Mac OS X Backup Tools That Every Apple User Needs

by P. J. Connolly

Baked into Apple’s Mac OS X, Time Machine offers a unique interface and the ability to roll back the system state by days or weeks at the click of a mouse.http://labs.eweek.com/product/time-machine/

It’s simple and free, and it’s the tool of choice in the eWEEK Labs for cloning Mac OS X disk images.http://labs.eweek.com/product/carbon-copy-cloner-3-3/

If you’re looking for an inexpensive way to back up Mac OS X systems across a network, D??«j??í Vu lets you try before you buy.http://labs.eweek.com/product/deja-vu/

Most backup tools replace Mac OS X Time Machine, but SuperDuper actually complements Time Machine and allows the Time Machine device to host a bootable volume as well as a Time Machine volume.http://labs.eweek.com/product/superduper-2-6-2/

Retrospect has been the gold standard for Mac system backup for years, and under EMC’s ownership it received a major technology overhaul; it remains to be seen how the product fares under its new owners.http://labs.eweek.com/product/roxio-retrospect/

Time Navigator offers backup and restore features for a wide range of platforms, and modules that permit direct backup to a SAN.http://labs.eweek.com/product/atempo-time-navigator/

BRU runs on a wide range of platforms, including IRIX, Solaris and others; the same backup format is used in all BRU products on all supported platforms.http://labs.eweek.com/product/bru-server-2-0-enterprise-edition/

NetVault’s BakBone lineup includes tools for archiving and recovery to bare metal, as well as the usual run of disk- and tape-based methods.http://labs.eweek.com/product/bakbone-netvault-backup/

IBM Tivoli Storage Manager supports a vast range of applications, platforms and scenarios, and focuses on high-efficiency methods that reduce the impact of backup operations on production systems.http://labs.eweek.com/product/ibm-tivoli-storage-manager-6/

PresStore allows administrators to clone backups for an extra layer of off-site data storage; backups that are interrupted can be used as part of a restore process.http://labs.eweek.com/product/archiware-presstore-4/

Amanda’s backup tools go beyond disk and tape, and now support backup to Amazon’s S3 cloud.http://labs.eweek.com/product/amanda-enterprise-3-1/