:

What a rip off.

If you're a business, off site backup is very important, but for residential use which this is obviously geared toward, this is beyond dumb.
There's plenty of dummies out there ready to pay up.

bobgwen
join:2001-07-07
Bartow, FL

bobgwen to Dogfather

Member

to Dogfather
My daughter just bought a one terabyte external hard drive for around $116.00. they are coming down in price.

joetaxpayer
I'M Here Till Thursday
join:2001-09-07
Sudbury, MA
552.8 23.8

joetaxpayer to Dogfather

Member

to Dogfather
said by Dogfather:

Until some peanut head in the ivory tower says it's not a money maker and gives you 30 days to find an alternative. For $100 I can buy a hefty external and at $20/mo could accumulate multiple TB of externals along with a license for Acronis, Superduper, Ghost or any of a zillion other great backup software solutions.
Tiger Direct 1TB internal drive $100.
On Black Friday I bought an external Maxtor 1TB for $140. The hosting service I use gives me 120GB for $5/mo. This makes no sense at all from where I sit.

Kfedka
Premium Member
join:2005-05-06
Spokane, WA

Kfedka

Premium Member

Gmail

Use firefox addon called Gspace. Give me close to 7gb of storage with no monthly fee from my gmail account.

Count Zero
Premium Member
join:2007-01-18
Milton, FL

Count Zero

Premium Member

At that price this service won't go far

Mozy is like $50/yr and I have >400GB backed up.

scrummie02
Bentley
Premium Member
join:2004-04-16
Arlington, VA

scrummie02

Premium Member

Re: At that price this service won't go far

How does it work out for you? I have a WHS box and I wanted to use it but they don't have a client for WHS.

In any case, over 400 GB huh? Is this with their plain residential service?

Count Zero
Premium Member
join:2007-01-18
Milton, FL

Count Zero

Premium Member

Re: At that price this service won't go far

Yes, plain residential service. I bought two years of service at once because they give you a discount equal to 3 months of free service when you do that.

Works out great for me. Been using it since the OS X beta came out and have been very pleased with it. There was a brief period where their OS X client (post-beta mind you) would back-up folders even if they were in my "ignored" list, but that has since been remedied and it is smooth sailing again.

I get upload speeds of up to 1 Mb/s with my Comcast connection.

backups
@verizon.net

backups

Anon

Re: At that price this service won't go far

In addition to 3 months free, you can get promotional codes to save another 15% off. Look around - they're out there.

OSIU
Premium Member
join:2003-11-12
Nowhere

OSIU to scrummie02

Premium Member

to scrummie02
For Windows Home Server you need to use Mozy Pro (»mozy.com/pro).

scrummie02
Bentley
Premium Member
join:2004-04-16
Arlington, VA

scrummie02

Premium Member

Re: At that price this service won't go far

To expensive to justify the cost.
Right now I'll stick with USB drive backups.
walesk
join:2002-01-11
East Greenville, PA

walesk to Count Zero

Member

to Count Zero
Carbonite is $50 year for unlimited backup.

jmn1207
Premium Member
join:2000-07-19
Sterling, VA

jmn1207

Premium Member

More Anti-Competitivenes?

If this service does not get the same treatment from Comcast's 250GB cap or their newly implemented throttling process, will this be seen as an unfair advantage to other similar storage services?

jlivingood
Premium Member
join:2007-10-28
Philadelphia, PA

jlivingood

Premium Member

Re: More Anti-Competitivenes?

said by jmn1207:

If this service does not get the same treatment from Comcast's 250GB cap or their newly implemented throttling process, will this be seen as an unfair advantage to other similar storage services?
The info listed above is incorrect on that point.

Jason

jmn1207
Premium Member
join:2000-07-19
Sterling, VA

jmn1207

Premium Member

Re: More Anti-Competitivenes?

said by jlivingood:

said by jmn1207:

If this service does not get the same treatment from Comcast's 250GB cap or their newly implemented throttling process, will this be seen as an unfair advantage to other similar storage services?
The info listed above is incorrect on that point.

