Looking for a good backup utility

[drachillix]

As many of you know, I run a small PC repair shop. I am looking into expanding my capabilities in the backup arena. I was curious what some of the more backup saavy dopers could reccomend as far as software packages especially ones compatible with an on site visit or if feasible capable of backing up across a network or possibly even to a separate location via internet. Prefer something less than $300 or so. Ease of use is secondary to functionality and good disaster recovery handling.

Any thoughts the dopers might be able to share.

[Absolute]

EMC Retrospect (used to be made by Dantz, but they were bought out I guess) is capable, unobtrusive, reliable software. I use it on all machines I’m responsible for.

[peri]

We used NovaBACKUP workstation edition (now Pro Edition) from NovaStor at the office. It’s inexpensive and can handle small networks. I would occassionally forget the backup drive at home and could do the job over the net. The disaster recovery function saved me hours of reinstalling the one time I had to use it. I liked it so much I bought it for home.

[drachillix]

@peri

We used NovaBACKUP workstation edition (now Pro Edition) from NovaStor at the office. It’s inexpensive and can handle small networks. I would occassionally forget the backup drive at home and could do the job over the net. The disaster recovery function saved me hours of reinstalling the one time I had to use it. I liked it so much I bought it for home.

Ok this sounds cool, looked at the site. quick Q were you able to backup to a drive at home across the internet rather than using their online backup services? This sounds like a good method for me to be able to run backups, just log into customer X, run backup, customer Y, run backup, or can the remote features access my storage just like they access the web service they provide.

[peri]

@drachillix

Ok this sounds cool, looked at the site. quick Q were you able to backup to a drive at home across the internet rather than using their online backup services? This sounds like a good method for me to be able to run backups, just log into customer X, run backup, customer Y, run backup, or can the remote features access my storage just like they access the web service they provide.

They didn’t have the online backup feature when I used it. I just connected to my office machine while at home. The backup drive I used was a Kanguru Disk with internal docking port. It was seen as a fixed disk so write and read times were only dependent on my connection.

The reps were extremely helpful when I talked to them before buying this. They should be able to answer more detailed questions for you. I have an older version here, so whether it’s as easy to use in the current version I could’t say.