Backup software?

M

mercmobily

Registered
Hello wonderful people,

Quick question: what are my options to backup data from my mac? Apparently, I can get a .Mac account and use the Backup application. Is it any good?

If I decide not to use .Mac, what options do I have? Any good software that allows me to backup on an external drive, or onto a remote site using FTP or maybe rsync?

Bye!

Merc.
 
This is an area that is sort of like asking "who has the prettiest girlfriend." There are a lot of choices and a lot of varying opinions. I know of about 30 different backup programs for OS X (I can give you a list, if you like), and there are a bunch of different philosophies about what is the best backup plan.

You might find this e-book very helpful to explain this very complex area:

Take Control of Mac OS X Backups
$15; free sample available
186 pages
http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/backup-macosx?pt=TB-BOX

OS X 10.5 includes Time Machine:
http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/timemachine.html

These two cloning programs are both very popular for creating a bootable clone backup:

Carbon Copy Cloner (donation requested)
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html

SuperDuper ($28 to unlock all features)
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html

A lot depends on how much data you have to backup, how important is your data (i.e. is your data part of a business), how much time are you willing to invest in backing up your data regularly, what is your budget, etc.
 
Hi,

Hey, having that list would be _tops_... any chance of throwing it this way?
Also, I am after a solution to back up your data, over the net and over an external hard drive. I heard that Time Machine allows you to backup your data on a disk, although I haven't tested it yet.

I mean, I can setup an rsync batch script in minutes. But, I am after a GUI solution for users who are allergic to the command line :D Also, a free software / open source solution would be fantastic.

Any ideas?

Merc.
 
mercmobily said:
Hi,

Hey, having that list would be _tops_... any chance of throwing it this way?
Click to expand...

Sure. No problem. Some of these links may be out of date; I haven't checked them in a while.

Before you go for any of these, you may want to have a look at this somewhat dated, but still mostly relevant article:
http://blog.plasticsfuture.org/2006/04/23/mac-backup-software-harmful/
(Carbon Copy Cloner is now reputed to backup all metadata, just like SuperDuper!.)


Dobry Backuper $29.95
http://www.dobrysoft.com/products/backuper/

rSyncX (free and open source)
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/16814
http://archive.macenterprise.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=49&Itemid=42

Galaxy Backup
http://www.commvault.com/products-backup-recovery.html

Retrospect (There are several versions with different capabilities and pricing, including Express $49, and Desktop $129.)
http://www.emcinsignia.com/products/homeandoffice/retroformac/
http://www.emcinsignia.com/products/homeandoffice/retroexpress/

Data Backup $59
http://www.prosoftengineering.com/products/data_backup.php

Deja Vu $25 (comes highly recommended by users I've spoken with)
http://propagandaprod.com/dejavu.html

Intego's Personal Back-Up $70
http://www.intego.com/personalbackup/

BounceBack Pro $49/$39 download only
http://www.cmsproducts.com/product_bounceback_software.htm

Carbon Copy Cloner (donation requested)
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
CCC is a cloning, and synchronization, utility using a GUI front-end that uses Ditto and Psync to build bootable clones of Mac OS X installations.
See: http://forums.bombich.com/viewtopic.php?t=2057
for info about getting the latest version of psync to use with CCC to do syncronizations.

iMsafe $15
http://homepage.mac.com/sweetcocoa/

Mozy 2GB free/unlimited $5/month
online backup service
http://mozy.com

iBackup free
http://www.grapefruit.ch/iBackup/


SuperDuper $28
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html
SuperDuper has the rare ability to preserve metadata. See:
http://blog.plasticsfuture.org/2006/04/23/mac-backup-software-harmful/

Chronosync, $20:
http://www.econtechnologies.com/site/Pages/ChronoSync/chrono_overview.html

Synchronize! Pro X $100
http://www.qdea.com/

Synk $20 personal/$40 commercial
http://www.decimus.net/synk/

SyncIt $40
http://www.miensoftware.com/syncit.html

Tri-BACKUP $49
http://www.tri-edre.com/

NetVault
http://www.bakbone.com/products/netvault_mac/

LaCie SilverKeeper (FREE!)
http://www.silverkeeper.com/

Psync (Free and open source)
http://sourceforge.net/projects/psyncx

SwitchBack ($30 and up)
http://www.glendower.co.nz/switchback.html

Folders Synchronizer X $40
http://www.softobe.com

HELIOS has released an HFS-aware version of gnutar. (Command-line utility.)
http://www.helios.de/news/news03/N_06_03.html

CopyCatX $60
http://www.subrosasoft.com/OSXSoftw...s_id=7&zenid=1fd0ae36cc334357989703c0fe01b592

BackityMac $10
is a backup and restore utility that comes with presets for backing up your entire home folder, your home Documents folder, iPhoto and iTunes libraries, bookmarks, iWeb site files, iCal calendars, keychains, and more, with optional encryption, scheduling, and CD/DVD burning.
http://www.whimsplucky.com/Whimsplucky/Software.html

MimMac $10
http://www.ascendantsoft.com/

DV Backup $45
is a shareware application for MacOS X 10.2 which lets you backup computer files to a domestic DV or Digital8 camcorder via a FireWire connection. You can backup about 10-15 GB on each tape.
http://www.coolatoola.com/

BRU $500 (I've heard a lot of good things about this product!)
BRU for Mac OS X is a native OS X backup solution designed primarily to support standalone Xserve, G5 and G4 systems. In networked system topologies, up to 5* systems can be AFP-mounted and reliably backed-up to the system on which BRU for Mac OS X is installed.
http://www.tolisgroup.com/home.html

Backup Simplicity $20 first year; $15/year thereafter.
http://www.qdea.com/pages/pages-bs/bs1.html

