backup

[Charles Martin]

> From: Matthew Guemple <mo.og at verizon.net>
>
> I think you have a point Charles. Is there consensus about a good
> cloning program?

Well, there's always setting up a RAID, which of course mirrors drive 1 
onto drive 2 on a continuous basis.

Assuming you're not going that route, then it seems like Carbon Copy 
Cloner from bombich.com is a popular favourite, though I suspect that's 
largely because of the price (donationware, suggested donation $5). It 
is great for making bootable backups to secondary hard drives, and can 
even be used to make non-bootable backups to CD-R/RWs (sort of). Mike 
Bombich also has some really good info on his site regarding the 
methods he uses for cloning, and discussion the CLI tools like psych, 
ditto and so on.

My pals at econ technologies offer a program called ChronoSync ($20). 
This is not really for full hard-drive backups or for creating bootable 
disks, it is for synchronising stuff between two machines (for example 
a desktop and a laptop) with the minimum amount of fuss possible. You 
can check that out at econtechnologies.com.

There are also other "synch" programs like ExecutiveSync and Intego 
Personal Backup.

I've heard mixed reviews for Tri-Edre's "Tri-Backup" program ($50).

Finally, some new company in France is offering a product called 
Clone'X ($50). Don't know anything about it.

_Chas_

Lee Gomes of the Wall Street Journal, 24-Jan-03 , commenting on Apple's 
growing arsenal of hardware, OS and software that is clearly superior 
to anything in the Windows world: "It's like someone forgot to send 
them the Resistance is Futile memo."