Return to Digital Photography Articles
Backup Software Comparison & Reviews
Comparison of Backup Software
While there are countless backup programs available, I have included below a few of the utilities that I evaluated in trying to find the "best" backup software for my ultimate backup scheme. Note that the list contains both synchronization (mirror) utilities and backup utilities -- but the emphasis has been on backup programs. Generally, the entries with No Catalog are synchronizers. For my offsite backup, I am reliant on a full-featured backup utility, while for other operations (such as mirroring certain files between drives), I can use a simple synchronization utility.
For background, please have a look at the article: selecting the best backup software.
Programs that I have fully evaluated
| Backup Utility | Ver | Vendor & Cost | Catalog | Encryption | FTP | Versioning | Non Proprietary |
Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Backup4all | 3 | Softland $44.95 |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Reviews |
| BackupNOW Deluxe | 3 | NTIUS $69.99 |
No | No | No | No | No | Reviews |
| DirSync | 3 | Archersoft $24.95 |
No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Reviews |
| Genie Backup Manager | 7 Pro | Genie-Soft $69.95 |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No [1] | Reviews |
| Second Copy | 7 | Centered Systems $29.95 |
No | No [2] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Reviews |
- Note: [1] - Genie Backup Manager Pro (GBM) uses a standard ZIP format for compression, but a separate proprietary utility for the encryption.
- Note: [2] - Second Copy supports encryption, but not in profiles using FTP destinations.
Other programs to consider
| Backup Utility | Ver | Vendor & Cost | Catalog | Encryption | FTP | Versioning | Non Proprietary |
Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FileBack PC | 4 | Maximum Output $55.00 |
No [3] | Yes | No | Yes | No [4] | |
| NovaBackup | 7.5 | Novastor $44.95 |
No | Yes | No | No | Yes | |
| SyncBack SE | 5 | 2BrightSparks $30.00 |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| SyncToy | 1.2 | Microsoft FREE |
No | No | No | No | Yes | |
| VersionBackup | 4 Master | SB-AW $58.00 |
No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Beyond Compare | 2 | Scooter Software $30.00 |
No | No | Yes | No [6] | Yes | Reviews |
- Note: [3] - FileBack PC uses a mechanism that uses file deletion rather than incremental updates. This negates some of the disadvantages over using the archive bit.
- Note: [4] - Even though FileBack PC provides a free decompression utility for their backups, it is still single-source and runs the risk of not being supported someday.
- Note: [6] - Through some use of scripting, Beyond Compare can potentially provide a basic form of versioning.
| Key | |
|---|---|
| Catalog | Uses an internal database of changed files, instead of trying to rely on the archive bit file attribute. The archive bit is only practical for the most basic of backup jobs. Therefore, I am generally less interested in programs that do not use a catalog. |
| Versioning | The program has some ability to allow roll-back to previous versions of your files, should you need to recover one. This helps prevent against user error, where you may damage / corrupt a file, backup the corrupted version, and then be unable to recover any older version. |
| Non Proprietary |
Not all backup programs will be supported indefinitely. Therefore, you really want to be sure that your backup data can be recovered by other third-party utilities if necessary. This column refers primarily to the type of files created when one uses compression and/or encryption. Thankfully, many programs rely on a ZIP file format (with encryption), so that WinZip or other ZIP archivers can recover the backup job if necessary. I have a strong preference for programs that use a non-proprietary format for the job. |
| Encryption | Strong encryption based on an industry standard (such as AES). Utilities that advertise password protection don't use encryption unless explicitly mentioned. Simple password protection is often useless. |
Conclusions
To implement my ultimate backup scheme, I have currently selected Backup4All by Softland. It offers all of the features I need for a secure remote backup system, and appears to be relatively bug-free. Genie Backup Manager Pro was promising, but it does not seem to be stable enough to rely on.
For simple mirroring purposes, I have relied extensively on DirSync, which I would highly recommend.
Command-line Tools
For those who are very comfortable with the Windows scripting environment, there are a few other products that may be worth consideration. These programs are inherently more difficult to use, but may provide more flexibility in certain configurations. Note that some of the more comprehensive programs listed above may also offer command-line invocation as well.
