
#Amazon memeo instant backup software#
If you’d like to learn more about our top picks as well as other options, you can find links below to all of our backup software reviews. We also test the USB boot drives created by the programs. We then mount the images and test their integrity via the program’s restore functions. This is largely to test reliability and hardware compatibility, but we time two: an approximately 115GB system image (two partitions), and a roughly 50GB image created from a set of smaller files and folders. We run each program through the various types of backups it’s capable of. However, if you’re backing up multiple machines or to multiple destinations, or dealing with very large data sets, speed is a consideration. Performance: Most backups proceed in the background or during dead time, so performance isn’t a huge issue in the consumer space. Use continuous backup for rapidly changing data sets where transfer rates are too slow, or computing power is too precious for real-time backup. Instead, scheduling should be used.Ĭontinuous backup: In this case, ‘continuous’ simply means backing up on a tight schedule, generally every 5 to 15 minutes, instead of every day or weekly. For less volatile data sets, the payoff doesn’t compensate for the drain on system resources. It’s also called mirroring and is handy for keeping an immediately available copy of rapidly changing data sets. Real time: Real-time backup means that files are backed up whenever they change, usually upon creation or save. FTP can be used for offsite, while SMB (Windows and most OS’s) and AFP (Apple) are good for other PCs or NAS on your local network. Backup to Dropbox and the like is a nice feature to have.įTP and SMB/AFP: Backing up to other computers or NAS boxes on your network or in remote locations (say, your parent’s house) is another way of physically safeguarding your data with an offsite, or at least physically discrete copy. Online storage services are a great way to maintain an offsite copy of your data. Online support: An offsite copy of your data is a hedge against physical disasters such as flood, fire, and power surges. If you’re worried about optical media’s reliability, M-Disc claims its discs are reliable for a thousand years, claims that are backed up by Department of Defense testing.
#Amazon memeo instant backup archive#
Optical support: Every backup program supports hard drives, but as obsolescent as they may seem, DVDs and Blu-Ray discs are great archive media. The better software will retain and cull older backups according to criteria you establish. Any backup program you use should allow you to retain several previous backups, or with file backup, previous versions of the file. Versioning: If you’re overwriting previous files, that’s not backup, it’s one-way syncing or mirroring. Any backup program worth its salt allows you to schedule backups. Scheduling: If you’re going to back up effectively, you need to do it on a regular basis. Some will also create a restore partition on your hard drive, which can be used instead if the hard drive is still operational. Any backup program should be able to create a bootable optical disc or USB thumb drive. Boot media: Should your system crash completely, you need an alternate way to boot and run the recovery software.
