DANA SUTTON  I'm watching this one very closely because it's potenrtially so attractive. In view of customer complaints about its present shortcoming, it's a shame that the developers aren't more explicit about what's new in this version. In case the developer reads this, it's clear that it needs a.) mirrored backups, so that deletions, name changes, etc., made on the user's local computer are reflected on the remote site, b.) a cast-iron guarantee that the user's data cannot be accessed by the developer's employees, and I hope that a new version will address these concerns in the near future. As soon as these issues are fixed it's very likely that I'll become a happy subscriber. But right at the moment I'm a little hesitant to entrust my sensitive data to this product's safekeeping.  
(Version 1.2.8)

FRODO_LIFE  no private key for Mac only for windows so all your date is accessible by the iDrive staff on the server  
(Version 1.2.4)

SFURST  This is yet another backup-to-cloud client in the same vein as Mozy, SpiderOak, and JungleDisk. A 2GB account is free, while a whopping 150 GB can be had for $49.50/yr.

Unfortunately, the Mac client serious lags behind the Windows client. As pointed out by numerous reviewers, there is no data encryption available for Mac, leaving your files unencrypted on the servers. While the web site claims versioning, this is only available for Windows; a poor substitute "Snapshots" is available for Mac, which makes you go through the last ten backups searching for a previous version. In my experience, Snapshots were unreliable as well as tedious (think Time Machine, only very limited). If I want a previous version of a file, I want to see what versions are available, not have to dig.

Unlike SpiderOak and JungleDisk, the same storage cannot be shared between a Mac and a PC client. A web interface is available.

Support from the developer is responsive but unhelpful. "Encryption is being consider in the future and we will notify our customers when it is available".

I suspect this is quite a nice program on the PC, but it has a long way to go for us Mac users.  
(Version 1.2.9)

DANA SUTTON  I have been wanting offsite backup, and investigated several options. Finally I selected iDrive, mostly because their software is vastly better than that of any competitor. Yet I have one serious reservation. Since iDrive only permits archived backups, and since it limits you to 150 GB, sooner or later I'm going to use up my quota, and I haven't a clue what's going to happen then. I e-mailed their support asking about this, and never received an answer, which suggests to me that they don't have a clue either. So if by the time I hit my limit they haven't come up with a solution to this problem, I'll probably just walk away from this service and look for another one. And I bet this is going to be the reaction of a large part of their customer base. So it is really in their own best interest to face up to the fact they have a problem on their hands. There are two ways of fixing it, both of which I would find acceptable: a.) give us the option of simple mirrored backup with no archiving, or b.) use the Time Machine "first in first out" scheme, whereby old archives are automatically cleaned out to preserve space for new backups. Let's hope the developers wake up and smell the coffee over this one. (Better security protection would be very welcome too).

Also, anybody with a fairly large body of data that needs to be backed up should be aware that the initial upload is going to take a long time (mine took over five days). If you aren't very cool about using the bandwidth throttle you're internet performance is going to take a massive hit.  
(Version 1.3.1)

RADDLE  Still persevering with this, though it's trying my patience a little. yes, there's kind of a sync option available now - though it seems to be a manual process (a per-time comparison of online and offline folders) that is far from intuitive, and not the same as mirroring. The multiple machine set-up seems flakey too. I want to like this service, and they are updating features fairly regularly, but it's just not right yet...

I (and many other people) want simple, automatic mirroring of folders. This can't be that hard.  
(Version 1.3)

AESCHYLUS  The lack of secure encryption on their server renders this software useless for all but the most casual uses for Mac users. We Mac users need something like this, but until iDrive becomes responsible enough to treat Mac users like PC users, this is not the solution we need.  
(Version 1.2.9)

KAZ219  This app needs work. It very often freezes (it doesn't crash though): the spinning beach ball of death, and you can't do anything. This is not that relevevant if it is going on in the background since it always comes back somewhen. It's just annoying when you want to cancel an automatic backup (not enough bandwidth at the moment for example), you have to wait for iDrive to be responsive again.

Another problem in my opinion is the memory usage. Right now, with *no* backup going on, it uses 150MB RAM ("real memory" column in activity monitor) which is quite a lot for a background daemon...

Otherwise it's ok, and still a better (or "less worse") interface than the one from Mozy (where you can't even get rid of the menu bar item – mine is already cluttered, I really don't need another item there.).  
(Version 1.3.4)

RADDLE  I like this software/service, and have subscribed to the pro service, the Mac version of the software needs some work, however. It turns out that the Mac version is unable to mirror/sync your folders up to the server, which means any file which gets deleted/moved/renamed on your Mac gets left in the backup in the previous incarnations.

I might not have subscribed so quickly had I realised this. It needs fixing soon, as does the Mac software's lack of continuous backup, and inability to remember window size and position.

Otherwise, it's a very compelling and reassuring way of making sure your data's backed up.  
(Version 1.2.4)

DANA SUTTON  What Frodo writes about lack of security bothers me. Otherwise, I might be interested in in subscribing to this service but I won't consider it until the developers can offer me a higher level of security. I also want to be assured that the issue of permissions doesn't interfere with successful uploading and backing up.  
(Version 1.2.4)

JOEL MUELLER  There is a really great feature called "Auto-pause" that allows you to continue working at your normal paces online while the backup occurs. But once you start using active bandwidth to upload or communicate, it stops the IBackup upload, giving you full upload resources.

This is really useful for people with slower DSL or Cable modem upload speeds. It keeps everything from seeming like it's grinding to a haul on my Mac, but maximizes the time things are open to continue my backup.

I currently have a very slow upload speed (512Kbps), so I decided to test this feature. I checked "Auto-pause" and moved the slider down to 1%. I'm actually impressed because now my web browsing seems virtually untouched. You can choose any % you want that IDrive will continue using when Auto-pause is selected, giving all other apps partial priority over your upload bandwidth.

Overall, I'm very impressed by iBackup so far. Interface is pretty good. It gives me a feeling of confidence and the app seems to be very comprehensive in features and automation.  
(Version 1.2.4)