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Home > Archive > Backup Software > October 2006 > Looking for software for backup on DVD media
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Looking for software for backup on DVD media
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| Peter Frank 2006-10-05, 7:14 pm |
| Hi,
I am looking for any backup software that fullfills the following
requirements:
1) "true" incremental backup that also makes note of deleted files and
folders - that does not mean that these files/folders have to be
deleted but I generally do not want them to be restored when doing a
restoration up to the latest incremental backup
This seems to be a requirement that most backup software packages do
not meet. When doing incremental backups, they usually backup new and
modified files but do not care about deleted or moved files/folders.
I guess this requires file/folder indexes that are created along with
each backup. This brings me to my next requirement.
2) external backups need to be independent from the local backup
software installation - I mean that anything needed for proper
restoration of a backup should be saved along with it
It seems like some backup software saves indexes, catalogs or
something else locally on the computer the backup software is
installed on. When these data are lost, restoring the data from the
external backups are not lost but are very difficult to be restored
properly.
3) encryption and compression (although ZIP compression with AES
encryption would be preferrable, a proprietary format is also OK)
4) backup to CD-ROM and DVD
So far, I couldn't find any software that met all of these criteria.
Can you recommend me any?
Peter
| |
| Claudiu Spulber 2006-10-06, 7:16 am |
| Try Backup4all (http://www.backup4all.com). Here is how it fulfills your
requirements:
1. When you're restoring from an incremental backup, the last state of the
files will be restored. For instance, saying that you did a full backup and
one incremental, and before doing the incremental you deleted some files -
when you'll restore only the files that are still available on your hard
drive will be restored; there will be also an option to restore the deleted
files too
2. Backup4all uses a catalog (.bkc) file that is stored on the CD/DVD (if
you're backing up to those) so you can do an independent restore; there is
also an option to use a local catalog too; plus, given that it creates
standard zip, the backed up files can be restored with any other zip utility
(that supports aes, if you use it)
3. creates zip files (for full/differential/incremental backup) or makes a
copy of them (mirror backup); supports AES encryption
4. backs up to CD/DVD using its internal burning engine (no 3rd party burner
needed).
I suggest to try it (has a 30 trial) and see how it fulfills your needs.
--
Regards,
Claudiu Spulber
http://www.backup4all.com
http://www.novapdf.com
"Peter Frank" <peter_frankde@yahoo.de> wrote in message
news:om3bi2tif7kmtso6guee2bvid3rkrj3lqj@
4ax.com...
> Hi,
>
> I am looking for any backup software that fullfills the following
> requirements:
>
> 1) "true" incremental backup that also makes note of deleted files and
> folders - that does not mean that these files/folders have to be
> deleted but I generally do not want them to be restored when doing a
> restoration up to the latest incremental backup
>
> This seems to be a requirement that most backup software packages do
> not meet. When doing incremental backups, they usually backup new and
> modified files but do not care about deleted or moved files/folders.
> I guess this requires file/folder indexes that are created along with
> each backup. This brings me to my next requirement.
>
> 2) external backups need to be independent from the local backup
> software installation - I mean that anything needed for proper
> restoration of a backup should be saved along with it
>
> It seems like some backup software saves indexes, catalogs or
> something else locally on the computer the backup software is
> installed on. When these data are lost, restoring the data from the
> external backups are not lost but are very difficult to be restored
> properly.
>
> 3) encryption and compression (although ZIP compression with AES
> encryption would be preferrable, a proprietary format is also OK)
>
> 4) backup to CD-ROM and DVD
>
> So far, I couldn't find any software that met all of these criteria.
>
> Can you recommend me any?
>
>
> Peter
| |
| Peter Frank 2006-10-06, 7:16 am |
| Claudiu Spulber wrote:
>Try Backup4all (http://www.backup4all.com). Here is how it fulfills your
>requirements:
>
>1. When you're restoring from an incremental backup, the last state of the
>files will be restored. For instance, saying that you did a full backup and
>one incremental, and before doing the incremental you deleted some files -
>when you'll restore only the files that are still available on your hard
>drive will be restored; there will be also an option to restore the deleted
>files too
Sounds great. Just what I have been looking for. Because I would hate
having to weed out all the stuff again that I deliberately deleted and
that would be back after a restore.
