[Hidden-tech] server backup software

[Chris Hoogendyk]

Reva Reck wrote:
> I'm sure some of you have experience with Windows-based SERVER 
> (Win2003) backup software. I need to  backup to USB hard drives & am 
> exploring software like NovaBackup & BackupAssist as well as more 
> expensive products like Acronis & BackupExec. I'd be interested to 
> hear from anyone who's used these or similar products. I'm not 
> interested in software that will only run on a PC, and I'd like to 
> stay under $400. I'd use Acronis, which I know lots of people really 
> like, but it's too expensive. I can upgrade BackupExec within my 
> budget, but I've gotten some bad feedback about using that for backup 
> to disk. So if you've used w. Backup Exec with disks, I'd like to hear 
> about that, too. Thanks, Reva

I have a lot of respect for Retrospect. It started out as a Mac only 
product by Dantz Development something like 15-20 years ago. It's 
support was legendary. Sometime in the mid 1990's I posted a question to 
the independently run retrospect users list, and less than an hour later 
got a phone call from the support group at Dantz Development offering to 
help. Later they put a massive effort into a complete rewrite on Windows 
NT. The Mac people complained about that effort, but the work was 
eventually ported back to the Mac version. Then Dantz was bought by EMC. 
So, it is now EMC Retrospect. They still get great reviews. I use them 
on my home network, and I have several labs here who use Retrospect to 
backup their lab machines and push the disk archive file onto my Sun 
server where I can run it out to tape.

Retrospect is strong on Windows, strong on Mac, and also has a linux client.

I don't recall the cost, but I think it would be within your budget.

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Chris Hoogendyk

-
   O__  ---- Systems Administrator
  c/ /'_ --- Biology & Geology Departments
 (*) \(*) -- 140 Morrill Science Center
~~~~~~~~~~ - University of Massachusetts, Amherst 

<hoogendyk at bio.umass.edu>

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Erdös 4