Mozy Launches Stash Syncing Service

Online backup leader Mozy today announced Stash, a syncing option that will be included as part of its online backup service.

Stash will provide a synchronized folder on PCs with Mozy installed, immediately syncing anything saved to the folder with other PCs in the Mozy account, as well as with smartphones and tablets with the Mozy app installed. A Web portal will also give access to the always-up-to-date files from anywhere.

Stash is available starting today as a trial public beta for users of MozyPro and MozyHome, and will also be available as part of Mozy's free 2GB online backup plan.

PCMag met with Mozy's director of product management, Gytis Barzdukas, last week to talk about Stash.

"People love the fact that they can access their data. Mozy used to be about 'set-and-forget,' the completeness of your backup," Barzdukas said. "With the mobile apps it was about 'you're never without your files.' Stash is a place where you can get the most current information."

The Stash folder also supports drag and drop from existing backup folders.

In addition to Windows and Mac support, Mozy offers mobile apps for iOS and Android that include Stash syncing. "We've had tremendous feedback and reviews in the iTunes App Store, as well as among Android users" said Barzdukas. "We getting 4 to 4-plus star ratings on most of the applications."

The apps not only display documents, but also will play music and show photos and videos stored in Stash. The Android app can automatically sync photos taken with the mobile device, similar to Apple's Photo Stream for iOS devices (which don't support this feature of Stash).

Other online backup providers such as SOS Online Backup offer immediate backup for designated files and mobile apps that give access to the files, but most don't offer a syncing folder. Until now, this functionality has been the domain of syncing-specific providers such as DropBox, Syncplicity, and SugarSync.

Group collaboration capabilities on Stash-synced files is not yet available, but according to Barzdukas, it's on Mozy's roadmap. "We're planning on publishing a set of APIs by the end of the year so that other Apps can integrate with the Stash folder."

The Mozy service boasts 3 million users, 70 thousand of them businesses, over 70 petabytes of stored data, and 311 employees. Home users make up 37 percent of the company's business, with the rest professional users.

For more information or to try Stash for yourself, point your browser to Mozy.com.

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