Labs

MozyHome is a Mac-based backup tool that charges a flat fee for unlimited backup: just under $5 per month, with 2GB available free.

The Mac application is a simple tabbed affair that lets you back up Sets - preconfigured collections such as your iTunes library, Apple Mail or your Documents folder - or specified files and folders.

The first backup takes an age to perform, but subsequent, incremental backups are speedy. One drawback we noticed is the inability to pause backups: stopping it resets it to the beginning.

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By default, backups are automatic, but you can schedule them at set times or intervals. Although it works in the background, Mozy used about 5% of our Mac's processor power, more than other applications. You can, however, throttle bandwidth and choose only to run backups when your Mac isn't being taxed, or is idle. Security is strong: you can choose between a Mozy key with 448-bit encryption or your own private key with 256-bit encryption.

MozyHome restores your files through either a desktop application, where you can navigate backup files to find the file or folder you want to restore, or a more ponderous web interface. With the latter, you're sent an email when the files you select are ready to download. An option to deliver files on DVD, available in the US, isn't open to UK customers.

The program did a good job of preserving file metadata when we restored, although Spotlight search keywords didn't make the transfer back. Importantly, however, MozyHome is restricted to personal use. A more expensive version, MozyPro, is open to businesses and offers support for network drives and file servers.