Jason
At those prices you are much better off using a cheaper alternative and using the money saved to pay for any costs associated with potentially exceeding your monthly data transfer allotment.

HotRodFoto
Premium Member
join:2003-04-19
Denver, CO

HotRodFoto

Premium Member

Re: More Anti-Competitivenes?

said by jmn1207:
said by jlivingood:
said by jmn1207:

If this service does not get the same treatment from Comcast's 250GB cap or their newly implemented throttling process, will this be seen as an unfair advantage to other similar storage services?
The info listed above is incorrect on that point.

Jason
At those prices you are much better off using a cheaper alternative and using the money saved to pay for any costs associated with potentially exceeding your monthly data transfer allotment.
No u would be better off ditching residential class and moving to business which has NO caps. And then getting mozy.com for $4.99 a month and which is unlimited

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

fifty nine

Member

Re: More Anti-Competitivenes?

With my ISP (Penteledata/Prolog), business class accounts actually have a LOWER cap than some residential accounts, while the service is 2-3x the cost.

Some real geniuses are running that company.

jmn1207
Premium Member
join:2000-07-19
Sterling, VA

jmn1207

Premium Member

Re: More Anti-Competitivenes?

said by fifty nine:

With my ISP (Penteledata/Prolog), business class accounts actually have a LOWER cap than some residential accounts, while the service is 2-3x the cost.

Some real geniuses are running that company.
Perhaps they have an SLA, but in order to be able to meet this criteria, they have to offer realistic performance numbers rather than the typical, inflated numbers used for marketing purposes?
pabster
join:2001-12-09
Waterloo, IA

pabster to HotRodFoto

Member

to HotRodFoto
Mozy is 4.95 per month per machine.

But their MozyHome service is capped and rate-limited to 1Mbit max. So good luck pushing 200+ GB over that!

boilermaker123
@dillinggroup.com

1 recommendation

boilermaker123

Anon

Mozy anyone?

Apparently Comcast hasn't heard of Mozy who offers Unlimited backup space for home users for just $4.95/month?

The only advantage I can see is that Comcast decides to exclude this new backup service from caps, but then you have a problem with net neutrality since their own service would have an advantage over Mozy who would be subject to caps.

I use Mozy personally and for a couple of our smaller offices and I have been very pleased with them

jmn1207
Premium Member
join:2000-07-19
Sterling, VA

jmn1207

Premium Member

Re: Mozy anyone?

I can understand Comcast attempting to find ways to commit the customers to their service to make it more difficult for anyone to change services when and if suitable competition arrives, but this just doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.

More likely they just had the resources available and decided to create a low cost service (to implement and maintain at least) that can only make them money.
jacour
Premium Member
join:2001-12-11
Matthews, NC

jacour to boilermaker123

Premium Member

to boilermaker123
I am sure Comcast has heard of Mozy, but if you come to DSLReports regularly then you are not a "normal" Comcast customer. The average customer is not nearly so well informed and will often take the easy way out of a technical problem, which is exactly what Comcast is providing. Those of us who are a little more tech saavy get way more bang for the same buck.
dsless
join:2001-05-16
Pittsburgh, PA

dsless

Member

Storage Costs

If you add 1TB of EMC Symmetrix storage it will cost about $14,000.

»www.emc.com/products/fam ··· mily.htm

joetaxpayer
I'M Here Till Thursday
join:2001-09-07
Sudbury, MA
552.8 23.8

joetaxpayer

Member

Re: Storage Costs

said by dsless:

If you add 1TB of EMC Symmetrix storage it will cost about $14,000.

»www.emc.com/products/fam ··· mily.htm
I'm sure that's the quality of what Comcast will offer.
Pv8man
join:2008-07-24
Hammond, IN

Pv8man

Member

Wait a minute....

They would charge you an extra 20 bucks a month for backup space, that, when used would basically eliminate the bandwidth for the month that you spend over 50 bucks on.

Heh, Home of real Con artists, Welcome to ConCast

jlivingood
Premium Member
join:2007-10-28
Philadelphia, PA

1 edit

jlivingood

Premium Member

Not Excluded From Caps

Just as when you access Fancast or any other Comcast web site, something like this is included in your monthly utilization.

