Software Review - Smart Backup
Ever since I bought my first Mac earlier in the year I’ve been searching for a nice backup solution. On my Windows machines I use SyncBack SE from 2BrightSparks. I love the application and nothing I found for Mac has come close. That is until I came across Smart Backup from Free Ride Coding.
Smart Backup is simple to use and easy to setup. It works exactly like you would expect - here are the files/folders I want to backup and I want you to place the backup here. It truly is that simple. The application also supports scheduled backups.
Test Scenario
As part of writing this post I ran a backup of my own. I use a Macbook 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 1GB RAM running Mac OS X (10.4.10). My backup consists of my whole home directory - musics, videos, documents, downloads, etc. This totals 46.12 GB or 73,278 files.
The destination is a Western Digital MyBook external hard drive. The hard drive is connected to the computer using USB 2.0.
While running the backup I still used my computer but not for anything too intensive. I did not look at videos, I didn’t try encoding anything or listening to music. Just normal internet browsing. Although most people will choose to perform the backup during off hours, I wanted to show the backup speed while the computer was in use.
Summary
In 3hrs, 55min, SmartBackup backed-up 46.12 GB of data.
Features I Love
- Simple to use
- Scheduled Backups.
Things I Hate
- I’ve run into “beachball” issues.
- The trial screen forces you to wait 20 seconds each time you load the application.
Purchase Information
Smart Backup costs $21.00 US (15 EUR) and can be purchased directly from FreeRideCoding.
Screenshots
Smart Backup - Registration/Trial Screen
Smart Backup - Main Screen
Smart Backup - Backup Screen
