Sometimes when you first hear an idea you think, “OK, that’s crazy.” That’s what happened when our PR folks came to us in marketing with the idea of having Backblaze be on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. It was a crazy idea.

For those of you who know Backblaze, we have grown from a gleam in our founders’ eye to a profitable, reasonably well known company in the Online Backup business. We didn’t spend our money on TV commercials, radio ads and the like, we relied on making a great product, and having our customers tell their family and friends about us. So when someone said, “you can be on Ellen,” you can understand why we thought they might be a bit of a loon.

It was just before Christmas when we were first approached with the idea of having Backblaze be on Ellen. We weren’t ready. We were approached again just before Valentine’s Day, then again before Mother’s Day. Each time we’d talk through it and each time we’d get closer to saying yes. But we still said no. This was a really big deal. Was it the right thing for Backblaze to do? Could we handle the new demand without compromising service to our existing customers? What would happen if nothing happened?

We talked around this for months. Our PR folks continued to nudge and slowly the rest of us in marketing got comfortable with the idea. It could work, we could do it, and it would be amazing.

So we said yes.

Contracts were signed, emails were sent, and we were on our way. A couple of Backblaze folks went down to Burbank to watch the filming (more on that in another post).

So here we are, Backblaze is on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Watch the video, enjoy the show, and remember to tell your friends and relatives about Backblaze, after all, that’s what we’re all about.

Mother’s Day is right around the corner, and we want to wish all the mothers out there a fantastic Sunday! We also wanted to post this adorable picture of Yev and his mother.

We’re sure that you have the greatest gifts already picked out for the mothers in your lives, but if not, we’d like to suggest Backblaze online backup! You can give your mother the gift of peace of mind by buying her a Backblaze gift subscription! Is it a dozen roses? No. Is it a shiny pair of earrings? Nope. Does it taste like dark chocolate? Sorry. But it does help her protect all those photos, videos, and memories she’s accumulated of you throughout the years. Online backup as a mother’s day gift? Of course! Peace of mind is a great gift to give!

Last year Backblaze announced a partnership with Sourcenext to help spread online backup throughout Japan.  After all, backing up your computer is a good idea, no matter where you live!  This year Sourcenext is releasing a retail box for us!  Let’s take a look inside shall we?

We try to be really honest and up-front here at Backblaze online backup, but we have a few things that we keep close to the chest. Even though we told the story behind our drive farming a few months ago, there were some things we didn’t tell you. We’re sorry. So, we created this video to come clean, and while we did write about a few of our drive farming methods, you can finally see the full scope of our nefarious drive farming deeds. We hope you don’t think less of us, and we appreciate everyone that helped us in our endeavors!

Backblaze is giving away one million dollars worth of the Backblaze online backup service. “Whoa”, you say, “Backblaze is like the thriftiest company ever, now they’re giving away a million dollars worth of their service, what gives?”

That’s a fair question. Here’s the deal…

Starting immediately and running through the end of World Backup Day (March 31, 2013 11:59 PM PDT), Mac and PC users new to Backblaze can sign up to receive 3 months of the Backblaze online backup service for free (a $15 value). To sign up, all you need to do is go to www.backblaze.com/worldbackupday and enter a valid email address during the promotional period. The first 66,667 unique and valid email accounts to sign up will receive an email containing their personal code, providing them with 3 months of unlimited online backup from Backblaze. That’s it. A new Backblaze customer can sign-up, get a code via email, and run Backblaze for free for 3 months.

“OK, that’s cool, but what about us existing customers, are we being left out?”

Of course not. We have entered all of our existing customers into a contest. We will randomly select 5 lucky winners and each winner will receive an iPad Mini. We’ll select the winners on April 2nd and contact them via email at that time.

“Nice, but three free months of Backblaze is nearly as good as an iPad Mini. Any chance I can get the free Backblaze?”

To use the free 3-month code, you will need to create a new Backblaze account. You cannot add the 3-month code to an existing Backblaze license. So if you have a second computer laying around that you’ve been meaning to back up with Backblaze, now’s your chance. Or maybe you’ve been thinking of getting Backblaze for your Aunt Polly or Grandpa Roger, now’s your chance. One thing to know, if you cancel your existing Backblaze license so you can use this new free 3-month code, you’ll have to resend us all of your data again – is it really worth it?

So that’s it, one million dollars worth of the Backblaze service for free for new customers. Now there’s no excuse not to back-it-up with Backblaze.

*Update* – Thanks everyone for signing up! Codes are going out soon, and the iPad Mini winners will be notified on April 2nd, 2013 (so they don’t think it’s an April Fool’s joke)!

Our first Restory is actually two stories. Each lovingly crafted and delivered to Backblaze. And you thought online backup couldn’t be romantic…

A One Way Street

“ I think I should take this time to just tell you what our relationship is: a one-way street.

Honestly, I don’t think about you at all. You just go and go – constantly running behind whatever I do, and whatever files I create – and I really don’t pay attention in the least.

