Shadow Protect is pricey at $80 bucks plus... and the reinstalls using the backup are problematic...
Acronis works very well... But I guess if you absolutely must have a file by file backup, and know how to fix the glitches that too often occur, then Shadow Protect does the job. It is certainly better for corporate divisions or for government entities where you need proof... that you did the responsible thing. RB - - - - - Some people are like a Slinkey... They are really good for nothing ... but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs. On Wed, Dec 2, 2009 at 10:49 AM, Michael Geary <[email protected]> wrote: > Thanks for the tip on the new version of Acronis - I will have to take a > look at it. > > I used to use Acronis, but it was always making very large incremental > backups - several gigabytes each - because it was a file-by-file backup. > So, > for example, if I received a single new email in Outlook, the next Acronis > backup would have to back up my *entire* Outlook data file even though only > a few KB or MB of data had actually changed. > > The net result was that I didn't run backups as often as I should. > > I switched to ShadowProtect: > > http://www.storagecraft.com/products/ShadowProtectDesktop/ > > which operates completely differently. It is a sector-by-sector backup, and > it tracks changed sectors for its incremental backups. So if only a few MB > of my Outlook file changed, only those few MB would go into the next > incremental. > > As a result, I now run automatically scheduled incremental backups every 15 > minutes, and those backups typically run 25MB or less and take less than 10 > seconds. > > The one trick to know if you try ShadowProtect: To get these fast > incrementals, you have to tell it to run backups on a schedule. You can > schedule them as often as every 15 minutes, or as infrequently as once a > week, or you can create a schedule and then "pause" the backup job so it > never runs automatically and you can then run it manually when you want. > (But you may as well just let it run frequently on a schedule.) > > But if you just create a full backup manually and then later run an > incremental manually - without creating a schedule - you won't get the fast > incrementals. That caught me by surprise the first time, but once I set up > a > backup schedule it did the trick. > > It will be interesting to see if Acronis's new "continuous backup" feature > is similar to this approach. > > -Mike (backup fanatic) > > On Tue, Dec 1, 2009 at 11:36 PM, Aryeh Goretsky (home) > <[email protected]>wrote: > > > Hello, > > > > That's really kind of an open-ended question. It depends on what > > operating system(s) you are using, the type(s) of backups you wish > > to perform, amount you are willing to spend (both in terms of time > > and money) and so forth. > > > > The latest version of Acronis TrueImage offers a "continuous backup" > > feature in their disk imaging software, as well as an Internet backup > > option. Centered Systems' Second Copy provides a file monitoring and > > backup agent, and 2BrightSparks' SyncBack offers a scheduler for > > various kinds of backup, too. Those are all Windows-based programs. > > There is also rsync for UNIX-based operating systems, but I am not > > as familiar with those. > > > > Regards, > > > > Aryeh Goretsky > > > > > > At 10:00 AM 11/29/2009, you wrote: > > > >> Message: 5 > >> Date: Sun, 29 Nov 2009 08:12:58 -0500 > >> From: Donald MacQueen <[email protected]> > >> Subject: Re: [Thinkpad] Upgrade advice > >> To: "Aryeh Goretsky (home)" <[email protected]> > >> Cc: [email protected] > >> Message-ID: <[email protected]> > >> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > >> > >> > >> Aryeh Goretsky (home) wrote: > >> > Hello, > >> > > >> > [snip] > >> > > >> > In any case, given the use conditions for the system, I would suggest > >> > automating a frequently backup schedule and periodically testing the > >> > restoration process to verify it is correctly working > >> Any suggestions on "automating a frequently backup schedule"? > >> > > >> > Regards, > >> > > >> > Aryeh Goretsky > >> > > >> > > >> [snip] > >> > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Thinkpad mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://stderr.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/thinkpad > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Thinkpad mailing list > [email protected] > http://stderr.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/thinkpad > _______________________________________________ Thinkpad mailing list [email protected] http://stderr.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/thinkpad
