Tag Archives: Backblaze Bits

Welcoming Chief Product Officer David Ngo to Backblaze

Post Syndicated from Backblaze original https://www.backblaze.com/blog/welcoming-chief-product-officer-david-ngo-to-backblaze/

A decorative image with David Ngo's photo as well as the headline, "David Ngo, Chief Product Officer."

Backblaze is happy to announce that David Ngo has joined our team as Chief Product Officer, a role responsible for spearheading the company’s global product management function, shaping the strategy, crafting the technology roadmap and overseeing execution. 

What David Brings to the Role

David is a software as a service (SaaS) data protection industry veteran with more than 25 years of global leadership experience. He previously served as the global chief technology officer (CTO) for Metallic, a division of Commvault, which provides data protection and cyber resilience as a service. He will play a pivotal role in guiding overall product direction for our existing customers as well as emerging needs as the company continues to succeed in moving upmarket.

I am pleased to welcome David as our new Chief Product Officer. David brings impressive engineering, design, and product leadership to Backblaze. He joins us at an exciting time as we help more customers break free from traditional cloud walled gardens and move to an open cloud ecosystem and empower them to do more with their data.

Gleb Budman, Backblaze CEO and Chairperson of the Board

Ngo joins a team with an impressive track record of building and scaling products and solutions that excite customers, drive growth, and deliver impact. With over 500,000 customers and three billion gigabytes of data storage under management, Backblaze has built data storage products at industry leading pricing over the past 15 years. Ngo further expands the company’s leadership by bringing his vast cloud, infrastructure, and data management knowledge developed during his time leading global teams at Commvault.

David says of his new role: 

I am thrilled to lead the amazing product organization at Backblaze and to help accelerate growth for our company. I am committed to continuing the company’s impressive track record of building powerful products that support customers’ data needs and leading the industry towards an open cloud ecosystem.

—David Ngo, Backblaze Chief Product Officer

The post Welcoming Chief Product Officer David Ngo to Backblaze appeared first on Backblaze Blog | Cloud Storage & Cloud Backup.

Bookblaze: The Second Annual Backblaze Book Guide

Post Syndicated from Stephanie Doyle original https://www.backblaze.com/blog/bookblaze-the-second-annual-backblaze-book-guide/

A decorative image showing a book and a bookshelves.

It’s that time again—cozy season is upon us and your Backblaze authors are eager to share some of their favorite reads. Feel free to use them as a gift guide (if you still have gifts to give, that is), as a list of recs to start your New Year’s resolutions off right, or just some excellent excuses to take some much-needed solo time away from the family. 

So, whether the weather outside is frightful, or, like at our home office in San Mateo, weird and drizzly, we hope you enjoy! And, as always, feel free to let us know what you thought in the comments. 

Tech Expertise and Whimsical Reads, All in One List

Pat Patterson, Chief Technical Evangelist

An image of the cover of the book Too Much Too Young by Daniel Rachel.

Too Much Too Young: The 2 Tone Records Story, by Daniel Rachel

In 1979, a clutch of young, multiracial bands burst onto the music scene in the UK, each offering their own take on ska, the precursor to reggae that originated in 1950’s Jamaica. “Too Much Too Young”, named after The Specials’ 1980 UK number one hit, tells the fascinating story of how bands such as The Specials, The Selecter, and The Beat (ok, “The English Beat” in the U.S.) took punk’s do-it-yourself ethic, blended it with reggae rhythms, and, as the 70s turned into the 80s, released a string of singles and albums that dominated the pop charts. 

Looking back from 2023, it’s astonishing to realize that this was the first time many audiences had seen black and white musicians on stage together, and musician-turned-author Daniel Rachel does a great job telling the 2 Tone story in the context of the casual racism, economic recession, and youth unemployment of the time. Highly recommended for any music fan, whether or not you remember moonstomping back in the day!

Vinodh Subramanian, Product Marketing Manager

An image of the book cover for Build: An Unorthodox Guide To Making Things Worth Making, by Tony Fadell.

Build: An Unorthodox Guide To Making Things Worth Making, by Tony Fadell

I picked up this book while waiting for a flight at an airport and it quickly became a source of inspiration. Authored by Tony Fadell, who played a significant role in building successful tech products like iPod, iPhone, and the Nest thermostat, the book provides insights and strategies on how to build yourself, build your career, and ultimately build products that users love. What I love about the book is how it creates a practical roadmap for building things in life and business, and it makes those things seem more possible and achievable regardless of what stage of career (or life) you’re in. I’d highly recommend this for anyone who loves to build things, but is not sure what to focus on in what order. 

nathaniel wagner, Senior Site Reliability Engineer

An image of the cover of the book Designing Data-Intensive Applications by Martin Kleppmann.

Designing Data-Intensive Applications: The Big Ideas Behind Reliable, Scalable, and Maintainable Systems, by Martin Kleppmann

Backblaze has created several data intensive applications, and while normally I am not a fan of deeply technical books because I am a learn-by-doing type of person, I think this book does a fantastic job at explaining the strengths and weaknesses of various strategies to handling large amounts of data. It also helps that I am a big fan of the freedom/speed of NoSQL, and here at Backblaze we use Cassandra to keep our index of over 500 billion Backblaze B2 files. 🙂

Nicole Gale, Marketing Operations Manager

An image of the cover of the book Before the coffee gets cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold, by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

It’s probably the shortest book I read this year, but the one that stuck with me the most. “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” is a new take (at least for me) on time traveling that dives into what would you do if you could go back in time, but it doesn’t change anything (or does it?). Each chapter is a short story following a different character’s journey to decide to sit in the chair and drink the coffee. You won’t regret picking up this book!

Andy Klein, Principal Cloud Storage Storyteller

An image of the book cover for Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time.

A Brief History of Time, by Stephen Hawking

I reread “A Brief History of Time” by Stephen Hawking this past year. I read it years ago to understand the science. This time as I read it I felt an appreciation for the elegance that is the universe. The book is an approachable scientific read, but it does demand your full attention while reading, and if you slept through your high school and college physics classes, the book may not be for you.

Molly Clancy, Senior Content Editor

An image of the book cover for Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver.

Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver

“Demon Copperhead” is the book that brought me back to reading for pleasure after having a baby. Some perspective for new parents—he’s almost one and a half, so… go easy on yourselves. Anyway, about this book: you probably never thought you wanted to get inside the head of a teenage boy from the hollers of coal country, but you do. Trust me, you do. Barbara Kingsolver doesn’t hold back when it comes to, let’s say, the authenticity of what a teenage boy from the hollers of coal country thinks about, and she somehow manages to do it without being cringe. It’s a damning critique of social services, the foster care system, the school system to some extent, Big Pharma to a huge extent, and even Big City Liberals in a way that’s clarifying for this Big City Liberal who now lives …in the hollers of coal country.

Troy Liljedahl, Director, Solutions Engineering

An image of the book cover for Radical Candor by Kim Scott.

Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity, by Kim Scott

The book that really stuck with me this year is “Radical Candor” by Kim Scott. This was the best book on leadership and management I’ve ever read, and I’ve been recommending it to my friends and colleagues who are looking for ways to improve in those skills. I love how Scott gives you actionable items to take with you into the workplace rather than generalized advice that’s less applicable to specific situations. I loved the book so much I started listening to the Radical Candor podcast, which has quickly become a favorite of mine as well.

Kari Rivas, Senior Product Marketing Manager

A cover image of the book The Grace Year by Kim Liggett.

The Grace Year, by Kim Liggett

For fans of “The Handmaid’s Tale”, “Hunger Games”, and any other books where women are badasses (can I say that?) fighting a dystopian empire, “The Grace Year” will not disappoint. This book examines the often fraught and complex relationships between women, with a magical bent. Think Lady of the Flies. Just like the mentioned references, this thrilling read will leave you feeling both hopeful and sad—exactly the mix of feelings we’re all looking for at the end of the year, amIright?

Yev Pusin, Senior Director, Marketing

An image of the book cover The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher.

The Aeronaut’s Windlass, by Jim Butcher

I do not feel like I need to sell this book too hard. Here’s the gist. Jim Butcher (of Dresden Files and Codex Alera fame) wrote this book. It’s about an airship-filled steampunk society that’s divided into living habitats they call spires. It has air ship battles. Magic. Snarky characters. And possibly most important of all: TALKING CATS AS A MAIN CHARACTER. Enjoy.

Mark Potter, Chief Information Security Officer

An image of the cover of the book To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose.

To Shape a Dragon’s Breath: The First Book of Nampeshiweisit, by Moniquill Blackgoose (and some other bonus books!)

I don’t really have a book recommendation, but I have a few books that I’m reading at the moment: “To Shape a Dragon’s Breath” (a recommendation from a fellow Backblazer that I’m only a couple of chapters into) and Robert Jordan’s “The Eye of the World” (has been on my list for over a decade, so far I’m underwhelmed).

Gleb Budman, Chief Executive Officer

An image of the book cover of Tubes by Andrew Blum.

Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet, by Andrew Blum

The idea that the internet is “a series of tubes” may have been widely mocked when former Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska famously described it. But he wasn’t entirely wrong. I love how Blum starts with a simple question: “Where does this cord that comes out of my modem actually go?” and then that takes him on a journey of exploration around the world.

Alison McClelland, Senior Technical Editing Manager

An image of the cover of the book Packing for Mars by Mary Roach.

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, by Mary Roach

Mary Roach presents a unique view of the challenges of space, investigating the comical side of planetary exploration, from zero-gravity hijinks to the surprisingly practical challenges of personal hygiene in orbit. Forget packing trendy outfits in your stylish carry-on; in the cosmos, it’s all about zero-gravity hairstyles and toothpaste that doesn’t float away mid-brush.

Stephanie Doyle, Associate Editor and Writer

An image of the book cover for All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders.

All the Birds in the Sky, by Charlie Jane Anders

This book is a wonderful mashup of near-future sci fi, magical realism, strong character arcs, and so much more. It’s brilliant at taking things that seem familiar—urban San Francisco for example, or science as a concept—and inserting chaos and whimsy in ways that challenge our base assumptions and create a totally unexpected, but absolutely believable, universe. It’s so matter-of-fact in tone, that you may just question whether magic does exist. And, with all that, the book ends by delivering a poignant and thoughtful ending that turns all that quirkiness inside out, and forces you to wonder about the world you’re living in right now, and how you can change things. It’s one of my go-to recommendations for fans of all kinds of fiction.

Patrick Thomas, Senior Director, Publishing

An image of the book cover for Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan.

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, by Robin Sloan

So, full disclosure—I continue to struggle with being a toddler dad when it comes to reading. (Evidence: I’ve read “The Grinch”10 times in the last 24 hours and my heart is feeling three sizes too small). So this isn’t a new recommendation, but rather a recommendation I’m realizing not enough people in tech have received yet. “Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore” brings together my two worlds: books and tech… and, well, fantasy and mystery sort of (not my worlds, but I like to dwell in the idea that there’s a near-real fantasy world at the edge of our experience). If you like data and narrative structure, or if you like a spooky adventure, or if you like dusty old bookshops, Robin Sloan has you covered with this one. And, once you’ve read this, get on his email lists, he writes about history, fiction, and technology (and olive oil) beautifully. P.S.: I don’t know why Picador insists on this terrible cover, it does little to convey the world inside the book—don’t make my mistake and judge this book by its cover).

