Adam Griffith

Collegian staff writer | asg172@psu.edu

Twenty-six years ago, Han Solo was frozen in carbonite and preserved during Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back. Today, computer documents, photos, music and progress in games are frozen on Carbonite and preserved.

Carbonite.com, an online storage provider, offers all-you-can-use storage for computer files. Once installed, its program automatically backs up everything currently saved to a computer, said Swami Kumaresan, company vice president of product marketing.

It continues to back up files as they are created or modified, working when the computer is idle so as not to slow Internet connectivity, he said.

"We think of Carbonite as the iPod of backup: clean, simple and easy to use," Kumaresan said.

Backing up files is a good idea, he said, as they can be destroyed by accidental deletion or computer crashes, among other things, he said.

It is not a question of if files will gigabyte the dust, but when they will gigabyte the dust.

"You should have multiple backup copies of all important files," said Brian Cameron, assistant professor of information sciences and technology.

Looking at Carbonite as a tool that students can use to backup their files, he said, its price sounds reasonable and that it sounds good for students who do not want to keep track of backing up their files.

The service costs $49.95 for one year, $89.95 for two years or, through Sept. 31, $39.95 for a year if you are a college student, Kumaresan said. However, the discount can only be redeemed at Carbonite.com/school.

However, Cameron suggested using a USB drive, commonly known as a thumb drive, as well.

To keep people from hacking into files that the program sends through the Internet, Carbonite encrypts the data twice, which is the same level of security used for online banking transactions, Kumaresan said.

Additionally, about a month after a subscription to Carbonite expires and is not renewed, all the files associated with it are destroyed, he added. If a computer subscribed to Carbonite is run over by a cement truck or otherwise obliterated, its owner can retrieve all the data he or she had saved on it from any computer running Windows XP with a high-speed internet connection, he said.

Carbonite is not compatible with earlier Windows versions or Mac's operating system, said David Friend, Carbonite's CEO. However, Carbonite should be available for Macs by January.