Keepit keeps your files safe. Really?

Who is KeepIt Online Backup for?

KeepIt offers unlimited online backup for a very low and competitive price. Unlike other online backup services there is no file size limit and therefore it may be interesting as a secondary backup service or if you have huge quantities of data that you want to backup (above 100GB). Also, KeepIt is a quite young online backup company which is definately notable in a lack of support and professionalism. If you are on a budget and want to commit yourself for a longer period try BackBlaze instead. However both services are very similar in their ease-of-use and therefore feature limitations. If you are a backup pro and know exactly what you want you might want to consider SugarSync’s online backup service.

Keepit Online Backup Review

KeepIt is one the online backup services that offer unlimited backup. Based in Denmark and being a sistercompany to Cohaesio they count on a couple of years of experience in the field of web hosting, servermanagement and data infrastructure. When thinking about unlimited online backup some people might ask ‘How is this possible?’ Well, the thing is only a few users make use of unlimited online backup. The majority have their 50 to 100GB. The unlimited backup companies make their money with those low-volume users.

At first sight Keepit has everything one might need: unlimited online backup, unlimited file size, incremental backup, versioning and an easy to use interface. In this review I’ll have a look at all those features and see if Keepit can live up to my and possibly your needs.

Pricing and Plans

Keepit offers two versions of their software – one for business and one for home users. In this review I’ll analyze the home suite. You have the option to pay yearly or every two years that’ll save you another 2 months. There is, however, no option to pay on a monthly basis. If you choose the yearly plan you end up paying $4.95 per month which is a very good price for unlimited backup. BackBlaze is a little cheaper with $4.17 per month if you are willing to commit yourself for a year. What you’ll get with a yearly Keepit subscription is the following:

• Unlimited Online Backup
• Unlimited file size and type – no restrictions
• 60 Day Backup Versioning
• Daily Backup
• Runs in the background
• Stores data in a variety of geographical regions
• 256bit Encryption of your data for privacy
• 30 Day Free Trial

Like Mozy they used to offer a completely and forever free account with 2GB of online data storage but I couldn’t find this option anymore. Apparently they got rid of it – that’s a shame but indeed there is a great variety of other services offering free online backup.

First impression and signing up

Though having a Home Edition of their backup service I think Keepit wants to go after businesses. This isn’t necessarily bad, however usabilitywise it was not that easy to find the sign up button for the Home Edition because the most prominent part of the website is currently reserved for advertising their business suite.

You’ll get through to their home plans after clicking on “Home Plans” in the top navigation and after this initial hurdle it’s quite a breeze. Just enter your email address, a password and choose a plan. You can either go for a generous free 30 day trial or pay your yearly account directly. This is risk free because they give you a 30 Day Money Back Guarantee. So you might choose whatever you like best.

Installation is quite easy as well. There is a Windows, a Mac and a Linux version. I have tested for Windows and Mac and they work as intended. For the Windows version you’ll need as always admin rights to perform a correct installation. It bothered me a little bit having to confirm the Terms and Conditions twice – once on their website and now again in their installer. It’s like telling me ‘ok, we are not that sure if everything works flawlessly and need to make sure‘. And I can’t mention enough how important it is to have multiple backups no matter how reliable an online backup service might be.

How to backup your data with Keepit

Similar to BackBlaze Keepit tries to really keep it simple for you. And really it is a simple, no fuzz backup solution, not more, not less. So users who like to have a little more control over their backups might get a little frustrated because of the lack of features. One of the downsides is that you are only able to backup your data once a day automatically. I personally think that continuous backup should be standard nowadays especially with competition between the different providers being quite stiff in terms of price and features.

Keep it simple stupid

However, if you are looking for a backup solution for your mother or even grandmother or you’ll use it as a secondary backup solution, you’re sure going to love it and your granma’ll thank you, too.

But seriously, I think they did a good job reducing complexity and keeping a good structure within the program.

