The software of this review include:
- AceBackup 3
- Roxio BackOn Track
- Backup Maker
- Toucan
AceBackup 3
With AceBackup, you start the process by creating a new project. The default setting is to backup all files in the AceBackup proprietary format (which means that if you want to do a restore, you need to have AceBackup in order to restore your data). Normally backup software archive data in .zip files, which is a universal compression format. If you do not want to use the proprietary format, you can backup your files "As is", which creates a mirror image of the files you want to save at the destination location.
Next, instead of offering full and partial backup options, AceBackup will, upon the name of any two files being the same, either update the older file, create a new file, or overwrite the older file. One of the disadvantages of this is that multiple versions of a file cannot exist. Other backup software, as mentioned earlier, offer full and partial backups. Full backups, as the name implies, executes a complete backup of all the selected files. A partial backup only backs up that which was changed since the last full backup. The partial backups can be stored as separate .zip files available until the next full backup, allowing several versions of the same file to exist.
AceBackup also has a filter to exclude or include only specific file types, perform an operation (such as shutdown or restart the computer) before or after the backup executes, and schedule when the backup should be performed.
One of the drawbacks is that you have to add directories or files to the project one by one. The user interface is broken in to two main sections. The upper section shows what is available on the local system. On the left, there is the typical explorer file tree, and on the right a view of the contents of the selected folder. The selected folder (only one allowed) and its subdirectories will be added to the backup project upon creation. The will then appear in the lower section, which has a similar explorer file tree showing that backed-up directories and a window into the contents.
In order to add more files or folders to the project, one must click on "backup" and add a file or folder to the project. The backup will then take place and you can repeat the process to add more things to the project.
Roxio BackOn Track
This consists of a Backup Guide, along with options to restore or back up files. The Backup Guide simply has an icon for the backup and restore links already available in the sidebar. Not helpful.
The backup option allows you to pick the folder that you want to back up, a particular type of file to back up, and has a primitive scheduling feature. What I did was select a folder to back up, backed it up, then selected another folder to back up.
In Roxio's backup scheme, it creates a folder structure similar to the one on the local drive that is being backed up. If any part of this folder structure overlaps upon backing up a second directory, then you will either have to delete the old backup or discontinue the new one. I decided to uninstall Roxio BackOn Track instead.
Backup Maker
Backup Maker is an excellent program. It can handle big and small projects, so that you can backup everything at the same time, or split up the backup into smaller parts so that only the most highly used directories are backed up on a frequent basis. Furthermore, it has a plethera of backup options (more in the expert mode), so that you can set filters, assign tasks before and after backups, perform a full, partial, or mixed backup, and archive bit control (it can clear, set, or leave unchanged the archive bit after a file is backed up, thus dictating how it will be viewed during partial and full backups).
The folder and file selection process is also quite superb. An explorer menu appears, allowing you to sift through the contents of your computer and put a check by any directory that you want backed up. Any number of directories can be selected from the outset.
The downside, and what prevents me from keeping Backup Maker, is that I am looking for a mirror backup and Backup Maker does not have that option. Instead, it makes a .zip file of all the backed up archives.
Toucan
Toucan is downright awesome from a nerd's perspective. It has command line input and the ability to write backup and synchronization scripts to fully customize and optimize your backing-up experience. What's more, it is portable, so you can stick it on your thumb drive and use the synchronize feature to move large amounts of files back and forth.
But I am getting ahead of myself... Toucan has both a Sync feature and a Backup feature. Sync has the options to copy, mirror, equalize, move, or clean. "Copy" copies things from the source to the destination while "mirror" copies to or updates the destination folder. "Move", meanwhile, moves the selected files from the source to the destination. I am not entirely sure what "clean" and "equalize" do, but they increase the number of options from 3 to 5, which is pretty sweet.
Under the Backup tab, one can perform a complete backup, update the current backup .zip file, or a differential backup. Also there is the option to restore the selected backup. Backed up archives can be saved as a Zip, 7-zip, or gzip file, the level of compression can be varied, and password protection and encryption can be selected.
Toucan also gives you the option to secure your files. In the "Secure" tab, you can select the files and folders you want encrypted (or decrypted). Additionally, you can set rules and define variables to refine your backup and synchronization needs.
The directory and file selection process is quite simple and visually satisfying. While sync-ing, there is a window pane on the left (source) side with a browse button to search for a given folder to synchronize. Adjacent to this window is a button to expand all folders and subfolders to see the contents as well as a button to add a variable to refine selected contents. The same is true for the right (destination) side.
For backing up and securing, the "expand folders" button is replaced by a add directory button. This way, you can add as many folders to the backup or secure project as you want. All types of projects are savable for future use.
There is no scheduling feature, but I am sure that a script could be written to have Toucan perform scheduled backups.... And this brings me to the drawback of Toucan; documentation is hard to come by, so it would take a while (presumably) to use it to its full potential.
One thing that you must be careful about is that Toucan will show every file on your computer, including system files, registry files, hidden files, etc. Take care not to delete or move any critical files.
Conclusions
For what I need, Toucan is the clear winner. I want to be able to copy or move my music and pictures onto an external drive to free space on my active drive. I also want to mirror my documents onto the external drive. These two things are straightforward processes in Toucan.
On the otherhand, if I were only interested in making a backup of my information, then BackUp Maker would also be a good choice.
A Few Side Notes
As I was monkeying with Toucan, I noticed that it had a directory called "Recycle Bin" on my external drive. This prompted a little investigating and I found a great forum thread that explains how the Recycle Bin works. Basically, the Recycle Bin on the primary machine manages deletions on all partitions and drives. Sometimes, however, the Recycle Bin on the external drive can become disconnected. If you do not realize this, that space on the external drive will be unaccessible and unusable. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to cure the matter.
