Yev from Backblaze here -> we do have that on our website (https://www.backblaze.com/cloud-backup.html and https://www.backblaze.com/remote-backup-everything.html) and in some help articles but I hear you. It's a topic that comes up, but when we've done the calculations in the past, keeping a copy forever as an archive raises our costs to the point where we'd have to raise our prices and we're not too keen on that! We have notification emails so that we let you know ahead of time before data is removed though, so it's rarely become an issue in terms of "accidental deletions".
You don't have it here -> https://www.backblaze.com/cloud-backup.html. There is no mention of 30 days. I am so what pissed about since I bought the service just to backup my external drive.
Hi Yev. It is indeed on the website, but only in the second link you mentioned. I only found out after signing up for the service last year, and then decided to cancel. I wanted to backup photo collections that I might only access once a year - not very keen on having to do a maintenance scanning session once a month. Maybe you could come up with a separate plan, with limited storage, that solves this use? In any case, thanks for taking the time to reply.
Yea, there are lots of ways to address it, and we talk about it every now and again though haven't come up with an elegant solution yet! One the first link it states that deleted files will be removed after 30 days. A removed hard drive acts the same as a deleted file, since it's no longer on your computer. I'll chat with our team and see if we can make it clearer.
Damn, I didn't know that either. Been a customer for years and wish I had seen that earlier. I've also had many lapses in time. As long as I'm paying why would you ever delete my data?
You should be getting alerts whenever you're nearing a time lapse (up to two weeks ahead of one) so we do try to warn you when your nearing the 30 day timer (if not please contact support - seriously). The reason we have a 30 day timer is that we use the reclaimed space, if we were to infinitely house a copy of every file that was uploaded to us, it would dramatically raise our costs, and at $5/month for an unlimited product our margins are very thin as it is. Most companies that do keep data "forever" augment that cost by having either tiered pricing, or "per GB" pricing so that they can continue covering the cost of the space for as long as that file exists. Since we're unlimited and inexpensive for the service, we don't have that elasticity. That's not to say we haven't thought about enacting an additional fee for that type of service, but we haven't quite figured out a good way of doing it. But we're constantly thinking of ways to better the product, and know this is one that people do feel strongly about!
So if I go on a 4-week vacation, I will return to an empty account? Uh oh. That should be printed in bold red letters everywhere. It's the opposite to peace of mind.
