Backup/Archive Software

[prepressguru]

Hey gang

We backup our server and job files to LTO tapes with a exactabye tape library system. Currently we are using BRU software. But we are not so happy with it. It's kinda flaky. I have thought of returned back to retrospect which we replaced with BRU when retrospect turning into a pile junk.

Anyone have any comments on the latest version of retrospect or some other software we should consider.

Thanks

p

 

[wonderings]

Cant help you, we are a small shop and I just backup the 2 macs individually with time machine and then do a clone of the drives once a month that I keep off site.

Didn't think people still used tapes, those have been around a while.

 

[chevalier]

Time machine to a networked drive/server.

 

[dabob]

Carbonite.com . . . off site and over the internet . . . a "private" use is about 60 bucks a year no limits on storage and they have a company plan . . . cheaper than drives and offsite . . . my timemachine backup for one machine is a mirrored raid 2TB and it filledup two days after they were installed . . . about ready to pay for carbonite out of my own pocket . . .

 

[PrePress Guru]

Ive had really good luck with retrospect 6 and have played with 8. We have a few LTO drives and a library that we have tested.
For real tape backups i couldn’t think of anything better for the mac. On the PC end, youre open to so much more and better options.
The retrospect PC version is more capable then the mac version. If you could dedicate a PC to it with the LTO drive, you’d be set.

If you want to stick with mac, then V8 would be worthwhile to check into. The only reason we haven’t gone that way is that it cant write to V6 catalog files.
It can read them only for restores and not writes. That would mean another 20+ tapes so until they fix it, we are staying with V6.

Retrospect is library and barcode savvy. Its fast and the new version has remote monitoring of sorts.
You install the server component and the control can be installed on other non server machines. It also has a client backup component.
It talks to an installed retrospect component on the client machines and backs them up via a backup script.

V8 is pretty neat once you have it setup and working. For V6 users its a change but once you get the hang of it, its worth it the pain.

 

[prepressguru]

Ive had really good luck with retrospect 6 and have played with 8. We have a few LTO drives and a library that we have tested.
For real tape backups i couldn’t think of anything better for the mac. On the PC end, youre open to so much more and better options.
The retrospect PC version is more capable then the mac version. If you could dedicate a PC to it with the LTO drive, you’d be set.

If you want to stick with mac, then V8 would be worthwhile to check into. The only reason we haven’t gone that way is that it cant write to V6 catalog files.
It can read them only for restores and not writes. That would mean another 20+ tapes so until they fix it, we are staying with V6.

Retrospect is library and barcode savvy. Its fast and the new version has remote monitoring of sorts.
You install the server component and the control can be installed on other non server machines. It also has a client backup component.
It talks to an installed retrospect component on the client machines and backs them up via a backup script.

V8 is pretty neat once you have it setup and working. For V6 users its a change but once you get the hang of it, its worth it the pain.

Hey Guru =)

Well I have been hunting around on the internet and basically the only options are the one's we have explored here. BRU and Retrospect.

Retro was ok for us until version 5. The problems introduced with version 6 were to difficult to workaround. So far reading about version 8 does not sound any better, and it still looks to be in beta even at patch 8.2. So I am not very optimisitc about it.

Time machine and internet backups are not suitable for daily production files consisting of multi gigabytes.

I do have to agree the PC does have a lot more software for this kind of use. Someone should really fill this void on the Mac platform.

Thanks all my search continues....

p

 

[PrePress Guru]

Hi P,
Retrospect 8 has felt like a beta for a while and in some cases it still is. The latest update has helped a lot and its much more usable now.
I would try it out and see how it goes. Some really like it and some don’t.
They want it to be perfect right out of the gate but its been so long since they developed for the mac, we have to cut them some slack.

I was testing it at a clients site and its stable and works well. Its definitely better then internet or time machine backups.
Those are fine for a 1 or 2 person shop but for real backups, tapes or D–>D–>Tape backups are still king.
With tapes, I can easily restore stuff from 10 years ago. My hard drives from that long ago are dead and mounted on the wall.