Happy Reading From Backblaze

We hope this list piques your interest—we may be a tech company, but nothing beats a good, old fashioned book (or audiobook) to help you unwind, disconnect, and lose yourself in someone else’s story for a while. (Okay, we may be biased on the Publishing team.) 

Any reading recommendations to give us? Let us know in the comments.

The post Bookblaze: The Second Annual Backblaze Book Guide appeared first on Backblaze Blog | Cloud Storage & Cloud Backup.

Holiday Gift Guide 2023

Post Syndicated from Yev original https://www.backblaze.com/blog/holiday-gift-guide-2023/

A decorative image showing exciting images falling out of a present.  The title reads Holiday Gift Guide.

The holidays are fast approaching and with them the many cyber sales that provide both inspiration and opportunity for gift giving on any budget. To help narrow the field, every year I ask my fellow Backblazers to submit the gifts that they are looking forward to both gifting and receiving. (Hopefully some of their loved ones read the blog?) And of course, I’ve sprinkled in a few of my favorites as well. Without further ado, here’s what we suggest looking into for your 2023 gift giving!

Health and Wellness

Oura Ring

A decorative image showing several of the Oura ring models.

This little thing is pretty neat. It helps you keep track of your health, tracking everything from sleep to stress levels. It lasts for a week on a single charge, and is super easy on the eyes, so you’ll want to wear it all over the place.

Garmin InReach Mini

An image of a Garmin InReach Mini.

We have a lot of hikers, joggers, and runners at Backblaze and, as firm believers in thinking about your backup options before a disaster, the Garmin is an awesome-to-have trail buddy.

Drinks On Me (You?)

Yeti Cocktail Shaker

A product image of a Yeti cocktail shaker shown in red.

While a cocktail shaker is a pretty common household item, this one is sure to impress. Ask questions like, “Could my drink possibly get any colder and stay that way?” and “Can I customize my shaker with a sticker of my cat’s face?” And the Yeti’s answer is yes. Also, you know we love when a product comes in red. 

The Durand

A decorative image of a Durand removing corks from an old bottle of wine.

Wine anyone? If you or someone in your life is a big wino, older wines are a delicious treat, with a potentially fatal stumbling block: old, crumbly corks. The Durand corkscrew helps take them out with no breakage.

Coravin Timeless Three

An image showing a Coravin attached to a wine bottle pouring wine into a glass.

Another one for winos, the Coravin is an incredible wine system that uses tiny needles and argon gas to pour wine into your glass without having to actually open it. I can personally vouch for this one as a single human who has nice wine bottles and often wants a single glass once or twice a week.

Japanese Matcha Tea Set

A decorative images showing someone making matcha tea.

Tea time is a dreamy time and this matcha set allows you to make yourself a traditional cup. And if you need some matcha powder for it, this one comes high comes highly recommended: Organic Ceremonial Grade Matcha Powder.

Jet Boil Camping Stove

A decorative image showing a JetBoil camper heater setup.

Tea and coffee at a campsite are a must-have, and if you’ve never tried a Jet Boil, this model is easy to use. Also helpful for those times where you lose power and need to make some hot water in a hurry.

Food’s Good

Sous Vide

A product image of a sous vide kitchen appliance.

Foodies know and love the sous vide method, a.k.a. low temperature, long time (LTLT). If you’re into cooking your food in a hot tub, you’ll be happy to know that this accessory has come down in price dramatically over time. We like this version of a kitchen appliance, but there is certainly a wide world of sous vide gadgets out there if you’re interested. 

Ooni Pizza Oven

A product image of an Ooni pizza oven.

Pizza night gets fancier with this pizza oven that can make you a Neapolitan style pizza in less than five minutes. You gotta love that efficiency. 

Goldbelly Iconic Meal Kits

An image of the Goldbelly website showing iconic meal kits.

Love fancy foods but can’t travel to get them? Goldbelly has become the go-to for nationwide delivery of local favorites, and they now do meal kits as well. We’re not going to say you should give up on your standard, probably nutritionally balanced Hello Freshes of the world, but we will say that these are a whole lot more, well, iconic.

AeroGarden

A produce image of a hydroponic garden.

Have your own mini-garden whether you’re in a house or an apartment. With just a little bit of counter space, a semi-green thumb, some patience, and water, you’ll never have herbs go bad in your fridge again. 

Games and Gaming

Steam Deck OLED, Lenovo Legion Go, & Rog Ally

Not since the times of the Game Boy Advance or maybe the Nintendo 3DS have handheld gaming systems seen such a rise in popularity. Along with the Nintendo Switch, these three handhelds bring the power of a computer to your fingertips on the go. While it’s not quite a gaming rig, it’s good enough for most airline flights, and hey…they’ll all play Baldur’s Gate 3. 

D&D Starter Set

It’s a great time to be a nerd. Critical Role, Dimension 20, The Adventure Zone, and many more role playing games (RPGs) are super popular nowadays, and it’s high time you take part. Get the D&D starter kit, some dice, and your soon-to-be best friends, create your character and get rolling.

Clothes

Ororo Heated Vest

A product image of an Ororo heated vest.

Backblaze is based in California, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t know about weather. (What’s this wet stuff falling from the sky again?) That said, as a Midwesterner by heritage (dontcha know), I know something about staying warm. Heated clothes take the benefits of your favorite heated blanket and give them to you on the go. 

Selk’bag

A product image of a selk'bag.

Camping? Walking? Freezing? How about a sleeping bag that you can walk in, eh?

Hats, Fanny Packs, & Bomber Jackets From Lower Park

A screenshot of the Lower Park website showing a lovely bomber jacket.

We’re all about being good community members, and this local (to us) company makes hats, fanny packs, and bomber jackets using environmentally friendly materials. They’re good products, in more ways than one.

Relax

Breathing Buddy

A product image showing how to meditate.

Studies have shown that meditation has measurable benefits for your mind and body. There are a plethora of tools out there to help you build good habits (see below), but this one is stinkin’ cute. Let this little guy help visually take you through a guided meditation. Bonus: it’s a great gift for kids, too.

Calm

The Calm app helps people stay mindful with everything from guided meditation to celebrity-read stories. We’re big fans of their social posts that just encourage you to take a 15 second break—it’s a positive interruption to the doomscroll effect, and a great way to preview some of the app’s content.

Watch and Listen

Skylight

A product image showing several Skylight frames.

A twist on photo frames: you can send pictures to it and have all of your favorite memories staring back at you when you look over. Or, send photos to anyone, anywhere. Definitely some potential prank opportunities to be had; but it’s also a great way to keep in touch with far-flung family members. 

Sonos Surround Set With Beam

A product image of a Sonos surround kit.

Sonos surround systems are a great addition to homes. Multiple speakers can sync up to make sure that you’re never far away from rocking out to Weird Al, no matter where you are in the house.

Ikea FREKVENS (Sound Activated Lightbox)

An Ikean soundbox.

Music’s always better with light shows and this lightbox from Ikea matches beats and keeps things groovy. Yet another reason to love Ikea!

Apple AirPods Max

An image of Apple AirPods Max.

For the audiophiles in your life, the AirPods Max are the over-the-ear variant of the traditional AirPod. They’re much harder to lose, giving you that impressive combo of sound and noise cancellation you’ve come to expect.

Pixel Buds Pro

A product image of Pixel buds.

To balance the scales for our Android lovers, here are Google’s in-ear buds. They have a lot of bells and whistles including noise cancellation and built-in Android Assistant. Now when you talk to yourself, someone will answer. (That’s a good thing right?).

LEGO

A product image of a Lego typewriter kit.

LEGO is having a bit of a moment (at least in my family) and we have spent a lot of time building complicated models. For the adults in your life that love to tinker, we recommend some of these cool sets! 

LEGO Ideas Typewriter

LEGO PAC-MAN Arcade

LEGO Sanderson Sisters’ Cottage

Give the Gift of Backblaze

And, of course, we’d be remiss if we didn’t remind you that Backblaze Computer Backup makes a great gift. Help your family and friends experience the sweet, sweet peace of mind that comes from a good backup strategy and make sure they never lose a file again. Bonus: you don’t even have to go to the store to get it.

A decorative image showing a gift box with the words "Give Backblaze Backup" overlayed.

Go Forth and Gift!

We hope this guide sparked some ideas and simplified some choices. We’ll also be publishing our second-annual book guide in December if you’re struggling with something for the literary folks in your life. (There’s some good stuff in the first one too.) We love hearing about what folks are excited about, so feel free to give us some more good options in the comments below.

The post Holiday Gift Guide 2023 appeared first on Backblaze Blog | Cloud Storage & Cloud Backup.

Things That Used to Be Science Fiction (and Aren’t Anymore)

Post Syndicated from Yev original https://www.backblaze.com/blog/things-that-used-to-be-science-fiction-and-arent-anymore/

A decorative image showing a spaceship beaming up the Backblaze logo.

The year is 2023, and the human race has spread across the globe. Nuclear powered flying cars are everywhere, and the first colonies have landed on Mars! [Radio crackles.] 

Okay, so that isn’t exactly how it’s gone down, but in honor of Halloween, the day celebrates the whimsy of all things being possible, let’s talk about things that used to be science fiction and aren’t anymore.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Have we gotten reader fatigue from this topic yet? (As technology people by nature, we’re deep in it.) The rise of generative AI over the past year or so has certainly brought this subject into the spotlight, so in some ways it seems “early” to judge all the ways that AI will change things. On the other hand, there are lots of tools and functions we’ve been using for a while that have been powered by AI algorithms, including AI assistants. 

Shout out to this content creator for a hilarious video.

At the risk of not doing this topic justice in this list, I’ll say that there’s plenty of reporting on—and plenty of potential for—AI now and in the future. 

Aliens

This year, the U.S. House Oversight Committee was conducting an investigation on unidentified flying objects (UFOs). While many UFOs turn out to be things like weather balloons and drones designed for home use, well, some apparently aren’t. Three military veterans, including a former intelligence officer, went on record saying that the government has a secret facility where it’s been reverse engineering highly advanced vehicles, and that the U.S. has recovered “non-human biologics” from these crash sites. (Whatever that means—but we all know what that means, right…) 

Here’s the video, if you want to see for yourself. 

Weirdly, the public response was… not much of one. (The last couple of years have been “a year”.) But, chalk this one up as confirmed. 

Space Stations

The list of sci-fi shows and books set on space stations is definitely too long to list item by item. Depending on your age (and we won’t ask you to tell us), you may think of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series (the books), Star Wars, Zenon, Girl of the 21st Century (or maybe the Zequel?), Babylon 5, or the Expanse. 

Back in the real world, the International Space Station (ISS) has been in orbit since 1998 and runs all manner of scientific experiments. Notably, these experiments include the Alpha Meter Spectrometer (AMS-02) which is designed to detect things like dark matter and antimatter and solve the fundamental mysteries of the universe. (No big deal.) 

For those of us stuck on Earth (for now), you can keep up with the ISS in lots of ways. Check out this map that lets you track whether you can see it from your current location. (Wave the next time it floats over!) And, of course, there are some fun YouTube channels streaming the ISS. Here’s just one:  

Universal Translators

Okay, universal translators is the cool sci-fi name, but if you want the actual, machine learning (ML) name, folks call that interlingual machine translation. Translation may seem straightforward at first glance, but, as this legendary Star Trek episode demonstrates, things are not always so simple. 

