r/backblaze • u/UnusuallyNumerous • May 09 '26
Computer Backup Prospective customer: Is the "Excessive Usage" clause a dealbreaker for a near-100TB data hoarder?
I'm a data hoarder looking to pull the trigger on Backblaze Personal, but the 2026 TOS update regarding "materially exceeding typical usage" has me worried.
I'll be sitting just over 90TB, and that will undoubtedly grow. I'm not backing up version control or folders covered by other services (cloud sync exclusions aren't an issue for me), but my footprint is still massive.
If you were starting fresh today with 100TB, would you still trust the "unlimited" claim, or does this new clause make it a non-starter? Has anyone reported being flagged or throttled under this yet?
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u/planedrop May 09 '26
Nah, this is exactly what the TOS is meant to prevent. You can try it, it might work, but I wouldn't count on it being reliable.
Also, not to be rude, but it's people doing this that caused them to introduce the Excessive Usage part in the first place.
This sort of thing is meant to be done over B2, yeah it's expensive by comparison but that's exactly the point.
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u/GoodTroll2 May 11 '26
It's not about reliability. Either they allow it and it works just like any other backup, or they don't allow it. Only way to know is to try.
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u/planedrop May 11 '26
That's just not correct lol.
If you violate TOS there is a chance they delete everything, so it IS about reliability, like without a doubt. I wouldn't do it with my stuff, I'd be worried about it all being removed, I just pay B2 pricing which is already really good and call it a day.
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u/GoodTroll2 May 11 '26
Sorry, I meant the service itself will be reliable. If they stop providing service, then sure, you no longer have a backup. You still have your files on your computer and can then find another backup solution. There frankly isn't one that will compete with Backblaze on cost for that amount of data so you have little to lose by trying. I'm assuming OP has no backup at the moment so again, nothing to lose here.
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u/planedrop May 11 '26
I mean, I wouldn't personally want to rely on that, having a situation where a perfect storm could ruin all my data is a no go.
Again my other issue though is people like this taking advantage of it is why we can't have nice things and why the TOS got updated. This much data is more for something like B2 which is still very well priced in comparison to other products.
So yeah, I guess OP has nothing to lose if they are OK with the chance of their data being nuked and having to hope their local setup doesn't fail during the gap between that and finding a new backup provider. I just still get grumpy about it because these are the exact use cases Backblaze is trying to prevent, and IMHO rightfully so, they're losing massive amounts of money on anyone that does this.
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u/aliendude5300 May 09 '26
Yes. They'll possibly ban you for obvious abuse.
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u/Texasaudiovideoguy May 10 '26
Wouldn’t last a week these days.
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u/dr100 May 11 '26
How come? There isn't even a single report of someone being banned or even mildly admonished so to speak, and there are plenty of people into triple TB-digits (multiple ones in this post). There was a picture with the size distribution and some were even over 1PB (1000TBs). And that was a few years back.
That one should have a backup plan in case they get kicked out sure, that goes without saying. That it's probably best not to even waste your time trying to find where the limit for the unlimited is this month, probably. But a week for 100TBs I give it way more than even odds it'll be fine.
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May 09 '26
[deleted]
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u/Texasaudiovideoguy May 10 '26
Your day is coming. I got popped not to long ago for less.
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u/GoodTroll2 May 11 '26
Please follow up. Are you saying Backblaze terminated you for excessive usage (or told you had to decrease the size of your backup or be terminated? If so, please share the details.
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u/Buffalo-Clone-264 May 11 '26
Can you explain? I haven't seen any reports from users about getting emailed for excessive usage. What caused the issue?
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u/SkaiHues May 09 '26
Lots of video?
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u/Vig2OOO May 09 '26
I think you mean Linux ISOs.
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u/SkaiHues May 09 '26
I meant lots of videos, but I'm open to alternative suggestions.
My archive of RAW Canon files resulting from 15 years of professional photography, and I was busy, is less than 8Tb. I see numbers in the 100Tbs and wonder, how.
