BlinkDisk Review

BlinkDisk is a file-level backup tool which means it is focused on backing up the individual files and folders on a device as opposed to the disk image-based approach which will include all data (including any installed applications plus the device’s operating system) by default. One of the first and most important tasks to complete before building a new backup set within BlinkDisk is the creation of a backup vault. Backup vaults are areas upon an attached storage device (or a cloud storage service) which can be defined and then used to store the resultant data when making backups.

We can create a vault during the initial application setup process or by using the “create vault” option found on the application’s left-side menu (within the drop-down menu listing all available vaults). A vault can be specified as a local vault making use of locally attached storage (such as an external hard disk) or a cloud-based vault supporting the use of various cloud storage providers including BlinkDisk’s own cloud storage service, CloudBlink.

Importantly, this vault creation process includes optionally specifying the encryption which is to be applied to any data stored within the vault itself. This means all backup sets using this vault for storage will be subject to this same encryption configuration (and password) versus the backup sets themselves having their own individual encryption keys (as is usually the case with many other backup providers). With a vault configured and ready for use, the next step in backing up data is to select the first folder which is to be included and backed up to this new vault.

In a slightly less than conventional way, BlinkDisk have taken the approach that this selected folder will not only specify a container of items to be backed up, but will also become the actual “backup set” in and of itself as well. This means, as soon as the folder is specified and named (and an emoji set, for those who like emojis), the next step in the set-up process immediately guides us through the process of configuring all other backup set related settings (for this selected folder).

As can be seen above, having specified a folder for backup, we can then specify a number of related settings including a good degree of historic file versioning choices, automatic scheduling, excluded files and file types plus optionally turn on data compression amongst various other related options.

Importantly, for any good backup software, BlinkDisk provides a high degree of functionality and control across both of the historic file versioning and automatic scheduling functionality. This is important as backups taken regularly with good historic version retention settings can prove very helpful in ensuring enhanced data protection including against highly destructive threats involving malware and ransomware attacks.

With all configuration options set, the folder to be backed-up will now become visible on the dashboard page where it can be managed alongside other backup folders. From this dashboard we can optionally reconfigure this backup set, recover data from it and, in lieu of an automatic schedule, also set it running manually as and when required (using the context options menu as can be seen in-use below).

NB – BlinkDisk conveniently provides a “Backup All” on this dashboard page which is very useful for manually setting multiple backup sets running at the same time with just a single click.

When any given folder is in the process of being backed up, we can easily see its progress on this same dashboard page alongside the date and time since the last successful backup was completed. Clicking on the backup folder in the left sidebar reveals a page where we can see a detailed history for any given folder including the number of files included, its size and the date and time it was last run (a very useful addition which provides a great way to check in on the progress and status of a backup folder over time).

Whilst I personally prefer the more conventional approach of a backup set being comprised of multiple files and folders and having its own scheduling and encryption configuration individual to that particular set, this folder-based approach does at least function well enough to be useful. It should be noted that a major drawback of this approach, should you have multiple folders across various physical disks or locations at the same level in your file system hierarchy which cannot be combined within a single folder, multiple backup folders will need to be configured within BlinkDisk.

NB – It should be noted that BlinkDisk will allow the specification of a mounted drive (with a drive letter) as a “folder” meaning everything on this drive can more easily be included within a single backup set (although multiple drives would still require multiple folders).

With the vaults themselves being the place where encryption is set when using BlinkDisk (not the backup folders / sets individually), one of the most obvious risks of sharing such encryption becomes apparent. If the encryption for this vault is ever compromised, then all backup sets sharing the same vault will also be compromised as a result. Of course, the use of multiple vaults (each with their own encryption password) could be used to counter such a threat, but this would bring with it the need to create additional backup sets (folders) with it meaning it would still be preferable to apply encryption to a backup set rather than a storage container (in my own opinion at least).