>2. Backup4all uses a catalog (.bkc) file that is stored on the CD/DVD (if
>you're backing up to those) so you can do an independent restore; there is
>also an option to use a local catalog too; plus, given that it creates
>standard zip, the backed up files can be restored with any other zip utility
>(that supports aes, if you use it)
Also great. That way I won't be stuck with a proprietary format.
>3. creates zip files (for full/differential/incremental backup) or makes a
>copy of them (mirror backup); supports AES encryption
>4. backs up to CD/DVD using its internal burning engine (no 3rd party burner
>needed).
>
>I suggest to try it (has a 30 trial) and see how it fulfills your needs.
I did that and tried it out.
However, I found two things that did not work as I would have liked
them to:
a) Empty folders are not backed up. It might seem like empty folders
are not important because at the time of backup they do not contain
any data, but there are cases when they are important and they should
also be backed up. This shouldn't be a problem because the ZIP format
can also store empty folders.
b) This may indeed be a very rare case but when the only changes that
occurred are deleted items, the backup catalog/index is not modified
and hence these changes are not incorporated in any way. I understand
that the ZIP backup does not need to be changed because nothing needs
to be added but the backup catalog should make note of these changes.
Everything works OK if files/folders are deleted and added or changed.
Peter
| |
| Peter Frank 2006-10-06, 7:16 am |
| I wrote:
>Claudiu Spulber wrote:
>
> ...
>However, I found two things that did not work as I would have liked
>them to:
>
>a) Empty folders are not backed up. It might seem like empty folders
>are not important because at the time of backup they do not contain
>any data, but there are cases when they are important and they should
>also be backed up. This shouldn't be a problem because the ZIP format
>can also store empty folders.
I just wanted to add that the "Hide empty folders on expand all"
option is not checked and the empty folders are selected for backup.
Yet, they are not being backed up.
Peter
| |
| Claudiu Spulber 2006-10-06, 7:16 am |
| Hi Peter,
Regarding your observations:
a) indeed empty folders are not backed up; this is something we intend on
adding in a new version, but more like a 4+months since it requires changing
the structure of the catalog
b)you are right on this too, if the only change is deleting some files,
those are not recorded in the catalog thus when a restore would be performed
those files/folders would be recreated; since this is a rare case I think
that it may be overcome by using the restore wizard and applying filters (to
ignore the deleted files/folders)
--
Regards,
Claudiu Spulber
http://www.backup4all.com
http://www.novapdf.com
"Peter Frank" <peter_frankde@yahoo.de> wrote in message
news:4v4ci250dbbng8a9kj7rb7vnp88p8s40e8@
4ax.com...
> Claudiu Spulber wrote:
>
>
> Sounds great. Just what I have been looking for. Because I would hate
> having to weed out all the stuff again that I deliberately deleted and
> that would be back after a restore.
>
>
> Also great. That way I won't be stuck with a proprietary format.
>
>
> I did that and tried it out.
>
> However, I found two things that did not work as I would have liked
> them to:
>
> a) Empty folders are not backed up. It might seem like empty folders
> are not important because at the time of backup they do not contain
> any data, but there are cases when they are important and they should
> also be backed up. This shouldn't be a problem because the ZIP format
> can also store empty folders.
>
> b) This may indeed be a very rare case but when the only changes that
> occurred are deleted items, the backup catalog/index is not modified
> and hence these changes are not incorporated in any way. I understand
> that the ZIP backup does not need to be changed because nothing needs
> to be added but the backup catalog should make note of these changes.
> Everything works OK if files/folders are deleted and added or changed.