And sure, it’s easy to say that this is an unreasonable standard given that most human languages are known—but are they? Native language reclamation projects like those from the Cherokee and Oneida tribes demonstrate how easy it is to lose the nuance of a language without those who natively speak it. Advanced degrees in poetry translation, like this Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Iowa (go Hawks!), help specialists grapple with and capture the nuance between smell, scent, odor, and stench across different languages. And, add to those challenges that translators also have to contend with the wide array of accents in each language. 

With that in mind, it’s pretty amazing that we now have translation devices that can be as small as earbuds. Most still require an internet connection, and some are more effective than others, but it’s safe to say we live in the future, folks. Case in point: I had a wine tasting in Tuscany a few months ago where we used Google Translate exclusively to speak with the winemaker and proprietor. 

iPads

“What?” you say. “iPads are so normal!” Sure, now you’re used to touch screens. But, let me present you with this image from a show that is definitely considered science fiction:

Shockingly, not an iPad.

Yes, folks, that’s Captain Jean Luc Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation. And here’s a later one, from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. 

These are plans for the arboretum, so Keiko is probably dropping some knowledge.

Star Trek wikis describe the details of a Personal Access Display Device, or PADD, including a breakdown of how they changed over time in the series. Uhura even had a “digital clipboard” in the original Star Trek series: 

We’d have to revisit the episode to see what this masterful side-eye is about.

And, just for the record, we’ll always have a soft spot in our heart for Chief O’Brien’s love of backups.

Robot Domestic Laborer

If you were ever a fan of this lovely lady—

Rosie the Robot, of course, longtime employee and friend of The Jetsons.

—then you’ll be happy to know that your robot caretaker(s) have arrived. Just as Rosie was often seen using a separate vacuum cleaner, they’re not all integrated into one charming package—yet. If you’re looking for the full suite of domestic help, you’ll have to get a few different products. 

First up, the increasingly popular (and, as time goes on, increasingly affordable) robot vacuum. There are tons of models, from the simple vacuum to the vacuum/mop. While they’re reportedly prone to some pretty hilarious (horrific?) accidents, having one or several of these disk-shaped appliances saves lots of folks lots of time. Bonus: just add cat, and you have adorable internet content in the comfort of your own home. 

Next up, the Snoo, marketed as a smart bassinet, will track everything baby, then use that data to help said baby sleep. Parents who can afford to buy or rent this item sing its praises, noting that you can swaddle the baby for safety and review the data collected to better care for your child. 

And, don’t forget to round out your household with this charming toilet cleaning robot

Robot Bartenders

In this iconic scene from The Fifth Element, Luc Besson’s 1997 masterpiece, a drunken priest waxes poetic about a perfect being (spoiler: she’s a woman) to a robot bartender. “Do you know what I mean?” the priest asks. The robot shakes its head. “Do you want some more?”

Start at about 2:00 minutes.

These days, you can actually visit robot bartenders in Las Vegas or on Royal Caribbean cruise ships. Or, if you’re looking for a robot bartender that does more than serve up a great Sazerac, you can turn to Brillo, a robot bartender powered by AI who can also engage in complex dialogue. 

Please politely ignore that his face is the stuff of nightmares…it’s what’s on the inside (and in the glass) that counts.

And, if leaving your house sounds terrible, don’t worry: you can also get a specialized appliance for your home. 

It’s a Good Time to Be Cloud Storage

One thing that all these current (and future) tech developments have in common: you never see them carting something trailing wires. That means (you guessed it!) that they’re definitely using a central data source delivered via wireless network, a.k.a the cloud.

After you’ve done all the work to, say, study an alien life form or design and program the perfect cocktail, you definitely don’t want to do that work twice. And, do you see folks slowing down to schedule a backup? Definitely not. Easy, online, always updating backups are the way to go.

So, we’re not going to say Backblaze Computer Backup makes the list as a sci-fi idea that we’ve made real; we’re just saying that it’s probably one of those things that people leave off-stage, like characters brushing their teeth on a regular basis. And, past or future, we’re here to remind you that you should always back up your data.

Backup Is Past, Present, and Future 

Things We Still Want (Get On It, Scientists!) 

Everything we just listed is really cool and all, but let’s not forget that we are still waiting for some very important things. Help us out scientists; we really need these: 

  • Flying cars
  • Faster than light space travel
  • Teleportation 
  • Matter replicators (3D printing isn’t quite there)

We feel compelled to add that, despite our jocular tone, the line between science and science fiction has always been something of a thin one. Studies have shown and inventors like Motorola’s Martin Cooper have gone on record pointing to their inspiration in the imaginative works of science fiction. 

So, that leaves us standing by for new developments! Let’s see what 2024 brings. Let us know in the comments section what cool tech in your life fits this brief.

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Backblaze Product and Pricing Updates

Post Syndicated from Gleb Budman original https://www.backblaze.com/blog/2023-product-announcement/

A decorative image showing the Backblaze logo on a cloud. A title reads Product Updates and Upgrades

Over the coming months, Backblaze will make big updates and upgrades to both our products—B2 Cloud Storage and Computer Backup. Considering the volume of new stuff on the horizon, I’m dropping into the blog today to explain what’s happening, when, and why for our customers as well as any others who are considering adopting our services. Here’s what’s new.

B2 Cloud Storage Updates

Price, Egress, and Product Upgrades

Meeting and exceeding customers’ needs for building applications, protecting data, supporting media workflows, and more is the top priority for B2 Cloud Storage. To further these efforts, we’ll be implementing the following updates:

Price Changes

Storage Price: Effective October 3, 2023, we are increasing the monthly pay-as-you-go storage rate from $5/TB to $6/TB. The price of B2 Reserve will not change.

Free Egress: Also effective October 3, we’re making egress free (i.e. free download of data) for all B2 Cloud Storage customers—both pay-as-you-go and B2 Reserve—up to three times the amount of data you store with us, with any additional egress priced at just $0.01/GB. Because supporting an open cloud environment is central to our mission, expanding free egress to all customers so they can move data when and where they prefer is a key next step.

Backblaze B2 Upgrades

From Object Lock for ransomware protection, to Cloud Replication for redundancy, to more data centers to support data location needs, Backblaze has consistently improved B2 Cloud Storage. Stay tuned for more this fall, when we’ll announce upload performance upgrades, expanded integrations, and more partnerships.

Things That Aren’t Changing

Storage pricing on committed contracts, B2 Reserve pricing, and unlimited free egress between Backblaze B2 and many leading content delivery network (CDN) and compute partners are all not changing. 

Why the Changes for B2 Cloud Storage?

1. Continuing to provide the best cloud storage.

I am excited that B2 Cloud Storage continues to be the best high-quality and low-cost alternative to traditional cloud providers like AWS for businesses of all sizes. After seven years in service with no price increases, the bar was very high for considering any change to our pricing. We invest in making Backblaze B2 a better cloud storage provider every day. A price increase enables us to continue doing so into the future.

2. Advancing the freedom of customers’ data.

We’ve heard from customers that one of the greatest benefits of B2 Cloud Storage is freedom—freedom from complexity, runaway bills, and data lock-in. We wanted to double down on these benefits and further empower our customers to leverage the open cloud to use their data how and where they wish. Making egress free supports all these benefits for our customers.

Backblaze Computer Backup

Price, Version History, Version 9.0, and Admin Upgrades

To expand our ability to provide astonishingly easy computer backup that is as reliable as it is trustworthy and affordable, we’re instituting the following updates to Backblaze Computer Backup and sharing some upcoming product upgrades:

  • Computer Backup Pricing: Effective October 3, new purchases and renewals will be $9/month, $99/year, and $189 for two-year subscription plans, and Forever Version History pricing will be $0.006/GB.
  • Free One Year Extended Version History: Also effective October 3, all Computer Backup licenses may add One Year Extended Version History, previously a $2 per month expense, for free. Being able to recover deleted or altered files up to a year later saves Computer Backup users from huge headaches, and now this benefit is available to all subscribers. Starting October 3, log in to your account and select One Year of Extended Version History for free. 
  • Version 9.0: In September, the release of Version 9.0 will go live. Among some improvements to performance and usability, this release includes a highly requested new local restore experience for end users. We’ll share all the details with you in September when Version 9.0 goes live.
  • Groups Administration Upgrades: In addition to Version 9.0, we’ve got an exciting roadmap of upgrades to our Groups functionality aimed at serving our growing and evolving customer base. For those who need to manage everything from two to two thousand workstations, we’re excited to offer more peace of mind and control with expanded tools built for the enterprise at a price still ahead of the competition.

Why the Change for Computer Backup?

Since launching Computer Backup in 2008, we’ve stayed committed to a product that backs up all your data automatically to the cloud for a flat rate. Over the following 15 years, the average amount of data stored per user has grown tremendously, and our investments to build out our storage cloud to support that growth has increased to keep pace. 

At the same time, we’ve continued to invest in improving the product—as we have been recently with the upcoming release of Version 9.0, in our active development of new Group administration features, and in the free addition of optional One Year Extended Version history for all users. And, we still have more to do to ensure our product consistently lives up to its promise. 

To continue offering unlimited backup, innovating, and adding value to the best computer backup service, we need to align our pricing with our costs.

Thank You

We understand how valuable your data is to your business and your life, and the trust you place in Backlaze every day is not lost on me. We are deeply committed to our mission of making storing, using, and protecting that data astonishingly easy, and the updates I’ve shared today are a big step forward in ensuring we can do so for the long haul. So, in closing, I’ll say thank you for entrusting us with your precious data—we’re honored to serve you. 

FAQ: B2 Cloud Storage

Am I affected by this B2 Cloud Storage pricing update?

Maybe. This update applies to B2 Cloud Storage pay-as-you-go customers—those who pay variable monthly amounts based on their actual consumption of the service—who have not entered into committed contracts for one or more years.

When will I, as an existing B2 Cloud Storage pay-as-you-go customer, see this update in my monthly bill?

The updated pricing is effective October 3, 2023, so you will see it applied starting from this date to bills sent after this date.

How does Backblaze measure monthly average storage and free egress?

Backblaze measures pay-as-you-go customers’ usage in byte hours. The monthly storage average is based on the byte hours. As of October 3, 2023, monthly egress up to three times your average is free; any monthly egress above this 3x average is priced at $0.01 per GB.

Will Backblaze continue to offer unlimited free egress to CDN and compute partners?

Yes. This change has no impact on the unlimited free egress that Backblaze offers through leading CDN and compute partners including Fastly, Cloudflare, CacheFly, bunny.net, and Vultr.

How can I switch from pay-as-you-go B2 Cloud Storage to a B2 Reserve annual capacity bundle plan?

B2 Reserve bundles start at 20TB. You can explore B2 Reserve with our Sales Team here to discuss making a switch.

Is Backblaze still much more affordable than other cloud providers like AWS?