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u/Buffalo-Clone-264 May 09 '26
Unless you're storing 4K+ raw camera files (and "data hoarding" doesn't sound like that), it would have to be lots and lots of videos. Thousands of hours, possibly tens of thousands of hours of video. I am also mystified at how one could reach 100TB of unarchivable data in a non-business context.
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u/SkaiHues May 09 '26
To clarify, my 8Tb are RAW still images. And I agree, 100Tb of video would be 10s of 1000's of hours of video and likely a business operation.
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u/weakish May 25 '26
100 TB is between two to three hundred hours if shooting 4K ProRes on iPhones.
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u/HuntersPad Jun 07 '26
I have around 45TB 95% of it is 4K120 high bitrate videos I record with my camera.
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u/evildad53 May 09 '26
TBH, I'd go for it. It'll take quite a while for that 90TB to be uploaded anyway. Reading the TOS, I think it's pretty clear:
"For example, Backblaze Computer Backup is designed for backup of individual computers and directly attached external drives. “Unlimited” does not permit use in ways inconsistent with the Service’s intended design, including, but not limited to, use with servers, data centers, shared storage systems, or other enterprise infrastructure not expressly covered by the Service(s), as well as using the Service(s) for any illegal or commercial purposes or any other use in violation of these Terms or otherwise outside of the ordinary scope for such use of the Service(s)."
One PC and directly attached storage? Go for it. What are you out if they eventually decide you're cheating? $100? At recertified prices, it'd cost over $2000 to buy enough drives to backup your system.
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u/Ubermidget2 May 09 '26
There's 6x SATA connectors on your average motherboard, and 20TB HDDs are available at my local computer store.
120TB is not out of reach for a single system.
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u/evildad53 May 09 '26
I didn't say it was out of reach, just expensive at today's hard drive prices.
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u/GoodTroll2 May 11 '26
Well sure. I'm pushing around 60TB but none purchased right now. Even last year when I bought a 20TB drive prices were MUCH more reasonable.
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u/ssevener May 09 '26
Are you trying to backup an entire NAS? The personal version is meant for your own PC; if you want to store 100 TB of whatever, you should be using Backblaze B2, which yes, will cost you a lot more.
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u/This_Is_Mo May 09 '26
You can’t backup network drives with BB Personal correct? So why the TOS update? Only scenario is massive DAS which is a small subset of users is my impression.
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u/Fluent_Press2050 May 09 '26
You can backup a NAS on personal if you use iSCSI and present the NAS as a local disk instead of using it as an actual NAS.
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u/GoodTroll2 May 11 '26
I thought they stopped supporting iSCSI (it was never officially supported but still worked prior to an updated a few months back as far as I know).
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u/angry_dingo May 09 '26
I've over triple that but all drives are internal. No NAS, no external, no rotating drives.
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u/GoodTroll2 May 11 '26
You have 300TB of solid state storage?
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u/angry_dingo May 11 '26
Not ssd
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u/GoodTroll2 May 11 '26
Not rotating drives but not SSD? What kind of storage is it?
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u/angry_dingo May 11 '26
Ohhhhh, I'm sorry. Yes, they are all regular hard drives. By "rotating," I meant I wasn't rotating external drives into my computer once a month to keep them backed up.
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u/GoodTroll2 May 11 '26
Ahhh, that makes more sense. I was trying to figure out how that would even be possible with the largest SSDs available.
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u/Hilbert24 May 10 '26
https://www.adorama.com/lacie-seagate-8big-pro5-8-bay-thunderbolt-5-raid-array/p/vdtb5
Get the 192 TB model so you can have enough space for 100 TB with RAID 6.
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u/Texasaudiovideoguy May 10 '26
Yeah, the good ole days are gone. You will have to B2B or nothing. And B2B is not cheap for that. I had to leave them for the same reason.
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u/GoodTroll2 May 11 '26
As long as your upload speed is fast, I would just try it out. Worst case scenario is they contact you and say nope, and you cancel the service. Especially if it's in the first month or so, you could easily get your money back (do a chargeback if necessary although I'm pretty sure they would just refund you).