I can only imagine transferring 1tb over and over again through the net. Not only would it clog most pipes and bring everyone else in the office to their knees but restoring would be a very painful weekend.
Ive done smaller internet backups before and don’t plan to do it again! Even on a fast pipe, it takes forever.

The one thing i do is to backup the catalog files to the net, I also backup our order system and other important config files.
They’re small and transfer fast. That way if the server crashes, all of our must have files are safe and in a worst case scenario, i can be back up in an hour or so.
Ive had to do that a few times this year due to a round of bad hard drives.

One day the mac version will catch up with the PC version. On the PC side you also have veritas backup exec which is good but expensive.
Then you can get into the enterprise stuff but thats big money. The PC version of retrospect is probably the best bang for the buck.

Good luck!

 

[WI-Flexo]

You might want to look at the Data Robotics Drobo products. We abandoned our tape backups for multiple Drobo devices. They protect against multiple drive failures and they have built in backup software. More difficult to backup multiple versions of files like with Retrospect but without a lot of the headaches of Retrospect. And the other big thing is if we need a file we dont have to wait for Retrospect to search through 3 or 4 tapes for an hour to get the file.

 

[prepressguru]

Thanks for the tip about Drobo. I have been a little skeptical about HD as a final storage medium. This is printing after all and Murphy's law comes into play way to often and add computer issues on top of it. Tape has been good to us since it is non volatile where as HDs are constantly spinning eating up their life extentately. I will have to say the Drobo does look like a very compelling product to consider.

Thanks

p

 

[[email protected]]

Hey gang
We backup our se rver and job files to LTO tapes with a exactabye tape library system. Currently we are using BRU software. But we are not so happy with it. It's kinda flaky. I have thought of returned back to retrospect which we replaced with BRU when retrospect turning into a pile junk. Anyone have any comments on the latest version of retrospect or some other software we should consider. Thanks. p

Hello PrePressGuru,
we have been using Dantz Retrospect since version 3.0 on System 7.1 using DDS tapes all the way through to EMC Retrospect Server 6.1 using AIT.

We also need to upgrade both hardware & software and were wondering where we go from here. All mac only, currently Tiger on G5. Funds extremely limited due to depth of recession in UK.

 

[PrePress Guru]

Hello PrePressGuru,
we have been using Dantz Retrospect since version 3.0 on System 7.1 using DDS tapes all the way through to EMC Retrospect Server 6.1 using AIT.

We also need to upgrade both hardware & software and were wondering where we go from here. All mac only, currently Tiger on G5. Funds extremely limited due to depth of recession in UK.

Hi,
I would still recommend Retrospect either V6 which does work well even on 10.5 or V8 which now works on a G4 or G5.
The new version does work and its worth considering and testing. The new features are great but im holding off until they can write to my V6 catalogs.
I don’t want to go through another 10+ tapes to backup my server but thats the only reason im holding out.

As to hardware, im partial to LTO tapes and loaders. They are much sturdier then DAT or AIT tapes.
Good deals can be had on ebay if cost is an issue. Ive bought a number of use drives from ebay and ive been very happy.
I bought the Dell branded external LTO SCSI drives, they have been very good. The ones i have are rebranded HP Ultrium drives.
If you can, I would go for LTO 2, 3 or if you can afford it 4. For macs, you need an external drive and a scsi card.
You can probably reuse the scsi card from the AIT drive. You can even get slightly used tapes from ebay.
Most of them come from companies that archive once and after a few years sell the tapes.
Ive bought them in packs of 10, 20 or 30 for $100-150 or so. The ones i have bought are not overused or abused but its a small calculated risk.
So far i haven’t had a bad tape yet and ive been able to restore data without any issues. Even so the new LTO tapes are not that expensive at all.

Hope that helps, goo luck!
Ian