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	4	2BrightSparks $25.00	No	No [5]	Yes	No	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: [5] - While SyncBack SE provides encryption for backups, this feature is not supported for backups to an FTP server.
• 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