- xxcopy
- RoboCopy - also a GUI frontend
Reader's Comments:
Please leave your comments or suggestions below!It is centrally managed, works automatically, can backup PST files even if they are in use, and does a fast incremental backup that is easy to recover from...
I sort of came to the sme conclusion as you had, tried several software and finally settled on backup4all (just las tmonth), then conducted more testing. I unfortunately came across a significant issue in backup4all, which was acknoledged byt tech support, who said there was no way to cahnge this behavior.
The problem is that if you have 2 directories with same name, but different letter case, bakcup4all can't handle them, and will always use the first one it met.
For instance, c:\Files\Documentation and c:\Data\documentation will be backed up both as c:\Files\Documentation and c:\Data\Documentation (notice the case of second directory has been changed to capital D).
When restoring, the directory name is thus restored with the wrong case. That's fine in most cases on windows, except if you do some web development for instance, where some programs can read directory names and make comparisons that are case-sensitive (not a theoritical case, I spent hours trying to debug a sofwtare of mine, before finding out it was the data on disk that had been modified, after a restore operation).
I have now switched to syncback (which, contrary to your table made fro SyncBackSE probably, has a catalog, versionning, etc + Sftp, which was my first requirement). Looking good so far, but a bit slow I found.
Cheers
Thanks,
Best Regards
In addition to files, I am also looking for an disk image program that uses a non-proprietary format.
I wondered if you had encountered anything in your searches.
I meant syncing between a couple of pc's and different drives as well as online storage.
My understanding of Backup4all is that it's a one pc program.
I need to be able to back up between at least 2 computers as well as my different drives and online.
I am not sure what to use.
Thanks.
JRS
I use Windows 7 Pro.
Thanks for any advice.
JRS
i'm testing Genie Backup Manager Professional V8.0 & Acronis TrueImage Backup 10 for my Win2003 Server
both software cannot Include files/folders only using wildcards and only GBM cannot exclude Folders using wildcards (but can exclude files using wildcards)
have you evaluated Acronis backup without crashes/glitches?
thanks
I tested the Backup4All. I was completly happy with the software until one serious problem occured. It deleted its catalogues and it even deleted the backup data (it was not an misuse or misclick, I tried it repeatedly - I had three mirror backup).
I'm now trying the Genie, the only problem is the proprietary format. It seams that it is possible to make it non-proprietary.
(Well it is non-sence either it is proprietary or not, but I hope you got my point)
"7z x data +password" creates .genc files that are no more encrypted and also some part of the path is created. Each of this files can be unzipped without dificulties in total commander.
It seams as if the Genie zips data into packs of files ("supernodes") and then joins these files into one (or more) and encypts them. But this is just my guess.
if it will work this way it is imho non-proprietary. In the bad case I would be unable to use the Genie, I'm able to get the data.
I'll test it further with all my backup data (I tried just few files now) and I'll also let you now, if there is any simplier way with Genie.
Thanks for the reviews!
Miron
thanks
david
After spending 20 satisfactory days of using Genie Backup Manager Pro V8.0 I believe it has what you are looking for.
Genie Backup Manager Pro V8.0 offers a very easy to use search feature called "The Catalog", which contains a list of all backup jobs and the files backed up during each job.
Using this catalog feature you can view, search for and extract files directly without going through the restore wizard.
Thanks for any help.
JD
Some backup programs (such as Genie Backup Manager Pro, if I remember correctly) will allow you to backup while compressing each file into their own ZIP file (not one huge ZIP file). This way you can have a look at a particular file that you've backed up by running the unzip utility on the single file, without having to restore it to the main drive first.
I've downloaded it's trial copy and it's working smoothly so far.
In the interim, if you do get an opportunity to evaluate it with large, encrypted offsite FTP backup jobs, I would be most interested to hear about your experiences. Thanks.
Have you tested Genie Backup Manager Professional V8.0?
I need a backup software with disaster recovery and offsite backup capabilities and a friend of mine recommended Genie Backup Manager Professional V8.0 by Genie-soft.
any help would be appreciated.
thanks,
Robert