Yes. Backblaze remains highly affordable compared to other cloud storage providers. The service also remains roughly one-fifth the cost of AWS S3 for the combination of hot storage and egress, with the exact difference varying based on usage. For example, if you store 10TB in the U.S. West and also egress 10% of it in a month, your pricing from Backblaze and AWS is as follows:

Backblaze B2: Storage $6/TB + Egress $0/GB = $60

AWS S3: Storage $26/TB + Egress $0.09/GB = Storage $260 + Egress $90 = $350

In this instance, Backblaze is 17% or about one-fifth the cost of AWS S3.

What sort of improvements do you plan alongside the increase in pricing?

Beyond including free egress for all customers, we have a number of other upgrades and improvements in the pipeline. We’ll be announcing them in the coming months, but they include improvements to the upload experience, features to expand use cases for application storage customers, new integrations, and more partnerships.

Is Backlaze making any other updates to B2 Cloud Storage pricing, such as adding a minimum storage duration fee?

No. This is the extent of the update effective October 3, 2023. We also continue to believe that minimum storage duration fees as levied by some vendors run counter to the interests of many customers.

When was your last price increase?

This is the only price increase we have had since we launched B2 Cloud Storage in 2015.

FAQ: Computer Backup

What are the new prices?

Monthly licenses will be $9, yearly licenses will be $99, and two-year licenses will be $189. One Year Extended Version History will be available for free to those who wish to enable it. The $2 per month charge for Forever Version History will be removed while the incremental rate for when a file has been changed, modified, or deleted over a year ago will be $0.006/GB/month.

When are prices changing?

October 3, 2023 at 00:00 UTC is when the price increase will go into effect for new purchases and renewals. Existing contracts and licenses will be honored for their duration, and any prorated purchases after that time will be prorated at the new rate.

How does Extended Version History work?

Extended Version History allows you to “go back in time” further to retrieve earlier versions of your data. By default that setting is set to 30 days. With this update, you can choose to keep versions up to one year old for free.

What is a version?

When an individual file is changed, updated, edited, or deleted, without the file name changing, a new version is created.

When will the One Year Extended Version History option be included with my license?

On October 3, 2023, we’ll be removing the charge for selecting One Year Extended Version History. Any changes made to that setting ahead of that date will result in a prorated charge to the payment method on file.

I do not have One Year Extended Version History. Do I need to do anything to get it?

Yes. We will not be changing anyone’s settings on their behalf, so please see below for instructions on how to change your version history settings to one year. Note: making changes to this setting before October 3 will result in a prorated charge, as noted above.

How do I add One Year Extended Version History to my account or to my Group’s backups?

For individual Backblaze users: simply log in to your Backblaze account and navigate to the Overview page. From there you’ll see a list of all your computers and their selected Version History. To make a change, press the Update button next to the computer you wish to add One Year Extended Version History for.

For Group admins: simply log in to your Backblaze account and navigate to the Groups Management page. From there, you’ll see a list of all of the Groups you manage and their selected Version History. To make a change, press the Update button next to the Group you wish to enable One Year Extended Version History for, and all computers within it will be enabled.

Can I still use Forever Version History?

Yes. Forever Version History is still available. The prior $2 per month charge will be removed, and only files changed, deleted, or modified over a year ago will be charged at the incremental $0.006/GB/month.

I already have One Year Extended Version History on my account. Will my price go up?

It depends on your payment plan. If you are on a monthly plan with One Year Extended Version History, you will not see an increase. However, anyone on a yearly plan will see an increase from $94 to $99, and for two-year licenses, your price will increase from $178 to $189.

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Welcome Chris Opat, Senior Vice President of Cloud Operations

Post Syndicated from Patrick Thomas original https://www.backblaze.com/blog/welcome-chris-opat-senior-vice-president-of-cloud-operations/

An image of Chris Opat, Senior Vice President of Cloud Operations at Backblaze. Text reads "Chris Opat, Senior Vice President of Cloud Operations."

Backblaze is happy to announce that Chris Opat has joined our team as senior vice president of cloud operations. Chris will oversee the strategy and operations of the Backblaze global cloud storage platform.

What Chris Brings to Backblaze

Chris expands the company’s leadership by bringing his impressive cloud and infrastructure knowledge with more than 25 years of industry experience. 

Previously, Chris served as senior vice president leading platform engineering and operations at StackPath, a specialized provider in edge technology and content delivery. He also held leadership roles at CyrusOne, CompuCom, Cloudreach, and Bear Stearns/JPMorgan. Chris earned his Bachelor of Science degree in television and digital media production from Ithaca College.

Backblaze CEO, Gleb Budman, shared that Chris is a forward-thinking cloud leader with a proven track record of leading teams that are clever and bold in solving problems and creating best-in-class experiences for customers. His expertise and approach will be pivotal as more customers move to an open cloud ecosystem and will help advance Backblaze’s cloud strategy as we continue to grow.

Chris’ Role as SVP of Cloud Operations

As SVP of Cloud Operations, Chris oversees cloud strategy, platform engineering, and technology infrastructure, enabling Backblaze to further scale capacity and improve performance to meet larger-sized customers’ needs, as we continue to see success in moving up-market.

Chris says of his new role at Backblaze:

Backblaze’s vision and mission resonate with me. I’m proud to be joining a company that is supporting customers and advocating for an open cloud ecosystem. I’m looking forward to working with the amazing team at Backblaze as we continue to scale with our customers and accelerate growth.

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Things Might Look a Little Different Around Here: Technical Documentation Gets an Upgrade

Post Syndicated from Alison McClelland original https://www.backblaze.com/blog/things-might-look-a-little-different-around-here-technical-documentation-gets-an-upgrade/

A decorative image of a computer displaying the title Introducing the New Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage Documentation Portal.

When you’re working hard on an IT or development project, you need to be able to find instructions about the tools you’re using quickly. And, it helps if those instructions are easy to use, easy to understand, and easy to share. 

On the Technical Publications team, we spend a lot of time thinking about how to make our docs just that—easy. 

Today, the fruits of a lot of thinking and reorganizing and refining are paying off. The new Backblaze technical documentation portal is live.

Explore the Portal ➔ 

What’s New in the Tech Docs Portal?

The documentation portal has been completely overhauled to deliver on-demand content with a modern look and feel. Whether you’re a developer, web user, or someone who wants to understand how our products and services work, our portal is designed to be user-friendly, with a clean and intuitive interface that makes it easy to navigate and find the information you need.

Here are some highlights of what you can look forward to:

  • New and updated articles right on the landing page—so you’re always the first to know about important content changes.
  • A powerful search engine to help you find topics quickly.
  • A more logical navigation menu that organizes content into sections for easy browsing.
  • Information about all of the Backblaze B2 features and services in the About section.

You can get started using the Backblaze UI quickly to create application keys, create buckets, manage your files, and more. If you’re programmatically managing your data, we’ve included resources such as SDKs, developer quick-start guides, and step-by-step integration guides. 

Perhaps the most exciting enhancement is our API documentation. This resource provides endpoints, parameters, and responses for all three of our APIs: S3-Compatible, B2 Native, and Partner API.   

For Fun: A Brief History of Technical Documentation

As our team put our heads together to think about how to announce the new portal, we went down some internet rabbit holes on the history of technical documentation. Technical documentation was recognized as a profession around the start of World War II when technical documents became a necessity for military purposes. (Note: This was also the same era that a “computer” referred to a job for a person, meaning “one who computes”.) But the first technical content in the Western world can be traced back to 1650 B.C—the Rhind Papyrus describes some of the mathematical knowledge and methods of the Egyptians. And the title of first Technical Writer? That goes to none other than poet Geoffrey Chaucer of Canterbury Tales fame for his lesser-known work “A Treatise on the Astrolabe”—a tool that measures angles to calculate time and determine latitude.

A photograph of an astrolabe.
An astrolabe, or, as the Smithsonian calls it, “the original smartphone.” Image source.

After that history lesson, we ourselves waxed a bit poetic about the “old days” when we wrote long manuals in word processing software that were meant to be printed, compiled long indexes for user guides using desktop publishing tools, and wrote more XML code in structured authoring programs than actual content. These days we use what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) editors in cloud-based content management systems which make producing content much easier and quicker—and none of us are dreaming in HTML anymore. 

<section><p>Or maybe we are.</p></section>

Overall, the history of documentation in the tech industry reflects the changing needs of users and the progression of technology. It evolved from technical manuals for experts to user-centric, accessible resources for audiences of all levels of technical proficiency.

The Future of Backblaze Technical Documentation Portal

In the coming months, you’ll see even more Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage content including many third-party integration guides. Backblaze Computer Backup documentation will also find a home here in this new portal so that you’ll have a one-stop-shop for all of your Backblaze technical and help documentation needs. 

We are committed to providing the best possible customer-focused documentation experience. Explore the portal to see how our documentation can make using Backblaze even easier!

The post Things Might Look a Little Different Around Here: Technical Documentation Gets an Upgrade appeared first on Backblaze Blog | Cloud Storage & Cloud Backup.

Fire Works (or Does It?): How to Destroy Your Drives

Post Syndicated from Stephanie Doyle original https://www.backblaze.com/blog/fire-works-or-does-it-how-to-destroy-your-drives/

A decorative image that shows a hammer smashing a hard drive.

Erasing data from old devices is important, but it doesn’t have to be boring. Sure, you could just encrypt the data, wipe your drive, and so on, but you can also physically destroy a drive in a myriad of exciting ways. In honor of the United State’s favorite day to celebrate with explosives, let’s talk about not-so-standard ways to get rid of old data (permanently). 

Know Your Device

Effective data destruction starts with good planning. When you’re looking at how to securely erase your data, there are different options for hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs)

With an HDD, spinning disks are encased in a steel enclosure. In order to do sufficient levels of damage, it’s helpful to get through this steel layer first. Once you’re in, you can drill holes in it, wash it in acid, or shred it. 

With an SSD, it’s not just recommended to get through that steel layer, it’s almost essential. SSDs are more resilient because data is stored magnetically. So, pull out that screwdriver, shuck that drive like an oyster, and expose your SSD. If you’re going the physical destruction route, make sure that you’re shredding with a narrow enough width that no forensic scientist can humpty-dumpty your data together again. 

Have a Blast

We do have a Sr. Infrastructure Software Engineer who’s gone on record recommending explosives. Note that while we don’t doubt the efficacy, we can’t recommend this option. On the other hand, we’re big fans of bots that smash things. 

Destroy Responsibly

We could be accused of overcomplicating things. It’s very effective to wipe your device, or just encrypt your data. Here’s a list of some more extensive articles on the subject that include those options:

But, if you want more peace of mind that the data isn’t coming back—maybe you’re one of the protagonists of Dead to Me?—destroy responsibly.

The post Fire Works (or Does It?): How to Destroy Your Drives appeared first on Backblaze Blog | Cloud Storage & Cloud Backup.

Backblaze Is 16!

Post Syndicated from Backblaze original https://www.backblaze.com/blog/backblaze-is-16/

A decorative image with the text Backblaze Is 16.

Hey, we can drive! (Pun absolutely intended.) Some days it’s hard to believe that what started as a “crazy” dream in a one-bedroom apartment has evolved into what we’re celebrating today—16 years of blazing on (pun, ahem, also intended).

To mark the occasion, we thought we’d share some of our highlights from past years. If you want to hear co-founder and CEO Gleb Budman talking about our evolution (plus where he thinks cloud storage is going in the future), check out his recent appearance on The Cloudcast podcast.

