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From: dce@smsc.sony.com (David Elliott)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Backup utility that compresses
Message-ID: <1990Jan21.221803.11834@smsc.sony.com>
Date: 21 Jan 90 22:18:03 GMT
References: <1990Jan13.012318.28263@deimos.cis.ksu.edu>
Reply-To: dce@Sony.COM (David Elliott)
Distribution: na
Organization: Sony Microsystems Corp.
Lines: 59

In article <1990Jan13.012318.28263@deimos.cis.ksu.edu> jxf@phobos.cis.ksu.edu (Jerry Frain) writes:
>Does anyone out there know of a backup utility that *compresses* data as
>it writes it to [floppy] disk?

I've been procrastinating on this, but here's my opinion on FastBack II
from Fifth Generation.  A review of this product comparing it with
Retrospect can be found in the current MacWorld.

FBII is more than just a new version of FastBack, it's a less useful
version.

It does a pretty good job of compression.  I have done a number of
backups of my disk, ranging from 10MB incrementals to 130MB full
backups, and I find that on average it backs up a little over 1MB on an
800K floppy, and takes about 2 minutes per MB, which is longer than the
same 1MB without compression.  I'm still happy with this, since it
makes it possible to do backups while reading.

The behavior under MultiFinder is very good.  I can use many applications
while running FBII, though comm programs do suffer from the interruptions.
It even puts up an indication when it is waiting for a new floppy.

The things I don't like about FBII are:

	1. There's no way to archive a set of files as a set.  The backup
	   catalog can't really be placed on a floppy with the backup
	   set, so it's not convenient.  In fact, I still use the old
	   FastBack to archive sets of files.

	2. I've had to do two full restores of my disk, and it's a real
	   pain.  It's fast, but there's no way to save the state of
	   the entire disk, so files that have been deleted or moved
	   come back to haunt you.

	3. Error recovery is poor.  After doing a 100MB backup, I found
	   that my request to put a copy of the catalog on a floppy
	   wasn't handled well.  It didn't ask me to insert a floppy,
	   it just reported an error.  Then, when I told it to go on
	   anyway, it didn't mark any files as backed up, so my
	   incremental backups are all being done by restricting the
	   modification date range.

	4. The documentation is organized like the program, instead
	   of explaining tasks.  It's fine for a beginner or someone
	   starting to do a backup, but when I needed help trying to
	   do a full restore, it was like bobbing for apples in a
	   mud puddle.

(It would be nice if someone with Retrospect could tell me how it
fares in the above areas.)

Personally, I don't recommend FastBack II.  If they don't have an upgrade
that puts FBII in line with Retrospect by summer, I'll probably buy
myself a copy of Retrospect.
-- 
David Elliott
dce@smsc.sony.com | ...!{uunet,mips}!sonyusa!dce
(408)944-4073
"Never call a crazed psychotic a crazed psychotic."