tl;dr: if you use BackBlaze and are subject to a data cap, you should keep an eye on BackBlaze to make sure it doesn’t quietly use up all your data allowance. I’ve switched to CrashPlan, which has better retention, encryption, and backup policies.
Beyond sharing this warning, I wanted to do a longer write-up of what I experienced because I found some pretty interesting things along the way – how to get true visibility into what’s happening on your local network, what’s up with Comcast’s usage meter, and what happens when something goes wrong with offsite backup with BackBlaze.
Earlier in the year Comcast announced they were introducing 1 terabyte data caps in 27 markets across the US (of which 18 previously did not have enforced caps). This is a pretty consumer-unfriendly move, and being in California this meant this was happening to me – but personally I had never come close to exceeding the cap, so wasn’t overly worried (and won’t be until 4K video becomes more common). In the second week of November 2016 I got a notification in my browser telling me I’d used 90% of my cap. Thi