JungleDisk

I have two concerns about backups: a) getting my backed-up data off-site so that it would survive a burglery or fire at my home; and b) securing my data so that it is useless to anyone but me. I have solved both of those concerns with JungleDisk.

I heard about JungleDisk on the Security Now! podcast, Episode 123. I urge you to listen to the podcast, which can be downloaded from the Security Now! archive page on GRC.com.

Getting it off-site

JungleDisk creates a virtual disk drive on your machine, linked to an Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) storage bucket. Whatever is saved onto that virtual disk, JungleDisk transparently transfers to Amazon, which charges only US 15 cents per gigabyte per month, plus some similarly-small fees per uploaded gigabyte.

JungleDisk has a built-in backup function, but it can also be used in conjunction with third-party backup programs. I continue to use my trusty SyncBack SE.

Securing the data

Before sending your data to Amazon, JungleDisk encrypts it using a key known only to you. Even Amazon would be unable to decrypt the data.

At only US $20 for a lifetime, multi-machine license, I reckon that JungleDisk is a no-brainer.