What’s even worse is that you’re whom I go to first when there’s a problem. I take advantage of the fact that you’re always looking after me. I never even acknowledge you’re around until I lose something – then you’re my only hope. You would think after saving me so many times, I would show more gratitude. The truth is, I kind of like what we have going. You do all the work of following me around and making copies of what I leave behind, and I’ll forget about you until I need you. Deal? Deal. ”

— Aaron

I Couldn’t Ask for a Better Partner

“ We met on a dark and stormy night. I was scared. She was not. She had it all. Tons of reliable storage for all my back up needs. She had the confidence, the stamina, and the strength to take all my fears away! The storm raged on. The power kept going out. I knew then that I needed a solution to my back up issues. No therapist could help me. I had to jump in with both feet. I took the plunge and signed up for Backblaze.

Now, 4 months later, I sleep at night knowing she is taking care of my back up needs without any effort on my part. I feel safe and protected. And it just happens. After that initial uncertainty I now love her simplicity, her total competence and loyalty to my data, keeping it secure and safe so I can rock my MacBook without reservation! I know now that every song I download, every video and picture I capture is safe and I will never lose anything, ever again!

I couldn’t ask for a better partner. I am secure in my relationship with her and now I have the confidence to forge ahead with my files, my music, my pictures. All I need to do is just keep on keepin-on and she does the rest. ”

— Michael

Giving the gift of Backblaze to back up your Valentine’s photos, videos, music and more probably isn’t the most romantic present you can give – we understand. But remember, Backblaze will silently and reliably back up your Valentine’s files long after the chocolates have been eaten and the flowers have died. Such is the calling of the strong silent type.

Bringing with her a Masters of Science degree from MIT and a handful of patents, Monika joins Backblaze as a Software Engineer. She’ll initially work on the server side of our service and she’s already busy checking in new code. Welcome Monika.

How did you get into computers?
I took a Basic language course in high school and I thought it was more fun than some of my other classes.

What’s your favorite language to code in?
I have coded in many languages and it’s hard to pick out one favorite language. All languages come with some baggage and can be used incorrectly. My focus is to develop software that is simple and elegant.

How do you currently backup your photos, music, data, etc. on your home computer?
I upload my photos to flickr and upload some of my music and documents to dropbox but sadly till I became familiar with Backblaze, I didn’t back up all my data.

What attracted you to Backblaze?
People sometimes downplay the importance of file backup yet I know of so many people who have lost of thousands of photos and documents that were important to them. As we’re becoming “digitized” we need to make sure that we don’t lose this data because of a faulty drive or natural disaster. I want to make it easy for people to safeguard data that matters to them.

Where are you originally from?
I consider myself a citizen of the world. But I have been in California for the last 15 years of my life and I love it here.

Favorite place you’ve traveled?
Paris is still my favorite city. I lived there for one year and I still consider it the most beautiful place in the world.

If you won the lottery tomorrow, what would you do?
I would devote all my time to volunteering, especially working with kids.

The assembly of our kick butt Operations team continues with the addition of Ric. Keeping 40+ petabytes of customer data safe and happy takes talent and we went all the way to Sacramento to find Ric. Here’s his story.

Where are you originally from?
It may sound a little morbid, but whenever I’m asked this question, I’ve always answered “Born and raised in the Sacramento Area, and I’ll probably die there…”

What’s your job here at Backblaze?
My official title is DevOps Lead. My primary responsibilities initially will be coming up to speed on all things Datacenter (the Backblaze way), but have a few development projects already on my shortlist to help keep everything running smoothly as the server farm grows.

What attracted you to Backblaze?
I was first made aware of Backblaze by the blog post for Pod version 1.0 open sourcing… I have been obsessed with online backup ever since, and converted my entire family to Backblaze.

Tell us about your commute to work?
I live in Rocklin, and I’m pretty sure I have beaten out Zack for the craziest Backblaze commute. I’m about 140 miles one way door to door to the San Mateo office…

Where else have you worked?
Prior to Backblaze, I have had only three ‘real’ jobs in my lifetime (I don’t count my pre-adult years in fast food as real jobs); I started out with a mom and pop shop residential and commercial security company. I grew with the company for 11.5 years, taught myself Novell Netware (4.11 – those were the days!), moved on to a regional publishing company initially as their Netware Administrator, but that grew to ‘Systems Administrator’, a role which oversaw everything from networking and telephony management to web and application development, as well as help desk support for the company. I left there a little over 2 years ago to work for a networking VAR, where I specialized in telephony integration. Each place I have worked felt like home and my coworkers were my extended family. So far, it feels the same way at Backblaze!

How did you get into computers?
After a few ‘gifted program’ computer classes in the late 70′s, I bought my first computer (a RadioShack TRS-80 CoCo) in 1980, and have been hooked ever since!

Join us in welcoming Ric to Backblaze and to the “Backblaze Way”.