Backups are essential for every computer user. For years now, I've recommended Crashplan for backup services to all of my clients. Sadly, Crashplan announced they are stopping their home user service. They're honoring all subscriptions, and even giving their users two additional months. They want to make sure everyone has time to find another backup service before Crashplan stops working. I'm very disappointed in Crashplan's decision, but will work to get all of my clients onto a new service before their subscription ends so there's always backup coverage.
At the moment, there isn't one backup service that fits all users like Crashplan did. If you're one person with one computer, I'd recommend using Carbonite. It starts at $60/year per computer, depending on the features you need. Honestly, it's not my favorite service, but it's fairly straightforward and easy to use. Carbonite gives you unlimited backup, like Crashplan did, but only for one computer at a time. It can also back up external hard drives for a little more each month.
If you have more computers in the house, and especially if you have more computer users to back up, I recommend a service called iDrive. It doesn't offer unlimited space, but the amount they offer (2TB to start) should cover most users. This is the service I'm using now that my Crashplan service is over. It's a little harder to set up, but very powerful and has lots of special features that you don't find in other services.
There are many options for local backup, where you back up to an external hard drive or something on your network. This can be done with third party applications, or just using the backup programs included in Windows or MacOS.
If you're uncertain which service will work best for you and your computers, give me a call. I'll offer a personalized recommendation, and if you need me to set things up we can make an appointment. It is absolutely vital that every computer user have a backup of their data.