And, here are some other great moments for your reading and viewing pleasure:

You already know there’s much, much more on the Backblaze blog, and we love chatting with folks in article comments and on socials. After all, we wouldn’t be here without all of you!

Thanks for supporting us over the years. If you feel like spreading the love, you can always refer a friend. (You’ll be prompted to log in so that you get credit for the referral.) Your friend will get a month free to try Backblaze, and when they sign up, you’ll get one too!

The post Backblaze Is 16! appeared first on Backblaze Blog | Cloud Storage & Cloud Backup.

Extended Maintenance Window for US West Data Center

Post Syndicated from Backblaze original https://www.backblaze.com/blog/extended-maintenance-window-for-us-west-data-center-3/

A decorative image with the Backblaze logo in the cloud.

On Wednesday, April 5, 2023, at 8:00 a.m. PT (4:00 p.m. UTC), we’ll be performing planned maintenance on a data center in our U.S. West data region. We expect the work to take up to eight hours. During the window, we do not anticipate any service impacts outside of what customers typically experience during our standard scheduled maintenance. The maintenance is only being performed in one data center in the U.S. West data region. Customers with data stored in this region should see minimal to no impact beyond what is listed below.

Learn More On Our Status Page

Real-time updates on this planned maintenance window as well as general status updates will be shared on our new status page.

Most services, including Computer Backup uploads and most B2 Cloud Storage operations (i.e., uploads, downloads, listing, key creation) will function normally. Within the maintenance window, some customers may experience interruptions of up to eight hours in the following areas:

Web Interface:

  • Website sign-in

Computer Backup:

  • Data restore and recovery (requires website sign-in)
  • Backups may sleep temporarily when starting a new session
  • Sign-in via installers, downloader apps, and mobile apps

B2 Cloud Storage:

  • Bucket creation, deletion, and updating via API
  • B2 Snapshot creation (requires website sign-in)

If timing or impacts change materially—which we do not expect to occur—we will endeavor to offer updates on the Status Page and on our social media channels. If you experience any interruptions not listed above or experience interruptions beyond the expended completion time (4:00 p.m. PT, 12:00 a.m. UTC), you can contact our Support Team through the Help page.

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Extended Maintenance Window for US West Data Center

Post Syndicated from Backblaze original https://www.backblaze.com/blog/extended-maintenance-window-for-us-west-data-center-2/

A decorative image with the Backblaze logo in the cloud.

On Wednesday, March 8, 2023, at 8:00 a.m. PT (4:00 p.m. UTC), we’ll be performing planned maintenance on a data center in our U.S. West data region. We expect the work to take up to eight hours. During the window, we do not anticipate any service impacts outside of what customers typically experience during our standard scheduled maintenance. The maintenance is only being performed in one data center in the U.S. West data region. Customers with data stored in this region should see minimal to no impact beyond what is listed below.

Most services, including Computer Backup uploads and most B2 Cloud Storage operations (i.e., uploads, downloads, listing, key creation) will function normally. Within the maintenance window, some customers may experience interruptions of up to eight hours in the following areas:

Web Interface:

  • Website sign-in

Computer Backup:

  • Data restore and recovery (requires website sign-in)
  • Backups may sleep temporarily when starting a new session
  • Sign-in via installers, downloader apps, and mobile apps

B2 Cloud Storage:

  • Bucket creation, deletion, and updating via API
  • B2 Snapshot creation (requires website sign-in)

If timing or impacts change materially—which we do not expect to occur—we will endeavor to offer updates on this blog and on our social media channels. If you have any questions, you can contact our Support Team through the Help page.

The post Extended Maintenance Window for US West Data Center appeared first on Backblaze Blog | Cloud Storage & Cloud Backup.

Extended Maintenance Window for US West Data Center

Post Syndicated from Backblaze original https://www.backblaze.com/blog/extended-maintenance-window-for-us-west-data-center/

On Wednesday, February 1, at 8:00 a.m. PT (4:00 p.m. UTC), we’ll be performing planned maintenance on a data center in our U.S. West data region. We expect the work to take place over four to eight hours. During the window, we do not anticipate any service impacts outside of what customers typically experience during our standard scheduled maintenance. The maintenance is only being performed on one data center in the U.S. West data region. Customers with data stored in this region should see minimal to no impact beyond what is listed below.

Most services, including Computer Backup uploads and most B2 Cloud Storage operations (i.e., uploads, downloads, listing, key creation) will function normally. Within the maintenance window, some customers may experience interruptions of four hours to eight hours in the following areas:

Web Interface:

  • Website sign in

Computer Backup:

  • Data restore and recovery (requires website sign in)
  • Backups may sleep temporarily when starting a new session
  • Sign in via installers, downloader apps, and mobile apps

B2 Cloud Storage:

  • Bucket creation, deletion, and updating via API
  • B2 Snapshot creation (requires website sign in)

If timing or impacts change materially—which we do not expect to occur—we will endeavor to offer updates on our social media channels. If you have any questions, you can contact our Support Team through the Help page.

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Top Ten Blog Posts of 2022

Post Syndicated from original https://www.backblaze.com/blog/top-ten-blog-posts-of-2022/

Every year we round up the best of the blog, and this year is no different. We like to look back on our posts that you, our readers, liked best and reflect on the content that resonated with the most folks.

How do we do that? Data! We gathered the analytics and sorted out the posts that got the most unique views over the course of the year. There are some mainstays that show up here year after year—our Drive Stats reports are a perennial hit. But there are always some surprises in there, too. Do you read all of our posts? Did your favorite one make the list? Read on to find out.

A Countdown of Top Blog Posts from 2022

10. How to Wipe a Windows SSD or Hard Drive

Coming in at the #10 spot is a companion piece to our ever-popular “How to Wipe a Mac” lest we neglect our PC-loving brethren. Check out this post if you need to securely erase your PC.

9. Don’t Get Trapped in iCloud

This post covers some of the pitfalls you might run into if you rely solely on iCloud to store your data as well as the method I, personally, use to back up my mobile devices.

8. The SSD Edition: 2022 Drive Stats Mid-Year Review

This year, we introduced a new report as part of our Drive Stats franchise focusing on SSDs, and it earned the #8 spot in our top 10. Read this one to find out how the SSDs in our data centers performed.

7. SSD 101: How to Upgrade Your Computer With an SSD

Lots of you searched for ways to take that old computer you have lying around and upgrade it with an SSD instead of donating or recycling it. This post explains the practicalities you should consider before doing so.

6. What’s the Diff: NAS vs. SAN

Network attached storage (NAS). Storage area network (SAN). If the acronyms weren’t confusing enough, the actual names of these two technologies certainly do the job. We explain the difference in this popular post.

5. How to Wipe a Mac Hard Drive

Still more of you are interested in how to safely and securely wipe your Macs. Especially as we come out of the gift giving season, many of you might be ready to dispose of or donate that old computer. Use this guide to make sure your data doesn’t make its way into the wrong hands.

4. Backblaze Drive Stats for Q1 2022

Our Q1 Drive Stats post, released on May the Fourth (be with you), is always a fun one. This year, Andy took inspiration from the “Star Wars” cinematic universe, organizing the post around notable quotes and delighting us all.

3. What’s the Diff: SSD vs. NVMe vs. M.2 Drives

Many of you were curious about the different kinds of SSD drives out there, putting this comparison post in the #3 spot. We spelled out the differences between SSDs, NVMe, and M.2 drives so you can figure out which is best for your use case.

2. Backblaze Drive Stats for Q2 2022

Our marquee franchise was unseated as the top post this year. Andy Klein, our resident Drive Stats storyteller, took it in stride. While Drive Stats may not be our top post this year, the reports hold three of the top ten slots, which is nothing to scoff at. Consistency is key!

1. The Python GIL: Past, Present, and Future

This little experimental post on a somewhat arcane feature of the Python programming language found a huge audience when we published it back in May. We reached out to Barry Warsaw, a Python core developer and contributor, and Pawel Polewicz, a backend software developer, to write a quick history of the Python global interpreter lock (GIL). Barry and Pawel blew us away with this deep dive on the GIL’s evolution that ended up becoming our top blog post of the year.

Thanks for Reading the Backblaze Blog in 2022

We’re glad you like reading about things like cloud storage, hard drives, and esoteric coding features like the Python GIL as much as we like writing about them. We want to thank you for tuning in here on the blog and sharing your thoughts with us in the comments and on social media. Did your favorite post make it into the list? Is there anything you wish we’d write about more? Let us know in the comments. We always love to hear from you.

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Bookblaze: First Annual Backblaze Book Guide

Post Syndicated from Molly Clancy original https://www.backblaze.com/blog/bookblaze-first-annual-backblaze-book-guide/

Fact: Books are the best gifts to give friends and family this time of year. At least we think so here at Backblaze (second to the gift of Backblaze, of course). This post is your case in point—we got so many book recommendations when we put together our annual holiday gift guide that we thought they deserved their own post. So, we’re introducing the very first annual Bookblaze Book List.

For the readers in your lives, here’s a list of books that come highly recommended from the Backblaze team. (And it’s worth noting that we don’t get any affiliate or sponsorship income for these recommendations. They’re just the books our colleagues read and loved this year.) Let’s dive in.

Cozy Reads for Your Winter Needs

Jeremy Milk, Head of Product Marketing

Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love by Marty Cagan

“Inspired” presents a thoughtful deep dive and actionable steps for how anyone and everyone within an organization can operate to better serve customers with ever better products and services. The book was written in 2018 (I think) but remains a go-to for the customer-obsessed among us.

Andy Klein, Principal Cloud Storage Storyteller

Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick

“Chaos” was printed back in 1987, but is still available on Amazon and some bookstores. Why is this my choice? I read the book hoping to understand the burgeoning field of chaos theory, the science of seeing patterns and order in the randomness of the everyday world we live in. The book was amazingly readable. The author takes a subject that could easily be three hundred pages of math, science, and history, swirling down a rabbit hole, and keeps the book approachable and within the grasp of the audience. It won’t change your world, but you’ll look at many things a little differently.

Yev Pusin, Computer Backup Steward

The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

One of my favorite books of the last few years. This period piece murder mystery takes place in a Victorian house and from the perspectives of various house party guests. No spoilers!

Gideon The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

This series is all the rage in a lot of different circles. If you’re interested in space, necromancy, or mysteries (who isn’t)—this one’s for you!

Kari Rivas, Product Marketing Manager

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I have not yet read a book by Taylor Jenkins Reid that I haven’t loved, but this one is top of the list for 2022. In “Seven Husbands,” Reid paints a picture of a complex and not immediately likable character living a fascinating life. Each chapter (read: husband) of Evelyn’s life marks a point in Evelyn’s evolution from ambitious starlet to mature grande dame who can (nearly) accept herself as she is. Modern themes of how we define family, love, and relationships intersect with this tale of old Hollywood.

Nicole Gale, Marketing Operations Manager

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton

For your friend patiently waiting for the TV adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Jones’ “Daisy Jones and the Six,” the book “The Final Revival of Opal & Nev” by Dawnie Walton is also based on faux music history and is, dare I say, even better. Follow Opal Jewel and Nev Charles, an Afropunk rock ’n’ roll duo who find fame and notoriety in the 1970’s after a tragic incident at a concert in 1973. The band splits, but a reunion concert is planned in 2026—which is when S. Sunny Shelton, a music editor at Aural Magazine, takes the chance to record interviews with the duo and those connected to them.