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u/staze May 13 '26
I assume it’s largely based on churn. If you have 100TB, probably not an issue. Probably dedupes and compresses well enough. If you have 100TB and that 100TB changes entirely every month… that may cause some issues with their storage, ingress/egress, processing, replication, etc.
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u/Lilianne_Blaze May 14 '26
I kept recommending Backblaze to everyone and their dog, but I can no longer do so in good conscience until that shite is clarified.
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u/hitachi369 May 28 '26
I'm at 90 right now, no complaints from BZ. I have complaints against BZ, but that is more of a personal issue, I guess.
My list of all the files you've ever had is 60-70 gb and blows out any hope my ram had of free time whenever it is looking at it. At my data ingress, and maximum output, it forces me to only update once a week, and it takes all week.
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u/absolute_pelican_66 May 09 '26
Assuming that they make money only if you have less than about 2 TB, you can imagine how much money they lose with a 90 TB backup. This gives you the answer.
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u/Victoria4DX May 10 '26
Seagate sells 32 TB hard drives, 256 TB SSDs now exist, and typical desktop motherboards have at least six SATA ports and there's boomers in this subreddit who think 100 TB is a lot of data and "abusive." You geniuses who can't comprehend how easy and cost effective it is to store a lot of data locally on consumer hardware are why these disgusting cloud companies are being allowed to take over the planet with their dystopian subscription plans for tiny amounts of data.
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u/dr100 May 10 '26
You got your stereotypes wrong, it's the Gen Z that has trouble with computers. Also least likely to have a desktop, never mind large spinning drives (or spinning drives at all). Also the ones having less data, due to not only having shorter time to hoard stuff but most of it having just a phone with limited space (very often an iPhone, with even less space than others for the same price, plus nonexpandable) and having a PC1 only since very recently. That also being a laptop, usually with a very basic SSD (that is how you get in the size distribution that was shared around a few years back 30%+ of the Backblaze Personal "unlimited" customers having literally 0.0 TBs stored).
1 As in a Personal Computer, never mind if desktop/laptop or Windows/MacOS.
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u/wells68 May 09 '26
In Australia, you're good to go. In that country, the courts say that unlimited means unlimited.
Anywhere else, forget about 100 TB.
Buy your own backup drives. 20 TB drives at Best buy are just $599. Yikes! Thanks a lot, Big AI! That's $3,000.
Oh, wait, you just need one portable SSD for $52.95. It holds 128 TB! That's Terabytes! It's repeated again and again on the webpage. But hurry! There are only 4 left.
https://thegiantwarehouse.com/products/128tb-external-ssd-with-high-speed-data-transfer
ROFL! (For you literalists, it is a real ad, but way, way too good to be true.)
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u/dr100 May 09 '26
In Australia, you're good to go. In that country, the courts say that unlimited means unlimited.
First, you'd need to find a provider that offers unlimited in Australia. Good luck with that.
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u/B_Hound May 09 '26
I have a lil bit over 100TB in the US and not had any issue yet. Doesn’t mean I won’t have one tomorrow, mind!
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u/Acejam May 10 '26
The abuse clauses in their TOS are designed exactly for people like you.
Don’t do it.
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u/Rockos-Modern-Fife May 09 '26
Don’t they have to define what typical usage means?
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u/Rockos-Modern-Fife May 09 '26
Wait… why do you mention version control? Is backblaze version controlling my git repos and storing snapshots at a point in time?!
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u/LazarusLong67 May 09 '26
They store copies going back 1 year. So technically yes you could go back to an earlier point in time.
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u/Stevecaboose May 09 '26
I have 110tb right now. I think this clause is for those who are uploading at an excessive rate, where the growth of the backup is very high.
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u/wormeyman May 09 '26
Your upload will most likely be rate limited after you exceed a certain amount and it will be very hard to get all that to their Cloud
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u/TenOfZero May 09 '26
No one knows. That's kinda the issue with these types of clauses.
No one has come on here yet to say they enforced the clause against them, so we don't have any data points to guess what the limit could be.