[Mouth]

Hi gang:
What's the best back up tool for Mac available right now?

This link could help out:
http://www.macworld.com/2007/01/revi...rent/index.php


Thanks,
M

Is it Super Duper?

[turtle]

SuperDuper! is great for a total image. I'm not sure about it's other functions. I've never paid for it so I only use the free duplicate function. I am interested in hearing more listed out here though.

[Majost]

It all depends on the kind of backup that you're looking for. Different tools for different jobs. I used CCC (Carbon Copy Cloner - rival to SuperDuper; I can't recommend one over the other, I've only used CCC) for a while to make a weekly clone of my hard drive -- it worked really well (and saved my butt several times).

If you're looking for more specific, incremental backups, a different tool (like maybe Retrospect?) might be better. All I know is that you should stay away from BRU like the bubonic plague.

[soma]

Might this be used on, for example, a 1TB graid instead of a seperate mirrored ext drive (I have a thread knocking about here somewhere...)? I basically need loads of space for video work whilst also ensuring I don't lose really important data. If I can use this tool on the striped graid that might save me a bit of time and money.

[rampancy]

I'd recommend SuperDuper; even in its limited demo/freeware form I find it quite useful.

I used to swear by CCC, but for some reason it gave me persistent kernel panics - and I also read a series of posts at plasticsfuture which made a pretty convincing arguement for using SuperDuper for global system backups (the main case being the preservation of metadata). Hope that helps.

[AWR]

I've used SuperDuper for a couple of years and have found it very good, very easy and very quick. Once a week I do a Smart Copy, which basically synchs my external backup with my internal HD (adding and deleting as necessary).

I've heard that they have good customer support too, but I've never used it myself.

[FFL]

Unless you anticipate an incremental backup need such as wanting not the latest version of a particular file but the version from, say, a week ago, it is definitely SuperDuper FTW.

I've recommended it to dozens of clients and all are happy with it. It's worth the price of registration to get the Smart Update ability (only changed files are copied - average backup done in 10 - 15 minutes).

End result is a bootable and browsable backup - quite superior to anything that Backup or Retrospect will do.

[alcimedes]

Is SuperDuper more of an individual backup tool, or can it be used for network backups of dozens of machines?

[Yontsey]

another recommendation for SuperDuper!. when i got rid of my Powerbook and got my Macbook, I used SuperDuper! to clone to PB and transfered everything over to my Macbook. It was easy to use and worked like a charm. Thank being said, Ive never used CCC.

[FFL]

Originally Posted by alcimedes Is SuperDuper more of an individual backup tool, or can it be used for network backups of dozens of machines?

Like CCC, you can set it to backup to a Disk Image, and that Disk Image can be saved on any mounted network volume

[dscl]

Originally Posted by alcimedes Is SuperDuper more of an individual backup tool, or can it be used for network backups of dozens of machines?

Depends on what your backing up, how often, and a ton of other factors.

[TMT]

Never tried SuperDuper. I use Silverkeeper from LaCie for incremental backups of my second partition and my homefolder.
It is easy to set up and free.

Silverkeeper

[justG]

I tried CCC and got errors with it. I didn't really care why I got errors, just the fact that I got them in a situation that concerned my data was enough to get me to try something else. I tried SuperDuper! and immediately purchased a license. It's easy to use and has worked flawlessly so far. Clones and SmartUpdates are great, but I'd also like versioned/time-stamped backups of some folders, to be able to retrieve earlier versions of files at a later date; for that I'm going to go with SmartBackup.

[SQUIRRI]

I agree with those using Superduper - it does what it says on the tin. The Smart backup option works very well in the purchased version. And the backup volumes are bootable - I have verified this with a FW drive on a G5 and a USB drive on an Intel Mac.

It supports scheduling(although you have to be logged in and have the screen unlocked for it to work) - I do a nightly Smart backup of a 500GB drive and it takes about 30 minutes.

You can also tell it to back up specific folders - you could probably use this to set up incremental backups for your documents say.

Very good and very reasonably priced piece of software - definitely high on my Mac essentials list

[Chinney]

Bump. Useful thread.

Does anyone know if it is possible to use SuperDuper to do separate backups of two different computers to a single external backup drive (this would be done manually – the computers are not networked for this purpose)? I would assume so – but am I wrong?

[tomoe]

It's been a while since I've used SuperDuper, but I think if you have separate partitions on the target backup drive, then yes.

[NosferaDrew]

Originally Posted by alcimedes Is SuperDuper more of an individual backup tool, or can it be used for network backups of dozens of machines?

You can schedule multiple network backups (I don't see any limit on the number), but you must backup to a sparse disk image (which will grow as it needs to) instead of a physical, specific drive or partition.

[NosferaDrew]

Originally Posted by Chinney Bump. Useful thread. Does anyone know if it is possible to use SuperDuper to do separate backups of two different computers to a single external backup drive (this would be done manually – the computers are not networked for this purpose)? I would assume so – but am I wrong?

Yes, tomoe is correct.
My sister has a 500GB drive with three partitions (one for each computer in her household) and she runs SuperDuper manually to keep each computer backed up. Works like a charm.

[Chinney]

Thanks. Will implement.

[Anthem]

Gotta agree... I booted off a SuperDuper drive to save my toasted iMac. Great program.