I realize that online backup services aren't everybody's cup of tea. Traditionally they've been too kludgy, too pricey, and too limited. And while occasionally somebody brings something new and cool to the game (as Streamload did with its content-sharing features), few actually make backing up as easy as it should be.
What I like about Carbonite is that you set it up once, and after that it just works. You don't have to remember to push a button, launch a program, or leave the PC running every Friday night between midnight and 2 a.m. to make sure your data is safe. And unlike a local external hard drive, which is at risk if something catastrophic happens--a house fire, for example--Carbonite keeps your data off site, where it's safe.
It works like this: You download the Carbonite software and install it on your PC. By default the software backs up files on your desktop and in your My Documents folder. But you can tell it exactly what to back up, from one file to every piece of data on your PC (except system files and apps).
Once you've completed the setup, Carbonite goes about backing up those files online. It works in the background and you don't have to keep checking it, which is good because that initial backup takes a long time--even with a broadband connection. During my initial tests Carbonite took between 12 and 24 hours to back up 1246 files on my notebook (about 2GB of data).
Recently I decided to use the service to back up my desktop as well, which has all of my must-save photos, music, and other important files. It has been ten days since I signed up, and Carbonite says it has backed up about 18GB of data (5947 files)--and there's still more than 25GB left to go (another 2273 files) to complete the job.
In fact, if I have one complaint about Carbonite, it's that the service works so hard to stay out of your way that it ends up slowing itself down. I'd like to see a setting that maximizes the speed of that initial upload to get the job done faster.