>
> Peter
| |
| Peter Frank 2006-10-06, 7:16 am |
| Claudiu Spulber wrote:
>Hi Peter,
>Regarding your observations:
>a) indeed empty folders are not backed up; this is something we intend on
>adding in a new version, but more like a 4+months since it requires changing
>the structure of the catalog
>b)you are right on this too, if the only change is deleting some files,
>those are not recorded in the catalog thus when a restore would be performed
>those files/folders would be recreated; since this is a rare case I think
>that it may be overcome by using the restore wizard and applying filters (to
>ignore the deleted files/folders)
Thanks for your quick reply. Didn't expect that, so I also sent an
email to the Backup4all support.
Good to hear that a) will be fixed in the near future.
Could you elaborate your solution for b) a bit more? How would I have
to use filters in order to prevent the deleted files/folders from
being restored? Would I need to know exactly which files/folders were
deleted and where they are located?
Peter
| |
| Claudiu Spulber 2006-10-06, 7:16 am |
| Hi Peter,
Regarding the solution for b), I'm afraid that you would have to know the
names of the folders that were deleted. Backup4all has a restore wizard, and
one of its options (Standard) allows to filter the latest file versions -
after that adding a filter by name for exclusion ...
This is not a handy solution, but given that it happens only when files are
deleted but no changes/additions are made, I think it would be an option.
Come to think about it, you could include in the backup a file that always
changes its size; this way Backup4all would recognize that something changed
and the deleted files would be recorded too in the catalog.
--
Regards,
Claudiu Spulber
http://www.backup4all.com
http://www.novapdf.com
"Peter Frank" <peter_frankde@yahoo.de> wrote in message
news:6lcci2hfc2g7t41g430lf6rn9d78557tsh@
4ax.com...
> Claudiu Spulber wrote:
>
>
> Thanks for your quick reply. Didn't expect that, so I also sent an
> email to the Backup4all support.
>
> Good to hear that a) will be fixed in the near future.
>
> Could you elaborate your solution for b) a bit more? How would I have
> to use filters in order to prevent the deleted files/folders from
> being restored? Would I need to know exactly which files/folders were
> deleted and where they are located?
>
> Peter
| |
| Peter Frank 2006-10-06, 1:15 pm |
| Claudiu Spulber wrote:
>Hi Peter,
>Regarding the solution for b), I'm afraid that you would have to know the
>names of the folders that were deleted. Backup4all has a restore wizard, and
>one of its options (Standard) allows to filter the latest file versions -
>after that adding a filter by name for exclusion ...
>This is not a handy solution, but given that it happens only when files are
>deleted but no changes/additions are made, I think it would be an option.
>Come to think about it, you could include in the backup a file that always
>changes its size; this way Backup4all would recognize that something changed
>and the deleted files would be recorded too in the catalog.
Yes, you are right. Actually, there are almost always some changes
along with deletions, and if not within one backup, then probably
within the next one.
One more question: I know about the option to start a new full backup
as soon as the size of the incremental backup exceeds a certain limit.
However, I noticed that this does not delete any previous full or
incremental backups. It does not create a new catalog either. It
continues forever. This makes sense as long as one might still need
older versions of backed up files. If I do not need these and would
like to start all over with a fresh full backup that overwrites the
first full backup and that is independent of any other previous
backups (=> new catalog), how could I do that? Can I do this without
having to delete and re-create the backup job altogether?
Peter
| |
| Peter Frank 2006-10-06, 1:15 pm |
| Peter Frank wrote:
>Claudiu Spulber wrote:
>
>
>Yes, you are right. Actually, there are almost always some changes
>along with deletions, and if not within one backup, then probably
>within the next one.
>
>One more question: I know about the option to start a new full backup
>as soon as the size of the incremental backup exceeds a certain limit.
>However, I noticed that this does not delete any previous full or
>incremental backups. It does not create a new catalog either. It
>continues forever. This makes sense as long as one might still need
>older versions of backed up files. If I do not need these and would
>like to start all over with a fresh full backup that overwrites the
>first full backup and that is independent of any other previous
>backups (=> new catalog), how could I do that? Can I do this without
>having to delete and re-create the backup job altogether?