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

This book is perfect for anyone in your life that is looking for a book they will read and re-read again. This book is a historical fiction book about Elizabeth Zott who only ever wanted to be a scientist—but because she’s a woman in the 1960s, she has to go begging for beakers despite being the smartest researcher in the building. After reading 50 books this year, this one is by far my favorite, and I still quote Elizabeth Zott in my head. I love her (and her dog 6:30), and you will too.

Caitlin Bryson, Marketing Events Manager

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Two time-traveling spies on opposite sides of a multiverse-spanning war make contact and begin to write letters to each other across time and space. Time travel, suspense, romance, and absolutely GORGEOUS writing—what more could you ask for?

Pat Patterson, Chief Technical Evangelist

Saga of the Swamp Thing by Alan Moore

Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’s graphic novel “Watchmen” was a phenomenon, from its publication in the late 80s to the 2009 movie and 2019 spin-off TV series. I’d like to direct your attention, though, to Moore’s earlier work, specifically on the DC title, “Saga of the Swamp Thing,” available as a series of six trade paperbacks collecting over 40 issues of the monthly comic, originally published between 1984 and 1987. Nearly 40 years on, the story of the Swamp Thing’s discovery of his true nature and role in DC’s supernatural universe has lost none of its power. Not at all a kid’s comic book, Moore’s “Swamp Thing” paved the way for later generations of visual storytelling aimed at a mature audience.

Stephanie Doyle, Associate Editor and Writer

Cost of Living by Emily Maloney

I’m not usually one for memoirs; oftentimes they seem self-serving, or not relevant to larger stories. “Cost of Living” is very much the opposite of that. This book ruminates on the cost of medical debt in America from the perspective of someone struggling with it—while simultaneously working as a medical assistant and medical biller. It also touches on the variability in quality of mental health treatment, overmedication, the opioid epidemic, crazy families, and much more. Bonus: It’s a collection of essays, so you can digest it in big or small doses (if you’ll pardon the pun).

Patrick Thomas, Head of Publishing

All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon

It turns out, when you have kids, you don’t read less, you just read a lot of the same books over and over again by popular demand of your child. During some stretches, my two year old and I read the same books 40 or 50 times in a single week. I’ve learned, quickly, to guide her toward books with beautiful sentences, because if I don’t I’ll be forced to suffer through the bad ones again and again…. and again. I’ll never tire of the sentences in this little beauty, though—and the illustrations are endlessly engaging for young eyes. “All the World” is a must have for parents. But I’ll warn you, it’s going to make you cry fairly regularly.

Molly Clancy, Senior Content Editor

Bad Manners: The Official Cookbook

Do you need some more gosh dang vegetables in your life? Ever thought about giving an ever lovin’ vegan diet a try? This is the cookbook for you. Even if you’re just doing Meatless Mondays, you could always use a couple of freakin’ tasty vegan recipes, and this cookbook delivers those in spades. I’m a big fan of the coconut lime rice with red beans and mango. Holy shish kebabs, that’s good.

Happy Reading from Backblaze

Hopefully this book list sparks some inspiration for your holiday shopping list or your own 2023 reading list. What are you planning to read next year? Let us know in the comments.

The post Bookblaze: First Annual Backblaze Book Guide appeared first on Backblaze Blog | Cloud Storage & Cloud Backup.

Happy Thanksgiving from Backblaze

Post Syndicated from Molly Clancy original https://www.backblaze.com/blog/happy-thanksgiving-from-backblaze/

To all of our readers: Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at Backblaze! We’re taking some time to be with our families and friends, and we hope you are, too.

If your people are anything like ours, we imagine you might be getting asked to fix grandma’s antique desktop computer or explain what the deal is with TikTok to that one bookish friend. Maybe you’re one of those blended families who are still trying to figure out how to share your iPhone pictures with the Android users or vice-versa.

Never fear—we’ve compiled a list of posts that might come in handy when you’re called upon to be an unofficial IT admin to family or friends. Consider this your guide to being your family’s IT superhero. (Caution: If you do too good a job, they may will definitely keep coming to you).

Fortunately, unofficial IT admin is not a thankless job—prepare to have thanks showered upon you for making the internet work and quite possibly saving Thanksgiving. Don’t forget to set yourself up well for the future by referring them all to Backblaze Personal Backup. (Or, just gift it to them and then set it up, since you’re already helping.) Just make sure you get an extra serving of pumpkin pie out of the deal.

The post Happy Thanksgiving from Backblaze appeared first on Backblaze Blog | Cloud Storage & Cloud Backup.

Holiday Gift Guide 2022

Post Syndicated from original https://www.backblaze.com/blog/holiday-gift-guide-2022/

The holidays: They start earlier every single year. Two weeks before Halloween, I started seeing gingerbread houses at the store. And you know someone really waited until the last minute to buy Halloween candy when they’re giving out candy canes. Gift giving is not my love language (I’m more of a quality time person), so finding the right things for my friends and family for the holidays fills me with a certain sense of angst. Luckily for me, I’m able to outsource some of the “what’s cool” contemplation to my coworkers, and you get to benefit! So without further ado, let’s get into the annual Backblaze Holiday Gift Guide for 2022 as proposed by a smorgasbord of Backblazers.

Tech and Gadgets

Synology NAS

Data. You know it. You love it. You have it. If you want a local device to help with your 3-2-1 backup strategy, this entry-level Synology NAS device is a great bet.

Insta 360 X3

Wide-angle and 360-degree videos are all the rage right now. If you have a shutterbug in your life, this is a great gift so they have something in their pocket, ready to capture the next viral video. After all, the best camera is the one you have with you.

Bose SoundLink Speaker

For the audiophile in your life that wants to throw a houseparty without having to set up a bunch of speaker wires, this speaker will fill the room and keep you groovin’. Or, for quieter types, it delivers your favorite murder podcast with sharp clarity.

Alfred

This app for the macOS helps you take control of your Mac and boosts your efficiency by allowing you to set up custom actions, text expansion, and hotkeys.

Valve Steam Deck

For the gamer who has everything, this is a mini computer you can travel with. It plays all of your Steam games, and it’s a great portable way to get through your backlog of games you’ve bought on sale and never had a chance to play. Although we know you’ll (or they’ll) just play Vampire Survivors the whole time.

Remarkable 2

Note taking. Has it been solved? The Remarkable 2 takes a run at making your notes and meetings easier to remember. This digital notepad is an easy way to take notes and sync them across devices.

Rocketbook

Another solution for note taking: The Rocketbook (we recommend red) allows you to use a washable pen on special paper, so you can take notes, scan them, send them to the location of your choosing, and then erase the page to start over.

Ember Mug (in red, obviously)

Everyone’s favorite, an Ember mug. This keeps your drinks warm, and most importantly, if you get the red one, (we recommend red, of course) you’ll be helping global pandemic relief!

Toys and Fun Stuff

The Office Lego Set

In case you don’t get enough of the office while at the office, you can make an office in your home office, and this one will have all your favorite pals from The Office! My home office is my kitchen table, but turning it into a Lego workshop is a much better use of space.

Woobles

What better gift to give than the gift of knowledge…of crocheting? I have purchased this and am in the middle of learning to crochet. It’s fun and more importantly, adorable.

The Ted Lasso Game

We believe in believe too, Ted! The Ted Lasso party game is a fun gift in that you can open it right up and start playing. This game is full of positive vibes, just like the show. Help your players be their best selves, and maybe learn a bit about your friends and family along the way.

Blipblox

Do you have or know someone that has a little DJ brewing at their house? This Blipblox is a music exploration tool for kids as young as three years old. Help them learn all about music and get some more synth into your life!

Flying Orb Ball Toys

This tiny orb ball spins and gently glides towards a target. That makes it easy to catch and a great way to build up hand-eye coordination.

Stuff You Can Wear

Birkenstocks

What do you get the person who has everything? Another pair of Birkenstocks. With winter approaching, sandals may not be top of mind, but these are part of the standard spring and summer kit that we see around our San Mateo office.

Allbirds

Sandals not your thing? How about shoes that you can snuggle and hug? These Allbirds are part of the fluff collection, made with fluffy wool. You’ll love ’em!

Bart Bridge Patch

A patch for every occasion, and location. You probably live somewhere, and that place probably has a patch made by Bart Bridge. Show some local pride, or gift your friends a hat with a patch of that one place where that one thing happened which you will never forget, but will also never discuss.

Food and Drink

Panettone

Some say that the way to a person’s heart is through their tummy. The Panettone comes highly recommended by tummies everywhere, and just look at all those seeds! The best part about this gift is that when you hand it over, you can make a strong case about opening it and sharing.

Smoked Fish

If you have not heard of Goldbelly, it’s a great way to order food from your favorite restaurants, no matter where they are. Want to impress your holiday guests? Get this whitefish and salmon salad platter from Zucker’s in New York.

Coffee Beans

Everyone loves a good stocking stuffer, and one that we don’t think gets enough credit is getting a nice bag of coffee beans. This coffee comes highly recommended and, best of all, it’s available on Amazon for your grinding, brewing, and sipping pleasure.

Fellowship Foundry Pewter Mug

For the nerdy folks in your life, a pewter drinking mug. If you’re sitting around a Dungeons & Dragons table, you want to make sure that you’re drinking the part.

Give the Gift of Backblaze

And of course, help your friends and family back up their data with Backblaze Computer Backup. They’ll thank you for helping make sure they never lose a file again.

Happy Gift-Giving From Backblaze

I hope this gift guide helped spark some creative ideas for the upcoming gift-giving season. Comment below and tell me what gifts you’ll be looking to pick up for your friends and loved ones this year (we won’t tell them). And stay tuned for a forthcoming Backblaze Book Guide—we had so many book submissions this year, we decided to start the first annual Bookblaze Roundup.

The post Holiday Gift Guide 2022 appeared first on Backblaze Blog | Cloud Storage & Cloud Backup.

Meet Our Independent Board Members

Post Syndicated from Ramya Ramamoorthy original https://www.backblaze.com/blog/meet-our-independent-board-members/

As a Backblaze reader, you may be familiar with our executive team—many of them were in the news, especially when we went public back in November 2021. You may have also come across some of our employees on our LinkedIn page (we’re hiring, by the way!).

But you may not be familiar with our independent board members. These experienced executive leaders play a key role in the success of Backblaze. Today, we’re excited to introduce our board members so you can learn more about them and how they’ve helped make Backblaze the company it is today.

Who Are Our Independent Board Members?

At Backblaze, we have four independent board members who work closely with the executive leadership team. As board members, they occupy a role that’s intentionally separate from our employees and founders. They provide an independent viewpoint and advise the executive team on topics such as strategy, operations, and governance. Two of our executive team members are also on the board, but what makes the independent board members different is that they don’t work for the company as employees.

Jocelyn Carter-Miller


Jocelyn grew up on the South Side of Chicago. During her childhood, she was surrounded by many successful role models. She grew up in a segregated Black community called Chatham Avalon. It’s the same community where Muhammad Ali, the Johnsons from Johnsons Publishing Company, Mahalia Jackson, and Jesse Jackson also lived and worked. The first black MBA graduate from the University of Chicago (the same university that Jocelyn attended for her MBA) lived on the same block as Jocelyn. Being a part of a Black community where everyone was accepted, supported, and loved gave her a strong sense of self-confidence and self-worth.

