Thursday, October 25, 2018

Arq Cloud Backup 1.0

Haystack Software:

Arq Cloud Backup is now available! It comes with its own cloud storage, for folks who don’t want to manage the storage separately from the app. Plus it’s super fast!

I like and use regular Arq, but it’s too hard for less technical users to set up. Arq Cloud Backup is a completely separate app that uses its own cloud service, like CrashPlan or Backblaze. And, like those services, you can restore files from a Web interface, which is not possible with regular Arq.

The price is $5.99/month per computer or 1 TB. I did not see any information about the cloud storage provider.

Update (2018-10-26): The cloud provider is Wasabi.

Previously: Arq 5.9 Adds Backblaze B2 and Wasabi Support.

Update (2018-10-31): Haystack Software:

Just changed Arq Cloud Backup pricing to unlimited computers. Just pay $5.99/month per TB of total backups across all your computers

Update (2019-01-23): Haystack Software:

We’re happy to report that Arq Cloud Backup was the fastest!

iDrive was also very quick to back up, and pretty quick to restore. Acronis and Backblaze were slower to back up and restore, with Backblaze almost doubling its restore time with preparing the zip file.

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The storage provider is Wasabi. Only in the US for now.

FWIW, I've been using Arq (and Duplicacy, and Synology's Hyper Backup) with Wasabi for several months, with no reliability or speed issues. The Wasabi UI is much the same as Arq - wouldn't recommend it for less technical users. Given Wasabi is $4/month minimum for 1 TB, the Arq pricing seems very fair.

"And, like those services, you can restore files from a Web interface, which is not possible with regular Arq."

But requires exposing your private key via a web interface to a service presented by a web server that can be compromised.

@Adrian Thanks!

@Sean Yeah, classic security vs. ease of use tradeoff.

My experience with Arq + Wasabi is much like what Nicholas Riley says above. The Wasabi UI is a bit demanding but the speed is amazing (and I'm in Sweden) and I've hade zero issues since February (there might be some rare connection errors, but usually resolved quickly). For the less technical user the new Arq Cloud Backup seems like a solid solution and I would definitely recommend it over Backblaze.

What about Syncovery? Way more options than Arq and many claim better performance.

Just a quick note if anyone is reading this is currently using Arq v5 and thinking about upgrading to v6: just don't.

Unfortunately v6 has been a train wreck, both the launch it self and the handling of the feedback. The new version of Arq is an Electron app instead of native although the engine it self still is native Mac app. Now, this is actually the least serious problem, far more problematic is the loss of basic settings like CPU usage and paus button. Almost all settings and features were removed and the response on twitter from the developer was ”The UI will get better and better." or stuff like "Right. We need to add a pause button. We’ll get on it." Then there is no documentation at all, it's just "coming soon". But the far worse problem is that many users have lost all their backups during the upgrade and import process. And on top of that the Twitter account was deleted (or disabled) with no more feedback at all.

Here's a good summary of some of the issues and with lots of comments from users who have lost their backups (and their trust in the developer and the software):
https://www.reddit.com/r/Arqbackup/comments/fz5t68/v6_upgrade_debacle_sickening_infuriating/

That's just one of the many angry and disappointed threads there.

Oh wait, the twitter account is actually enabled again, after being gone for a couple of days: https://twitter.com/arqbackup

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