I was shocked when I read Jonathan ‘Wolf’ Rentzsch’s scathing criticism of Apple’s Backup.app application available to .Mac users. Backup.app is a nice, little program that allows non-technical users a clean interface for backing up relatively small file sets. Backup.app automatically performs full backups if none exist in the destination and incremental backups when a full backup is already present.
I was shocked until I read Jonathan’s summary again: Bottom-line, on top: Don’t use Backup 3. Use SuperDuper or Retrospect. Jonathan, and the horror stories to which he links, were trying to use Backup.app as a replacement for disk backup solutions. One of the stories is from a dismayed user who was having difficulty using Backup.app to recover his entire hard drive. I just shook my head in bewilderment.
From the moment I first opened Backup.app, it was obvious to me that the application is a file backup solution. I call it “my mother’s backup solution”: it’s a convenience for people who don’t want to lose all of their documents if the worst should befall their computers. It archives sets of files—and relatively small ones, at that. The default file sets are iLife files, personal data (Address Book, iCal, Stickies, and keychains), and iTunes purchases (opposed to all iTunes music). Creating custom backup sets is pretty painless and the user can choose from a quick list of non-scary items like “Excel Documents” and “Mail Messages and Settings” instead of drilling to folders.
Recognizing the intended use of Backup.app for frequent backup of small-ish file sets, I use it to backup my personal settings daily to iDisk, and my mail and documents daily to my iPod and weekly to DVDs. I also use it for monthly backup of my iTunes purchases monthly to DVD—just in case. Mostly, I use it as a safety net for the time in between my monthly backups with SuperDuper!.
(I only backup monthly with SuperDuper! because I use a laptop and its a total hassle to hook up the external 3.5″ Firewire drive all the way over there in the other room. I’m only half kidding—backups have to be convenient and unobtrusive for end users to employ them with any regularity.)
So, my bottom line is: Use Backup.app. It’s an excellent compliment to SuperDuper!