HotRodFoto
Premium Member
join:2003-04-19
Denver, CO

1 recommendation

HotRodFoto

Premium Member

Comcast are you on crack?

Seriously, get a grip. "Gee let's have a service that many can't actually use because of caps". Hello. lol And not only that but the plan sucks. I pay $4.99 a month with Mozy.com and it's unlimited. Over 650 GIGS backed up. Wanna know something else Comcast? One day people will wake up and realize that when they are spending a crapload with you, on TV, internet, and Phone service, that by cancelling their TV and getting a dish, upgrading to Bizz Class internet (that BTW has NO caps and has better service) and ditching your overpriced VOIP for something else ala Vonage, they come out far ahead still. Quit offering stupid services and lower peoples damn bills in harsh economic times, or start to bleed subs.

•••
AstroBoy
join:2008-08-08
Parkville, MD

AstroBoy

Member

Funny thing...

If I got the 200GB service and then backed up my 200GB of data, then had a disk failure... I would not be able to restore the data in the same month without exceeding the 250GB limits.

Just buy a 200+GB NAS system and put in in a friends house. And hope they have FIOS. You still have the 250GB limit, but save much money.

•••

hopeflicker
Capitalism breeds greed
Premium Member
join:2003-04-03
Long Beach, CA

hopeflicker

Premium Member

Now correct me if im wrong

But their ad says that you can share, but then the article goes on and mentions that you can NOT share.

Another misleading cable gimmick?

••••

Keith P
@rr.com

1 edit

Keith P

Anon

Late to the game?

I would think that by now established offerings from MyOtherDrive, Mozy, and Carbonite, will out perform Comcast. These services have better pricing. Not sure how they are going to make this work.

viperpa33s
Why Me?
Premium Member
join:2002-12-20
Bradenton, FL

viperpa33s

Premium Member

Rip off

I honestly wonder who thinks of this crap. There are many backup options that people can use without spending an arm and a leg. Comcast is making out like your getting the deal of a lifetime when they are just ripping people off.

They say you can't share music files or probably movie files. Does that mean Comcast keeps track of what you back up? There isn't a lot of privacy if they do keep track.

•••
chelpt
join:2008-05-24
La Crosse, WI

chelpt

Member

Comcast is still old.

Is there any one that think this is the first ISP doing this? My Centurytel service has been telling me about this for at least 2 years now.

wifi4milez
Big Russ, 1918 to 2008. Rest in Peace
join:2004-08-07
New York, NY

wifi4milez

Member

I agree with Karl!

quote:
Given the low price of storage and remote storage devices, the $240 per year you'd pay for 200GB worth of storage might be better spent on a low cost NAS (network attached storage) device -- many of which offer storage in the terabyte range for less than $500 -- with no restrictions on what kind of media you can share.
100% agreed. What a joke!

badtrip
Premium Member
join:2004-03-20

badtrip

Premium Member

Re: I agree with Karl!

Plus Comcast is so unreliable I'd not only think twice before I archived something important using this waste of a service, I'd have to think 6 or 7 times.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

backBlaze, Carbonite Mozy...

All $5 a month or thereabouts. All unlimited for storage. Why you'd go with comcast's non-internet-portale backups is beyond me...especially with the cap...I'm back to local backups with Time machine + a 1TB drive now.

HarleyYac
Lee
Premium Member
join:2001-10-13
Allendale, NJ

HarleyYac

Premium Member

That is Funny!

Let's see how stupid someone can be to sign up. People can not be that dumb.... Then again maybe they can..

dadkins
Can you do Blu?
MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA

1 edit

dadkins

MVM

Hmmm...


Portable 250GB Toshiba
Recently bought a 250GB portable external USB drive - fits in a shirt pocket.
Can access the data on anything with a USB connection.

Cost $69.99.
Odds are it will last longer than a year so I'm good - Thanks anyways!

Plus, with this online storage/sharing thingy, upload limits would be painful. x or xxGB @ 2.2mbps?

••••
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