She also attended racially and economically diverse elementary and high schools in the Hyde Park community. This exposure to White, Latino, Black, and internationally diverse students gave her perspectives into the value of different cultures—and showed her that success had many different faces.

Today, Jocelyn serves on the Backblaze board as the Lead Independent Director. She also serves as the Chair of the Compensation Committee and as a member of the Audit Committee and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.

Jocelyn began her career as a Board Member when an organization called Catalyst reached out to her. Catalyst is a nonprofit that supports diverse candidates in ascending to senior corporate leadership. They contacted her about joining a financial services board. At that point, Jocelyn had a lot on her plate—she was the Chief Marketing Officer at a Fortune 500 company as well as a wife and mother of two young daughters. Although she was not interested in pursuing this opportunity due to her demanding schedule, Catalyst still convinced her to at least do an interview. A couple of months after her interview, Catalyst let her know that she got the role. Though taking on the role was going to be a stretch, she knew it was about more than simply serving on a board—it was about setting an example for representation at the very top. She decided to join the board, and since then, she has served on five corporate boards including various Fortune 500 boards.

While Jocelyn was a Board Member at Arlo Technologies, the CEO Matthew McRae told her about the opportunity to join the Backblaze board. Jocelyn decided to meet with Gleb and the rest of the leadership team. She says of that initial meeting: “They were all so enthusiastic and they seemed to have such high integrity about what they were doing, their vision, the culture, and the way they treated their employees.” Of her time on the board so far, Jocelyn continues, “I’m glad that I did. It has been fun.”

Jocelyn explains that what makes her unique is that she brings a distinctive perspective to the boardroom as a Black woman who grew up on the South Side of Chicago. She understands what it’s like being a person of color in an environment that may not welcome or accept all of who she is. “I try to use my cultural experience as well as my gender experience to drive for an environment that allows equity for everyone, one that feels inclusive, accepting, and offers you both the opportunity to demonstrate your abilities to perform at high levels and rewards and promotes you for that,” she said. She always tries to drive and push an inclusive, equitable, and fair culture for everyone.

Jocelyn is a creative individual. She loves art and has a strong passion for interior design. Most recently, she worked with one of her friends and former colleagues on an app called Seek and Find Design that helps customers save time and money locating beautiful and inexpensive decor, while also allowing them to enhance their design sense with a community of like-minded people.

Earl Fry


Earl grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii and earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Hawaii. He worked for a couple of years in public accounting as a CPA, after which he moved to the Bay Area to earn his MBA at Stanford University. Once he graduated, he became intrigued by the tech industry and has been a part of it ever since.

At Backblaze, he serves as an independent board member. He sits on all of the Company’s committees—the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, Compensation Committee, and Audit Committee.

He started his career as a board member back in 2005. At the time, he was the CFO and Head of Operations at Informatica. One of the board members at Informatica founded his own SaaS company and thought Earl would be a great candidate to join the board. A few years later, he was asked to join the board of a regional bank based in Honolulu, Hawaii. The company was looking for someone who had financial experience for a public company as well as ties to Hawaii. Since Earl grew up in Hawaii and most of his family still lived there, he wanted to take this opportunity as a way to help the local business community.

Thirty years prior to joining the Backblaze board, Earl worked with Barbara Nelson, one of our other board members. Fast forward to when Backblaze was looking for another board member, and Barbara recommended Earl. After Earl spoke with Gleb, he was struck by how different and special Backblaze was: “Having been in Silicon Valley for so long, you get a little jaded sometimes in terms of how companies are founded and how things are put together. What struck me about Backblaze is that the team is so real and genuine. I just have a ton of respect for how the Founders pulled it all together.”

Growing up in Hawaii and attending public school there, Earl met people from all different backgrounds in terms of race, gender, or socioeconomic status. This made him aware of diversity as well as the biases that people may have toward certain groups. He brings this awareness into his work as a board member where he is well-positioned to be able to identify biases and work within the system to constructively foster change.

In his spare time, Earl likes to go fishing, practice rockhounding, and go fossil hunting. He picked up these hobbies as stress relievers. He calls himself a “closet paleontologist.” When he needs a break, he loves going out to the desert to disconnect from life’s demands and connect to nature and himself. He also enjoys gardening, drinking and collecting wine, and spending time with his family.

Evelyn D’An


Evelyn is the Chair of the Audit Committee at Backblaze. She also serves as a member on the Company’s Compensation Committee. She was raised in the Bronx and both of her parents are from the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. As a kid, she enjoyed math and was fortunate to attend The Bronx High School of Science, a magnet high school specializing in math and science. She attended SUNY – Albany, where she gained exposure to the business side of math and decided to focus her career on accounting. She joined Ernst & Young, one of the largest public accounting firms, and worked there for 18 and a half years. During her tenure, she became the first Hispanic female audit partner in the U.S. Southeast region.

Evelyn had already left Ernst & Young to start her own consulting business when the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was enacted in 2002, which aimed to prevent fraudulent financial reporting from businesses. At the time, there were a number of highly public misstatements of financial reports. The world of public accounting was turned upside down, and this also led to a strong need for financial expertise in the boardroom. Evelyn had the skills, experience, and credentials that companies were looking for on their boards. She got her first board position through her network in 2006, and has served on many boards over the past 16 years.

Over the years, she has seen an increase in the number of women in the boardroom. However, she believes that there needs to be more work done in getting underrepresented groups into the boardroom. Still, she believes there is hope: “One of the biggest supporters to encouraging diversity in the boardroom are the large investment banks of the world who are calling out their own portfolio companies and saying that if they don’t have diverse candidates on their board, then they will no longer invest in those companies,” she said. The pressure also comes from employees and candidates, which has made employers initiate or rethink their diversity and inclusion efforts.

Evelyn served as a Co-Chair for BoardNext, an organization that works with aspiring female directors to earn their first board seat. She loves helping her network find various board opportunities. She believes that diversity is so important in the boardroom because it allows everyone to bring in a different perspective. For example, if a company serves international customers, then having people from different cultures helps bring discussions to the boardroom about how they can serve customers in those cultures, what their needs are, and how they can share our value proposition with them.

Evelyn loves to travel, exercise (she’s almost at her 200th SoulCycle ride!), and spend time with her family and six-year-old grandson. Video chatting with him always makes her day better. She is also fortunate enough to still have her mom with her—who lives in the building next door—and they talk daily. Evelyn also enjoys cooking with friends and is working towards expanding her cooking skills beyond the basics. She’d love to learn to make Mediterranean food and sushi!

Barbara Nelson


Barbara grew up all around the world as her father was in the military. She was born in Japan and after that, she lived in many different places within the U.S. and Canada. She went to eight different schools before attending college.

Like Evelyn, Barbara always loved math, and she got her degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford. As one of the only few women in engineering, she saw early on the diverse voice that a woman brings and the challenges in having that voice be heard.

Barbara started her journey as a board member at ACE Technologies. She happened to know one of the venture capitalists who invested in the company and he encouraged her to join the board. Since then, she has served on a total of five corporate boards, and held the title of CEO on two of them.

Barbara came across the opportunity to join Backblaze through a connection she’s had for 30 years. Gleb had reached out to a trusted colleague looking for a board member and explained the background he was looking for in his ideal candidate. Barbara came recommended, and she and Gleb started a conversation about joining the Backblaze board. “I was extremely impressed by how Gleb and the founders had built such a great culture, while delivering impressive and consistent growth with only $3M of outside funding,” said Barbara. Today, Barbara is the Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee. In addition, she is a member of the Audit Committee.

Barbara explained that as a woman, she strives to look out and advocate for other underrepresented groups and points of view. She believes that having diverse people in the boardroom helps bring a lens that looks out for inclusion.

Barbara has a passion for traveling, and she’s been to over 90 countries. She just got back from Brazil where she was tracking jaguars and tropical birds. In the future, she wants to go back and visit some of the countries that she’s been to and explore other parts of those places. In particular, she’s interested in going back to Australia to explore the Kimberley region and Western Australia. She also plays keyboard and sings for two bands—one is a classic rock band and the other is a church band. She said that if she could switch places with someone for their talent, it would be Yuja Wang, a classical pianist, or Rihanna during one of her performances. “What fun to be a REAL rock star for a day!”

So You Want to Become a Board Member at a Company? Here’s How.

All of the independent board members have had different experiences and journeys, but the one thing they all had in common was that they earned their opportunities through their networks. Here’s some of their advice on how to become a board member, if you’re interested.

Before becoming a part of a board, Evelyn recommends thinking through your “why.” Being a board member is a lot of work, so it’s important to think about your reason behind starting this journey. The second step that Evelyn suggests is thinking about what companies you’d like to work with. Consider companies and industries that align with your values, what’s important to you, and how you could potentially bring the most value to that particular organization. Lastly, she recommends going deep into corporate governance. A potential board member would need to have all their education, their network with various organizations, and knowledge about hot topics in the industry.

Earl’s advice is simple: do a really good job at work. “You never know who’s watching or where your connections will come into play,” he said. “It helps to become an expert in a couple of areas and to have very deep skills. It’s just as important to be seen as it is to get a broad understanding of how different parts of the business work together and how they are interrelated and impact each other.” He also emphasized the importance of being a good communicator and team member because what makes a board member valuable is their ability to communicate and listen well. He further explained, “Remember that the fundamental job of a board member is to be a fiduciary. The best ways that you can do that are to listen, advise, and influence.”

So how does one build their network? Evelyn suggests building your network both inside and outside of work. Internally, it’s great to connect with peers and form a network that way. Outside of work, Evelyn recommends joining organizations that are focused on corporate governance and attending events that are related to that subject. For example, you could become a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors or the Women Corporate Directors, both of which are organizations that Jocelyn and Evelyn are active members of. She also encourages people to have different types of networks because you never know where your next opportunity is going to come from. She said, “If you want something, you must say it, you must speak it, and you must share it with all of your networks.”

Being a board member is a challenging yet rewarding position. It allows one to have influence on not only a company, but also others like the shareholders, employees, customers, and the world at large.

Thank You to Our Board

We appreciate all that our board members do—Backblaze wouldn’t be where it is today without them! Thank you to our board members for helping our readers get to know them better and for bringing their diverse perspectives and knowledge to help make Backblaze a more successful company.

The post Meet Our Independent Board Members appeared first on Backblaze Blog | Cloud Storage & Cloud Backup.

Welcoming Chief Human Resources Officer Robert Fitt to Backblaze

Post Syndicated from Patrick Thomas original https://www.backblaze.com/blog/welcoming-chief-human-resources-officer-robert-fitt-to-backblaze/

Backblaze is happy to announce that Robert Fitt has joined our team as our first Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO). Robert will lead the company’s strategic advancement for all aspects of human resources (HR), including hiring, people management and development, engagement, health and wellness initiatives, and outreach to the community.

We’re Growing—But We’re Still The Same Backblaze

Backblaze is recognized for talent retention and company culture—in the past few years we’ve received numerous awards for culture, diversity, and leadership from places like Comparably, Inc., Great Place to Work, and others. The addition of a seasoned CHRO will help us to continue this excellent trend as well as enabling our next phase of growth initiatives following our recent IPO in November 2021.

