Desktop backup software
Reinforcements
© Lead Image © viesinsh, 123RF.com
Backup strategies in IT are essential and expensive in terms of planning and administration, but individuals have simpler solutions. We look at five backup solutions for the desktop.
Experts regularly warn about the potential for data loss, but many users, including some IT professionals, have never had a serious hard drive crash, partly because they often discard their computers before their hard drives give up the ghost. Never having experienced a catastrophic loss of files, many users simply store data sporadically on an external disk; however, this isn't a real backup strategy.
More sophisticated users might employ Rsync [1] and Cron [2] scripts with their corresponding overhead, but graphical backup software, which often utilizes these command-line tools under the hood, is often a more satisfactory backup solution on the desktop. Linux users have a number of options suitable for automatic and continuous operation that allow them to save and restore files easily. These applications might even be worth using at work so that employees without root privileges can back up their data on an external hard disk or USB flash drive, allowing them to work at home or on the road.
In this review, I look at Déjà Dup [3], Back in Time [4], Sbackup [5], luckyBackup [6], and Areca Backup [7].
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