Summary: External hard drives are great for clearing up space on your computer, but what happens when your hard drive gets damaged?

If you don’t have your hard drive backed up, or have deleted the originals, your files are completely inaccessible – gone for good.

Don’t take the chance – use an online backup service to protect the files on your external hard drives.

By uploading copies of the files on these storage devices, online backup services prevent total and permanent loss of your files in the event of damage or loss.

For the best backup service at the most affordable price, get iDrive now.

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Why Are My Files at Risk?

External hard drives are meant to be physical sources of backup for your files, but many people use them to clear space on their computers and storing files and photos for later access.

The problem with this is, external hard drives are still susceptible to the same risks our computers and other devices are.

You hard drive can easily get damaged, lost, and even stolen, and once it does, the files on it could be gone for good.

Though these devices are designed to be sturdy, (speaking from experience here) even a clumsy cat knocking it off your desk could be the end of everything that was on it.

Don’t take the chance or wait until it’s too late – use an online backup service to protect the data on your external hard drive.

How Does Online Backup Work?

Online backup is a simple process that works like traditional backups (hard drives and SD cards).

Only instead of storing these files on a device in your house, they’re stored on secure servers in a remote data center.

When you sign up for a service plan, you download the company’s software, and start backing up right away.

With these services, you can even sync your backed up files with your mobile devices and access them on the go.

They’re at your fingertips all the time – not locked down in a hard drive gathering dust somewhere.

Top 3 Online Backup Services for External Hard Drives

Most online backup services also include external hard drive backup, but their other features and accessibility can vary substantially.

Here are a few services worth checking out, and how they compare for taking care of your external hard drives.

#1 Choice:  iDrive – 9/10 – Back up every device at the lowest price

I love iDrive – their service has so many features, and their prices are amazing. For just $45 a year, you can back up every single device you own.

You get 1 TB of storage space, and their service plans include mobile and external hard drive backup, in addition to basic desktop and laptop backup.

iDrive is also one of the most secure backup services you’re going to find.

Not only do they encrypt your files from upload to storage with military grade encryption, but their data centers are completely geo redundant.

This means that if a flood or an earthquake takes out their servers, your files are still safe at another location.

iDrive is more than just a backup service though.

Their mobile apps not only allow you to sync and access all of your backed up files on the go, but you can even share them with a secure link to a private folder you set up.

If you’re not wild about sending e-mail attachments or sharing photos over social media, this is a great way to keep files private and secure, but still accessible.

Plus, with 30 day file recovery and support that’s always responsible and professional, iDrive goes above and beyond.

They’re affordable, but they’re definitely not cheap.

For the total package to backup your hard drive, get iDrive today.

#2:  CrashPlan – 8/10 – Unlimited storage space, but no sharing options

I like CrashPlan because of all of the unlimited storage space they give you.

Though 1 TB of space is usually more than enough for the average person, if you’re worried about running out, CrashPlan has unlimited storage space, file versioning, and file recovery.

Nothing is ever gone forever, and you never run out of room.

However, there are a few drawbacks to using CrashPlan.

For one thing, their plans are about $5 more expensive, and their storage isn’t geo redundant – if their data center goes down, that’s it, your backed up files are gone for good.

In addition, their backup services are pretty limited. While you can file share with iDrive, you can’t do any file sharing with CrashPlan.

Also, though they have mobile apps that allow you to manage and access files on the go, you can’t actually back up your mobile devices – just your computers and external hard drives.

All in all, CrashPlan isn’t a bad backup service, but you definitely get more for your money with iDrive.

CrashPlan can be found at this website.

#3: Acronis– 6/10 – No file recovery, questionable privacy policies

I’m not really crazy about Acronis’s file backup service.

Though they offer unlimited storage space like CrashPlan on any device (except Linux), their privacy policy makes me raise my eyebrows a bit.

In a nutshell, they basically say that they reserve the right to grant access to your files to third parties as they see fit – whatever that means.

Make sure you read the fine print if you sign up with these guys.

Another thing I’m not really a fan of is that with Acronis there is absolutely zero file recovery.

Whereas iDrive gives you 30 days to save a file deleted from your backups, Acronis doesn’t give you the option at all.

Also, their back up service isn’t geo redundant either – a security shortfall that puts them a step behind more secure options like iDrive.

The worst part about Acronis though is definitely the pricing.

If you want to back up your external hard drive with them, you’ll need to sign up for one of their premium packages, which start at around $70 per year.

You also only get 24/7 support with those plans – how cheap is that?

Though unlimited storage space may sound tempting, with price like this, you’re much better off using iDrive.

Acronis is here.

Conclusion: Use iDrive for Secure Backup Anytime, Anywhere

External hard drives are a great way to free up some memory on your computer, but they need to be backed up to protect the files from physical damage or loss.

With iDrive Online Backup Service you get features like:

• geo redundant storage
• mobile device backup
• file sharing options
• military-grade encryption
• a remote wipe feature
• file syncing

Out of all the online backup services I’ve used, iDrive is the only one that does it all, and at a price that just can’t be beat.

Don’t count on an external hard drive to last forever – to protect that hard drive, get iDrive right now.