I should have tested the program a little bit more. I think I found my
solution for this: I create a copy of the backup job with "Create
Like" and then delete the original job and all associated files.
Peter
| |
| Claudiu Spulber 2006-10-06, 1:15 pm |
| Hi Peter,
Here are some options that could help you:
1. When using the incremental (or full, differential) there are 2 more
options:
Limit maximum number of stored backups to - At each backup execution, a new
backup number is created. In time backup numbers can grow. This option will
ensure that the maximum number of stored backups will not exceed the
specified number. The system will delete some of the older backup numbers,
keeping the recent ones and ensuring backup integrity. The number of stored
backups varies from 1 or 2 or 3 (depending on current backup type) to the
specified number.
Merge stored backups to maintain the maximum limit - This option is enabled
when the first option is set. This option is important when you do not want
to lose intermediate backups. The system first tries to delete older backup
numbers. If this is not possible (because it will damage backup integrity)
then the system will merge several backup numbers into one. Merging backup
numbers is time consuming, because the zip files for the merged backup
number are recreated. However these two options will not be taken into
consideration if you make your backups on removable media.
2. There is another solution that would do exactly what you asked, in the
backup Properties->Advanced->Actions tab, to clear the backup;
The <Clear backup> predefined action deletes the ".bkc" file and all zip
files associated with the current backup job. You can customize it with the
following parameters (numbers can be changed as necessary):
·<Clear backup d=7> - Clear backup is executed only if 7 days have passed
since the first backup increment (the full backup).
·<Clear backup n=10> - Clear backup is executed only if the number of file
versions is 10.
·<Clear backup d=7 n=10> - Clear backup is executed if 7 days have passed
since the first backup increment (the full backup) or if the number of file
versions is 10.
If this action is set, then the backup performed is a full backup, even if
the backup type is set to incremental or differential. Backup4all waits for
the program/action to be finished before continuing.
You can read about this (I copied it partly) from
http://www.backup4all.com/online-he...ced_actions.htm
--
Regards,
Claudiu Spulber
http://www.backup4all.com
http://www.novapdf.com
"Peter Frank" <peter_frankde@yahoo.de> wrote in message
news:u1kci21bhp52sfvn06mqpfd5qcouupvdk5@
4ax.com...
> Claudiu Spulber wrote:
>
>
> Yes, you are right. Actually, there are almost always some changes
> along with deletions, and if not within one backup, then probably
> within the next one.
>
> One more question: I know about the option to start a new full backup
> as soon as the size of the incremental backup exceeds a certain limit.
> However, I noticed that this does not delete any previous full or
> incremental backups. It does not create a new catalog either. It
> continues forever. This makes sense as long as one might still need
> older versions of backed up files. If I do not need these and would
> like to start all over with a fresh full backup that overwrites the
> first full backup and that is independent of any other previous
> backups (=> new catalog), how could I do that? Can I do this without
> having to delete and re-create the backup job altogether?
>
> Peter
| |
| Peter Frank 2006-10-06, 1:15 pm |
| Claudiu Spulber wrote:
>2. There is another solution that would do exactly what you asked, in the
>backup Properties->Advanced->Actions tab, to clear the backup;
>The <Clear backup> predefined action deletes the ".bkc" file and all zip
>files associated with the current backup job. You can customize it with the
>following parameters (numbers can be changed as necessary):
>·<Clear backup d=7> - Clear backup is executed only if 7 days have passed
>since the first backup increment (the full backup).
>·<Clear backup n=10> - Clear backup is executed only if the number of file
>versions is 10.
>·<Clear backup d=7 n=10> - Clear backup is executed if 7 days have passed
>since the first backup increment (the full backup) or if the number of file
>versions is 10.
>If this action is set, then the backup performed is a full backup, even if
>the backup type is set to incremental or differential. Backup4all waits for
>the program/action to be finished before continuing.
>
>You can read about this (I copied it partly) from
>http://www.backup4all.com/online-he...ced_actions.htm
Thanks for the detailed advice.
Peter
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