iBackup’s list of default sources includes all the files that most home users will want to save.

iBackup’s Spartan interface may give the impression of a featherweight, but looks in this case are deceiving. Although it eschews the slew of options offered by ChronoSync, the application retains just enough power to best Apple’s Backup 3 at running regular network backups.

iBackup saves and organizes backup plans as profiles, each of which has its own set of options within the Preferences menu. For network backups, the application can automatically connect to network volumes by IP address, and can automatically disconnect when the backup is finished. Backup profiles can be scheduled to repeat daily or weekly.

Common backup sources, such as application settings, documents, and the user’s home folder, are listed in the application window, reducing simple backups to a three-click process. (Select a source, select a destination, and click the Backup Now button.) Although you can manually add the startup drive as a backup source, iBackup doesn’t support bootable backups.

Our most significant complaint is an occasional lag we suffered when browsing the contents of a folder in the application window. But on the whole, iBackup makes it simple to create and schedule common backup plans to local drives or a single network volume.

The bottom line. For simple backups to a single network volume, it’s hard to beat iBackup’s price.

COMPANY: Martin Jahn

CONTACT: www.grapefruit.ch/iBackup/

PRICE: Free for personal use, $25 for business use

REQUIREMENTS: Mac OS 10.3.9 or later

Free for personal use. Simple configuration options. Reliable performance. Universal binary.

Occasionally slow and unresponsive. No bootable backups