• Very easy to use

• Only Daily Backups

Keepit Online Backup Software Client

Keepit is a software only backup solution. So if you expect fancy web client restore and sharing option you sure are going to be disappointed. Everything takes place in the software client giving less experienced users little room for error. The backup wizard works well. However, you shouldn’t rely on automatic backup because Keepit only selects the basic Windows folders such as Documents, Pictures, Videos and the like. I was pleasently surprised to see that there is not only a Windows and Mac version of their software but also a Linux client. Very few online backup services offer a Linux software client.

What bothered me a little was whenever I selected or unselected one of the automatic folders I always needed to press ‘Apply’ to be able to switch into advanced mode. Advanced mode is ultimately where I want to be ’cause I want to backup my standardized test folder of 1GB that I use with every online backup service tested here.

Keepit ‘too’ simple?

I was really surprised of how little there is to set up in the settings tab of the software. For my ‘gusto’ this was too little. I can select my files I need to back and set the schedule. But what if I want more flexibility, such as bandwith throttel or hourly backups?
If you have a slow internet connection you need to tame your backup provider’s upload speed because it’ll occupy your entire line. Unfortunately I can’t do that with Keepit. Also, I’d like to have more flexibility with my backup schedule. A good example would be setting a specific time during the day when you want to start your backups. That could be useful to secure your data while you’re at the office. SOS Online Backup is a master in well thought-out scheduling mechanisms.

• Easy step-by-step backup wizard

• No bandwith throttel
• Few scheduling options

How long does the backup take?

After selecting my test files I prepared for this and other online backup reviews I was really looking forward to seeing how fast Keepit would shove my files onto their servers. And I was quite impressed. It only took 2:12h which makes Keepit definately to one of the fastest online backup services. Of course a fast backup is worth nothing if it is faulty and so we have to wait how the restore process is like and if it works as fast as the backup.

1% Progress – what’s that?

Though quite speedy at the end it failed to show the progress bar correctly: it froze at 1%. And if you are a little panicky you’ll certainly can get quite impatient when the status is not moving. However, it showed the individual file transfers correctly so I could be sure that it didn’t freeze. I can’t say if it’s just me or if this is a general bug that needs fixing. If you have experience with that, please leave a comment.

How to restore your data with Keepit

Keepit simple, stupid. This motto continues to prevail also when you recover your data with Keepit. In fact, the recovery process is certainly one of the most important, if not the most import part of your online backup routine. If you lose all your data for whatever reason, you need it back fast.

As I mentioned before, Keepit is a software only online backup service, so if you’re a looking for fancy web restores and sharing features you are going to be disappointed. When you have to restore your data you need to download the software client.

You find the recovery function in a seperate tab in the software. And there are a couple of options you have:

• You can restore everything at once
• You can select individual files to restore
• You can select the location where you want to restore your data to

I guess this covers the basic functionality most users need. I tried to recover the data to an external hard drive and it worked well.

Restore takes time

Granted, I am quite impatient. And I am especially impatient when my computer crashes and I need my data fast. I expected the restore process to be a little faster than it actually was with Keepit. It felt almost as long as the backup process because the program appeared frozen at times.

Keepit Secure

Online backup security is a major concern of providers as well as consumers. Your data needs special protection because you can’t afford a third party to view or abuse your files. Most of the online backup providers encrypt your data locally with your private security key. Keepit uses a 256bit Rijindael encryption which is recommended by the US government – so let’s say it’s fairly secure .

A word of caution here: please, save your private key to a secure location and have multiple copies of it. If you lose it you cannot recover your data!

Also, data is sent via a internet standard 128-bit secure SSL connection to their servers. All in all this is a secure as it can get today. Only Mozy offers higher private encryption of 448-bit.

• Easy to use restore
• Partial restore possible

• Slow restore
• Software appears to be frozen

Keepit online backup review summary

Keepit is secure, easy to use and it offers unlimited backup. If you are looking for these features then you might want to give Keepit it a try but be sure to compare it with BackBlaze first which offers almost the same at a lower rate. Keepit is a backup only solution without a web client which is quite uncommon today.
However, they focus on the most important features a backup provider should have and they do it well. While other providers try to outperform their competition with features over features that nobody really uses Keepit reduces complexity of online backup. Nevertheless I would wish more stability for their software client especially when recovering huge quantities of data.

Let’s have a look at the most important Keepit specs