BackUp Application and ScreenSaver by LARA-A FREE
http://users.pandora.be/lara-a/software/backup/index.html

BackityMac 1.3.7: $10 one-click backup, restore and burning
http://www.whimsplucky.com/whimsplucky/Software/FCE42CDC-64CD-4A4D-93BD-F5999A31046F.html

BounceBack Professional $99
http://www.cmsproducts.com/products/backup_software/bounceback/default.html

Springy $18
http://www.springyarchiver.com/index.php

SyncUpX $15
http://freeridecoding.net/FRC/PROJECTS/02/
is a synchronization utility that provides a graphical interface for the rsyncx command-line tool. Backups can be saved to a second hard drive or external drive (including an iPod), and each backup stores its own settings, which can be restored just by selecting the backup folder. The major change since Version 1.0 is the ability to archive files removed during a backup. SyncUpX is $15 for Mac OS X.
Spotlight-integrated, can schedule backups using iCal (syncOnStart, autoQuit).

BasicBackup FREE
http://www.hillmanminx.net/basicbackup/index.html

I've left out several enterprise-class backup solutions, and a couple that are simple perl scripts.
 
Last edited:
Hi,

What a list! Thank you!
As far as backing up on hard drives, the best ones seem to be Carbon Copy and SilverKeeper. Any specific comments? I think CC allows you to backup onto a remote drive, as long as it's a mac. Has anybody here tried it?

And... I couldn't find anything decently updated that would backup onto the network using rSync. Is there really no easy guy to rsync for OS X? It would just be so awesome...

Bye,

Merc.
 
mercmobily said:
What a list! Thank you!
Click to expand...

My pleasure!

mercmobily said:
As far as backing up on hard drives, the best ones seem to be Carbon Copy and SilverKeeper. Any specific comments?
Click to expand...

SilverKeeper is free, but like a lot of free things, free isn't necessarily the best deal. I wouldn't use SilverKeeper. You may want to google around for users' experiences with it.

Carbon Copy Cloner and SuperDuper! are very similar cloning tools that can make bootable backups, and both are wildly popular.

A number of users like to keep *both* a bootable clone backup, and an archival backup. TimeMachine is very popular for creating archival backups, both because it is a good program, and because it comes with OS X.

mercmobily said:
And... I couldn't find anything decently updated that would backup onto the network using rSync. Is there really no easy guy to rsync for OS X? It would just be so awesome...
Click to expand...

High-end features like backing up to multiple cartridges of removable media, backing up over a network, etc. are rarely supported in backup programs for ordinary users. The traditional choice for this is Retrospect.
http://www.retrospect.com/products/homeandoffice/retroformac/
I've heard from folks who love Retrospect, and from folks who hate it (and/or can't figure out how to use it.) I've heard from way more of the latter. Unfortunately things have gotten worse since Retrospect was sold by Insignia to EMC2. There have been claims that EMC2 doesn't care about the product.

One product that has these high-end features at a reasonable price, and which isn't terribly hard to use is:

Intego's Personal Backup ($70)
http://www.intego.com/personalbackup/
 
Hi,

This is one of the most accurate pieces of advice I've ever received. Thank you so much...
I don't suppose you'd like to write some short articles for Free Software Magazine? (http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com)

If so, contact me on "tonymobily" $#$sadff##@$sdf$#$sd followed by "gmail.com"

Thank you :D

Bye,

Merc.
 
mercmobily said:
Hi,

This is one of the most accurate pieces of advice I've ever received. Thank you so much...
Click to expand...

You are very kind, it was my pleasure! Macintosh users always help one another.

mercmobily said:
I don't suppose you'd like to write some short articles for Free Software Magazine?
Click to expand...

Thank you, I'm very flattered, but by and large my article and book writing days are behind me.
(However, I still publish The MacAttorney Newsletter. if you know any Macintosh-using attorneys please have them write to me at: randy@macattorney.com for a free e-mail subscription. Thanks!)
 
Nice list to say at beginning but i didn't see a lot of other free softwares (paid) that deserve to be in that list especially the software that i am using called Dmailer http://www.dmailer.com/dmailer-backup.html . Is easy to use and also has 3gb for online storage for backups and is also been made to use on mac too so add to the list too ,
Beside thats this is a nice thread and the list is worth GOLD :p

Regards
 
Randy Singer said:
BRU $500 (I've heard a lot of good things about this product!)
BRU for Mac OS X is a native OS X backup solution designed primarily to support standalone Xserve, G5 and G4 systems. In networked system topologies, up to 5* systems can be AFP-mounted and reliably backed-up to the system on which BRU for Mac OS X is installed.
http://www.tolisgroup.com/home.html
Click to expand...
I have used this for several years, but my personal operations are scaled back enough that I can no longer justify the annual update/support fee. ($250)

It knows how to use every possible tape or tape-library device, if that's what you need. It can stage backups to an external disk. It is neither easy nor intuitive to switch from one destination to another.

To keep your inner geek happy, you can do everything via command line.
 
jbarley said:
The thread is also over a year old...
Click to expand...

Very true. The basic information that I presented is pretty much still accurate, though. There are additional software offerings available for backup now, including cloud-based backup.

Carbon Copy Cloner, SuperDuper!, and TimeMachine are all still wildly popular. Retrospect has even more detractors than previously (though it is still one of the very few choices available for several advanced features.)

I can't really recommend Web-based backing up, unless it is part of a multiple method scheme of backing up. Some of you may know what the "Red Gorilla Effect" is. (Red Gorilla was an online time and billing service that one day disappeared without warning, taking its users data with it.)

Backing up just your files (no programs) to a flash drive as part of a multi-method backup scheme is now practical, and even desirable, as it can be done each day quickly, and you can keep your flash drive in your pocket off-site.

Anything else that you would like me to speak to?
 
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