“Culture is critical in times of rapid growth and we want to continue scaling our world-class organization and great team alongside our growth as the leading independent storage cloud.” Gleb Budman, our CEO and Chairperson commented. “Robert is an experienced leader with the skills to help us do that. We are excited to welcome him to Backblaze.”

The Skills Robert Brings to Backblaze

Robert has a long track record of success in helping organizations scale rapidly while also championing healthy company culture. His executive experience includes leading HR functions at Turntide Technologies, 360 Behavioral Health, Mobilite, Broadcom Corporation and others. Additionally, Robert founded and managed Green Talent Co, an independent talent and HR advisory firm. Robert has scaled and led HR teams across the US, Canada, Asia, and Europe in software, hardware, telecomms, and healthcare industries. He brings a people first philosophy to everything he does, and is fiercely passionate about the employee and candidate experience.

“I’m proud to be joining a company that is committed to developing talent at all levels of the organization,” Robert said in reference to joining Backblaze. “I’m looking forward to working with leaders who have been recognized for promoting diversity, culture, and inclusion as we continue to focus on people and culture as a strategic priority.”

Robert earned his bachelor’s degree in Human Resources Management from Staffordshire University, and his Master’s degree in employment law from the University of East Anglia. He also volunteers as a pro bono HR consultant for Catchafire, a social good platform that matches professionals with nonprofits to volunteer their services.

Originally from the UK, Robert and his family hit the road 14 years ago and he is now based in Los Angeles, where he resides with wife, three boys, (ages 8, 17, 20) and two dogs. Taking advantage of the wonderful Southern California weather, Robert enjoys keeping fit, cycling, and sharing his eclectic music taste.

Backblaze Is Hiring

From day one, Backblaze has worked hard to bring our values to life, creating a transparent, sustainable, innovative (and dare we say flat-out good) place to work. Want to join the team? Check out our open opportunities.

The post Welcoming Chief Human Resources Officer Robert Fitt to Backblaze appeared first on Backblaze Blog | Cloud Storage & Cloud Backup.

Announcing Backblaze B2 Virtual User Group – Come Join Us!

Post Syndicated from Greg Hamer original https://www.backblaze.com/blog/announcing-backblaze-b2-virtual-user-group-come-join-us/


Please join us on the third Wednesday of each month at 10 a.m. Pacific time for the free worldwide Backblaze B2 Virtual User Group!

At Backblaze, we work hard to make Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage as easy to implement as possible. However, what is easy for some can be a challenge for others. Wouldn’t it be great if you could have a forum where experienced professionals walk you through the best ways to fully leverage the power of Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage? Or have an open supportive meetup where you can ask questions and get answers from others that can share tips on their successes and failures with you?

To help make it easier for Backblaze B2 users to succeed, we are launching a free monthly Backblaze B2 Virtual User Group.

How to Sign Up for the Backblaze B2 Virtual User Group

If you think this user group may be of interest, please sign up using the form on the user group home page. Since our user group is an open community, registration for our meetings is not mandatory. However, signing up will help us keep you up to date about upcoming meetings and help us better address the needs of the community. Also, individuals who sign up will be added to a private, members-only Slack channel where user group members can communicate with each other easily outside of meetings.

Another option for you is to just bookmark the user group homepage and watch for meeting dates, topics and get the public “Meeting Room Link,” Attending as an observer is OK, too.

What to Expect at the Virtual User Group:

No matter where you are, this user group is for you. As a worldwide virtual user group, all you need to have is the link for the monthly meeting currently scheduled for the third Wednesday of each month at 10 a.m. Pacific time and you are good to go. It’s that easy!

Typically, meetings will have 1 hour and 15 minutes of content.

Backblaze team members will attend each meeting, so attending user group meetings will be a great way to get direct access to Backblaze’s technical personnel who deliver world-class Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage for you.

Because Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage is versatile and there are so many use cases, each meeting will focus on a different topic. Please check our user group home page and just join those meetings that are of interest to you. For our initial three meetings, we will focus first on developers, then on media and entertainment hosting and storage, and later on backup and archive.

Additional topics will be announced in the months ahead on our user group home page. If you have a topic not covered in our initial meetings, please let your voice be heard and mention it now in a comment below.

Why You Should Come

These virtual user group meetings will be a great way for you to meet and hear from people who successfully deliver solutions that you may want to better deliver or improve on your team’s workloads.

If you have solutions or helpful use cases you would be willing to share with others, our Backblaze Evangelism team is eager to hear from you.

You now have your official invitation! So please join our user community! We look forward to meeting you at our next user group meeting.

If you know anyone who may be interested in joining our user group meetings, we would appreciate your sharing this announcement with them.

Blaze on!

The post Announcing Backblaze B2 Virtual User Group – Come Join Us! appeared first on Backblaze Blog | Cloud Storage & Cloud Backup.

The 2022 Backup Survey: 54% Report Data Loss With Only 10% Backing Up Daily

Post Syndicated from original https://www.backblaze.com/blog/the-2022-backup-survey-54-report-data-loss-with-only-10-backing-up-daily/

Every June, for Backup Awareness Month, we work with The Harris Poll to gauge the state of backups in the U.S. This is the 14th year of that survey, where we ask simply: “How often do you back up all the data on your computer?”

On occasion, we’ll throw some additional questions into the mix as well, and this year we focused on the confusion we often see between sync and backup services, along with respondents’ history of data loss. The backup frequency results of this year’s survey show that trends are holding pretty steady, but the rest of the results…very interesting!

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How Backup Frequency Is Trending in 2022

When looking solely at backup frequency, the results are mostly neutral this year when compared to 2021. We see a slight 1% increase in computer owners that are backing up on a yearly basis, but that same 1% decrease in those that are backing up daily. The rest of the results were pretty consistent from year to year.

The main issue we’re seeing here is that the number of computer owners who have never backed up their computer appears to have stopped decreasing, meaning that about 20% of people are still at risk of losing all of their data in the event of a computer crash or loss.

Results are among computer owners.

Some people aren’t into reading charts, so we also have this handy table:

Results are among computer owners.

If you’re not a fan of tables, but do like pie, here’s a comparison of the 2022 data compared to when we first started in 2008:


It’s nice to see the mix changing so much over time, especially with the “never” category fading. While the number of daily backups is still not anywhere close to where we’d like it, the data indicates that:

Overall, computer owners are backing up more frequently than a decade ago. However, as our astute readers know, the longer you go without creating a backup, the more data you are prone to losing should disaster strike.

Who’s “Best” at Backing Up?

Last year, we pored through the data to try and build a “profile” of the person who was most likely to be a “backer upper,” which we had defined as a person who owns a computer and backs it up at least once a day. What we found is that we were looking for:

  • A woman between 35-44 years of age (21% likely to back up versus 9% of those 18-34 and 6% of those 55-64)…
  • Who lives in the Western United States (17% more likely to back up vs. the South and Midwest at 9% and 7%, respectively)…
  • With a household income of over $100K (13% likely to back up their data versus those households of $50K-$74.9K which are at 6%).

Has that changed over the last year? Well, in 2022, the data suggest no statistically significant deviations that we can pull out, so maybe that’s good news across the spectrum?

Is Confusion a Cause for Concern?

While the number of people backing up at least once is good, we think there might still be some confusion in the world about how exactly they are backing up their data and what is getting backed up. We wanted to dive a bit deeper. When looking at the Americans who own a computer:

  • 80% backed up all the data on that computer at least once.
    • 41% of those folks fully back it up once a month or more often.
  • 57% who have ever backed up use a “cloud-based” system as their primary backup.
  • 12% of computer owners use a cloud backup service like Backblaze as their primary backup, and among those who do:
    • 52% say their service automatically backs up all the data on their computer.
    • 25% say it backs up only the data they select with no limitations.
    • 9% say it backs up only the data they select but with some limits.
    • 3% marked “other” and more concerningly…
    • 10% are not sure at all.

    With 57% of computer owners using “the cloud” to back up their data, but only 12% of those using a cloud backup service, we’re left to wonder, what are the others using? In many cases, it’s a cloud drive or cloud sync service which may not actually be performing basic automated backup tasks.

    Refresher: Backup vs. Sync

    We’ve often discussed the differences between sync and backup—how both of them are useful tools, but very different. While sync services are great for collaborating on and sharing data, they are not true backup services in that they’re typically not automated, and don’t provide the same level of protection as dedicated backup services can. And, be careful about only having data in one location—44% lost access to their data when a shared or synced drive was deleted. For more information, read our cloud backup vs. cloud sync blog post!

    Even of those using a proper cloud backup solution, 48% may not be backing up all their data, and 10% of folks aren’t sure at all what their cloud backup service is doing. Yikes.

    We then asked those who use one of the listed backups (i.e., “the cloud,” external hard drive, or NAS) about their confidence level that the service they use is set up to protect all the data on their computer, and 61% of people were not very confident. The numbers are broken down below:

    • 39% were very confident.
    • 48% were somewhat confident.
    • 13% were not at all or not very confident.

    That’s not a ton of confidence, and maybe now is a good time to remind folks to check their backups and to test a restore!

    Why Is Backing Up Important?

    This year’s survey results continue to show us that having a good backup strategy in place, whether for a business or an individual, is a great way to mitigate against different data disasters. Especially when you consider that of Americans who own a computer:

    • 67% report accidentally deleting something.
    • 54% report having lost data.
    • 53% were affected by a security incident.
    • 48% had an external hard drive crash.
      • 21% of those crashes have happened in the last year.
    • 44% lost access to their data when a shared drive or synced drive was deleted.

    External hard drives are a great local backup method, and we recommend them when we discuss having a 3-2-1 backup strategy, but as our own Hard Drive Stats indicate, even in our professional environment, they do fail. And with 48% of computer owners reporting that they experienced a similar failure on their home device, it underscores the importance of having an off-site backup like Backblaze, just in case.

    With over half of computer owners reporting a security incident as well and ransomware on the rise, there’s never been a more appropriate time to start backing up your computer. At Backblaze, we’re on a mission to make storing and using your data astonishingly easy, and we invite you to give our services a try!

    Survey Method:
    This year’s survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Backblaze from May 19-23, 2022, among 2,068 adults ages 18+, among whom 1,861 own a computer. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within +2.8 percentage points using a 95% confidence level.

    Prior year’s surveys were conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of Backblaze among U.S. adults ages 18+ who own a computer in May 12-14, 2021 (n=1,870); June 1-3, 2020 (n=1,913); June 6-10, 2019 (n=1,858); June 5-7, 2018 (n=1,871); May 19-23, 2017 (n=1,954); May 13-17, 2016 (n=1,920); May 15-19, 2015 (n=2,009); June 2-4, 2014 (n=1,991); June 13–17, 2013 (n=1,952); May 31–June 4, 2012 (n=2,176); June 28–30, 2011 (n=2,209); June 3–7, 2010 (n=2,051); May 13–14, 2009 (n=2,154); and May 27–29, 2008 (n=2,723).

    For complete survey methodologies, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, please contact Backblaze.

    The post The 2022 Backup Survey: 54% Report Data Loss With Only 10% Backing Up Daily appeared first on Backblaze Blog | Cloud Storage & Cloud Backup.