Martin Jahn iBackup

Johnathon Williams — Wed, 14 May 2008 15:23:21 -0500

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

Propoganda Productions Déjà Vu

Johnathon Williams — Tue, 13 May 2008 11:02:14 -0500

Déjà Vu lists all saved backup plans in its pane inside System Preferences.

Déjà Vu stands out as the most effortless and invisible application that we tested, offering an intuitive interface that collects all of the features most essential for network backups.

The app installs as a pane inside System Preferences. Saved backup plans are listed in the preference pane’s main window, with everything else tucked behind the Options button. Almost everything about the interface makes sense.
The feature list, too, is just right. Selecting a startup drive as a source creates a bootable clone of the drive, and an option called SafetyNet archives previous versions of files when they’re deleted or changed on the source drive. For scheduled backups, the application can automatically mount a network volume—but just one.

Regular use generated only a few minor complaints. Backing up to a network volume requires you to check the option for Remote Backup, but we didn’t know that until our first backup attempt failed. Why shouldn’t the application check the box automatically when a network volume is detected? Automatic mounting of a network volume is great, but unlike ChronoSync, Déjà Vu asks you to enter the volume’s network address, which is sure to confuse less savvy users. And though Déjà Vu is capable of creating a bootable clone of a Mac’s startup drive, the application itself doesn’t make that clear.

The bottom line. Despite a few minor rough spots, Déjà Vu offers the greatest flexibility while demanding the least amount of thought.

COMPANY: Propoganda Productions

CONTACT: www.propagandaprod.com

PRICE: $24.95

REQUIREMENTS: Mac OS 10.4 or later

Clean interface. Automatically mounts targeted network volumes. Supports bootable backups.

A few options could be better explained.

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Martin Jahn iBackup

Propoganda Productions Déjà Vu