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Yev from Backblaze here -> Glad you're enjoying the posts! We enjoy spreading that information, it's a rare thing, so we're pleased as punch that folks are read

by atYevP 12y ago

Yev from Backblaze here -> Glad you're enjoying the posts! We enjoy spreading that information, it's a rare thing, so we're pleased as punch that folks are reading them :)

antr 12y ago
Hi Yev, do you know if Backblaze is thinking of supporting NAS backups in the near future? I really want to use Backblaze, but what is really stopping me from using you guys is not being able to backup my NAS. Thanks
- brianwski 12y ago
  Brian from Backblaze here. The NAS problem isn't a technical one, it is a pricing problem. We charge a fixed amount of money "per computer" ($5) and we don't throttle or limit customers in any way. We survive on "averages" - most laptop users only have less than 1 TByte and we make money, some have 50 TBytes and we lose money, but on average we are profitable. If we allowed a single user for $5 to mount network drives with Petabytes of data on them and back those up, this would tip the averages and put us out of business. So we need to solve the pricing problem. With all that said, stay tuned, we are actively trying to figure out a pricing system that will make everybody happy (NAS owners with Petabytes of data included).
  - antr 12y ago
    I totally understand, and respect that. I'm sure there are ways (price plans) to get NAS owners to signup. I might have a NAS, but defiantly don't have petabytes of data, but on average 1TB to 1.5TB on my NAS. I'd be happy to pay $2-4 more dollars more if I could include my NAS... this is my thinking out loud, I haven't run any numbers.
  - e12e 12y ago
    What I'd like to see (been waiting for, for a long time, actually) is "enterprise" or "pro" backblaze, more along the lines of rsync.net or similar. Something that can (willingly) handle backup from servers (at 1Gbs speed). In other words an Amazon S3/glacier-like product -- but with more transparent pricing. I'd be happy to pay a premium (way over the $5 per computer) for something like that -- I'm sure I'm not alone. Extra if the software was released under the AGPL or something -- so that I could migrate to self-host if I wanted/needed to. I don't think too many would be able to start up and compete directly with you wrt your experience with pods etc... so I think it should be viable. Less sure if anyone would "want" to move off Amazon.
cc439 12y ago
It's more than rare, it seems that you're the only real-world, large-scale source on a lot of the topics you've been covering. I may not work in IT but I crave well-written accounts of technical problem solving. Yours are among the most interesting as you're so open about sharing details that no one else would consider releasing.
- brianwski 12y ago
  Brian from Backblaze here. Awww, you are so kind you make us blush. :-) I do wonder why big companies like Google and Yahoo and Apple don't release more interesting statistics on drive failure. I've heard many people assume they are getting some sweet pricing on hard drives with an agreement never to release those numbers. But if that were true, why won't Seagate or Western Digital or HGST ever give Backblaze a deal to shut us up? Those three companies have refuse to sell to Backblaze "directly" (their business plan is to sell to distributors like Ingram who mark up the product and sell it to NewEgg who marks up the product and sells to Backblaze). I assure you, there are no backroom undisclosed pricing deals for Backblaze. So I suspect Google and Apple pay retail drive prices also, and is not disclosing drive failure rates because they don't see the profit in it?
  - atlbeer 12y ago
    2007: http://research.google.com/pubs/pub32774.html http://research.google.com/pubs/pub32774.html
    - atYevP 12y ago
      But no names named :(
cerberusss 12y ago
Purely for this reason, I have an account and actively promote you online and to everyone I know.

by atYevP 12y ago

Yev from Backblaze here -> Glad you're enjoying the posts! We enjoy spreading that information, it's a rare thing, so we're pleased as punch that folks are reading them :)

antr 12y ago

Hi Yev, do you know if Backblaze is thinking of supporting NAS backups in the near future? I really want to use Backblaze, but what is really stopping me from using you guys is not being able to backup my NAS. Thanks

brianwski 12y ago
Brian from Backblaze here. The NAS problem isn't a technical one, it is a pricing problem. We charge a fixed amount of money "per computer" ($5) and we don't throttle or limit customers in any way. We survive on "averages" - most laptop users only have less than 1 TByte and we make money, some have 50 TBytes and we lose money, but on average we are profitable. If we allowed a single user for $5 to mount network drives with Petabytes of data on them and back those up, this would tip the averages and put us out of business. So we need to solve the pricing problem. With all that said, stay tuned, we are actively trying to figure out a pricing system that will make everybody happy (NAS owners with Petabytes of data included).
- antr 12y ago
  I totally understand, and respect that. I'm sure there are ways (price plans) to get NAS owners to signup. I might have a NAS, but defiantly don't have petabytes of data, but on average 1TB to 1.5TB on my NAS. I'd be happy to pay $2-4 more dollars more if I could include my NAS... this is my thinking out loud, I haven't run any numbers.
- e12e 12y ago
  What I'd like to see (been waiting for, for a long time, actually) is "enterprise" or "pro" backblaze, more along the lines of rsync.net or similar. Something that can (willingly) handle backup from servers (at 1Gbs speed). In other words an Amazon S3/glacier-like product -- but with more transparent pricing. I'd be happy to pay a premium (way over the $5 per computer) for something like that -- I'm sure I'm not alone. Extra if the software was released under the AGPL or something -- so that I could migrate to self-host if I wanted/needed to. I don't think too many would be able to start up and compete directly with you wrt your experience with pods etc... so I think it should be viable. Less sure if anyone would "want" to move off Amazon.

cc439 12y ago

It's more than rare, it seems that you're the only real-world, large-scale source on a lot of the topics you've been covering. I may not work in IT but I crave well-written accounts of technical problem solving. Yours are among the most interesting as you're so open about sharing details that no one else would consider releasing.

brianwski 12y ago
Brian from Backblaze here. Awww, you are so kind you make us blush. :-) I do wonder why big companies like Google and Yahoo and Apple don't release more interesting statistics on drive failure. I've heard many people assume they are getting some sweet pricing on hard drives with an agreement never to release those numbers. But if that were true, why won't Seagate or Western Digital or HGST ever give Backblaze a deal to shut us up? Those three companies have refuse to sell to Backblaze "directly" (their business plan is to sell to distributors like Ingram who mark up the product and sell it to NewEgg who marks up the product and sells to Backblaze). I assure you, there are no backroom undisclosed pricing deals for Backblaze. So I suspect Google and Apple pay retail drive prices also, and is not disclosing drive failure rates because they don't see the profit in it?
- atlbeer 12y ago
  2007: http://research.google.com/pubs/pub32774.html http://research.google.com/pubs/pub32774.html
  - atYevP 12y ago
    But no names named :(

cerberusss 12y ago

Purely for this reason, I have an account and actively promote you online and to everyone I know.