backups
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Media Catalog 4.0 faster, supports Quick Look
People who are religious about backups, especially those who use removable media like CDs or DVDs as backup media, often find themselves in a world of hurt when they try to find individual files on a pile of discs. It's worse than finding the proverbial needle in a haystack!Developer Robert Kuilman released version 4.0 of his Media Catalog application today (July 7, 2008). Media Catalog makes quick work of cataloguing all of those archive CDs, DVDs, and external hard drives. While test-drivng Media Catalog, I popped in a few old backup CDs. The application catalogued hundreds of files in a few seconds, then popped the CDs out. You can also drag-and-drop volumes onto the application to add them to the catalog. Searching is extremely fast, and you can use Quick Look to preview documents as long as the original media is mounted.Kuilman rewrote his indexing code and speed has improved up to 770% over version 3.9. You can try out Media Catalog 4.0 for free (limited to five media), or purchase it for $24.95.
Time Machine plays nice with USB HDDs on Time Capsule
Well, would you look at that. It seems as if Time Machine is all buddy-buddy with externally connected HDDs on Time Capsule after all. If you'll recall, many Apple users were miffed (to put it gently) by the disappearance of said feature from vanilla AirPort Extreme Base Stations just before Leopard hit the streets, but according to a hands-on report over at Macworld, "you can perform Time Machine backups to drives attached to the Time Capsule via USB." Granted, it wasn't exactly speedy or anything, but at least the functionality is tucked away in there -- hit up the read link if you're still spinning in disbelief.[Via TUAW]
More on iPhone Backups
Earlier today, by request, I posted about a way to restore your notes.db file after inadvertantly deleting it via a firmware upgrade. As several readers have pointed out, it's a lot easier to perform a full backup before the restore than trying to backtrack afterwards. Here's a quick forcing back-up how-to for the Mac.
Backup solutions shootout
The folks at MacZealots have posted an article that compares several Mac backup solutions, including SuperDuper! (my personal favorite), Synk Backup, Apple's Backup, iBackup and Crashplan, as well as some speculation on Time Machine.In the end, SuperDuper! and Crashplan came out on top as the bookends of a comprehensive plan: SuperDuper! for a full backup to an external drive, and Crashplan for off-site storage of mission-critical files. This is pretty much what I do, though I hadn't heard of Crashplan until I wrote this post!The important thing here - and we know you've all heard this a million times - is this: Back up your stuff!
Wiinja modchip enables Wii / GameCube backups to function
We've seen plenty of Wii hacks since its November release, and we've even seen a completely uninspiring "hack" to run backup discs, but this time, we're thinking it's for real. The Wiinja modchip is on the loose, and apparently it requires soldering to the Wii innards in order to function, but it purportedly allows for Wii and GameCube backups to be played back on the console. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot of information beyond that, and there's just a single photo to instruct forthcoming owners how to correctly attach it, but if there's one thing that helps its case, it's the video. So go on, click on through for the YouTube demonstration, and start saving up those €40 ($52) it'll run you when this hits "commercialization."[Via Engadget Spanish]
Versomatic uber backup, archive and on-the-fly file versioning utility
I'm looking forward to Leopard's Time Machine, but Versomatic - at least based on the description - is going to truly rock my world. It's not the first app to offer this kind of versioning and archiving, but it sounds better than those that have come before.Versomatic is a new utility from Acertant which runs as a background service, tracking changes to your files over time. It needs no additional hardware and is a great complement to your existing backup strategy. Once installed it tracks changes, and preemptively archives a copy of a file you're about to edit prior to your modifying the file. You can tell it which file types to track and which to ignore - or set it to ignore entire directories if you wish. Files are stored in their native format and you can specify how much hard drive space is available for version stores and how many revisions to keep track of. Prior revisions are accessible from a contextual menu or from the Version Manager in your menubar. The edit trail and export features can also be used to prove authorship, copyright, and as part of any complete Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPPA compliance strategy, which many Enterprise users will appreciate.I just tried the newly available Version 1.0 for Mac and the install and initial preference setting was a breeze, despite requiring me to restart. I tested it out on a few Word docs and text files and it works as advertised so far. Of course only time will tell how well it really works and whether it affects performance in any way, but so far I like what I see.Versomatic can be download now and has a 30-day free trial. Early Birds can purchase it for $39.99 (20% off the regular price) and volume discounts are available. It's Universal Binary, but does require Mac OS X 10.4 or newer. Take it for a spin and let us know what you think of it!
Maxtor's Shared Storage Plus NAS device reviewed
Reg Hardware seems to agree with our own astute pundit Ross Rubin that Maxtor's Shared Storage Plus Network Attached Storage device is a winner as a solid backup solution while doing double-duty as a capacious media server. Testing the 500GB version of the SSP, El Reg found the device easy to setup and share among several users, with software that provides a simple way to set up incremental backups, network printing, or media streaming to compatible uPnP devices. There do seem to be a few downsides here, most notably the irritating fan whine and skimpy one year warranty, and less importantly, the fact that it tags the icons of folders selected for backup with a little tick mark. If tick marks and fan noise don't bother you, though, the $465-as-tested SSP sounds like a pretty good way to backup data for small offices and homes with multiple computers, while giving you a little extra functionality to boot
