Signup for dreamhost.com's hosting plans. They have a sale going on $9.24 for first year (92% off). This comes with a 50 GB backup space. There are software & directions to help you backup. I personally dump my files to a encfs and rsync it over to DH. Best deal ever, if you ask me.
I have restored files using Mozy. It was easy and fast enough. Don't rely on external hard drives if you value your data!!! Using an external hard drive is far better than having no backup, but don't rely on them exclusively. Regards, James
I've used carbonite for several years and have restored my files when switching comps. No issues. Very user friendly.
Used Mozy for over a year. Cheap, runs seamlessly in the background. Restored various files a few times without problems. If you worry about storing data on other peoples remote servers the future's not looking good. I just keep my bank stuff encrypted but am not paranoid about other data. If my house burns down the advantages totally outweigh the risks of offsite storage.
I second this. My Verbatim-branded hard drive died yesterday after only 5 months in use. Given the power indicator doesn't light up I suspect it's power supply issue. Luckily I used it to back up my TV recorder box and not any important data. I also know people who unplugged an external hard drive while the computer was writing on it and with a lot of trouble could restore only a fraction of the drive content.
If you have this fear (as do I) you could try truecrypt and create a file container and back that up.
Also check out JungleDisk. It can use either rackspace or Amazon S3 which gives fast access times. You pay very small fees per GB stored/transferred but for me it is worth it because they aren't overselling bandwidth and you get good speeds.
True... my hard drive went a few times on my hp and one time I found that my external hard drive wasnt working either... it seemed like the it's software running it crapped out... not sure.. Got my data back but it cost me like 400 or 500 hundred at my local tech..lol Now I have mozy and a toshiba external that gets its power from the pc with no software that "runs it" so Im double protected...