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13 Great Free Backup Programs for Windows, Mac, and Linux
Making sure you've got a reliable backup solution is a must for any user - and more so for an administrator. Why? Well, mostly because your users probably aren't very good at remembering to back up their own files. And so it falls to you to provide the right software for the job!
Backup software is a difficult category to tackle nowadays as the distinction between backup and synchronization apps has become a little blurred. Prices being what they are, my personal choice is to use external or removable hard drives for my backup chores - my current favorites are Bonkey and Cobian.
To make sure you've got plenty of options to choose from, I've split this list into three different categories so that you can choose from the options that are best suited to your environment.
Integrated Burning
Comodo Backup [win]
They do make than a great firewall. Comodo Backup is an excellent free solution. It has extremely flexible scheduling and notification options, supports FTP destinations, can burn multisession DVDs, and has a synchronization mode for quick realtime backups.
DFIncBackup [win]
As is the case with most backup applications, there's a free and paid version. The free one still handles CD/DVD backups, and it also does incremental .zip jobs as well - only backing up files that have changed or weren't present in your previous job.
SE Backup [win]
Sports a very simple interface, does CD and DVD burning and compression, and is available as a portable application. Scheduling isn't built in, but it supports command line launching with parameters which works very well with Windows' own Task Scheduler.
File Copy
Abakt [win]
Though it's no longer developed, Abakt is still a great choice. It's got a great file filtering system, supports 7zip and zip compression, file splitting, password protection, and does differential and incremental backups.
Areca [win]
Free, open source, and wicked powerful. Areca is loaded with features: compression, encryption, simulation, merging, transaction commit/rollback, filtering, and more. It's command line interface provides excellent automation options and Areca also supports scripting of post-job actions.
Bonkey [win] [mac]
The "Backup Monkey." If I was giving points for best mascot, this one would be a clear winner.
Bonkey runs on both Windows and Mac, and has a lot of great features. It supports email, FTP, and Amazon S3, compression, encryption, scheduling, and synchronization. It'll even back up MS SQL server databases.
Cobian Backup [win]
Apart from being a great application, Cobian's developer has an excellent tutorial online to help you get started. Though it is no longer open source, you may still download the last version that was (v8). There's also a portable version.
One of my favorite features of Cobian is its ability to handle pre- and post- job events. I use it to issue net stop and net start commands to ensure safe backups of our horrible, horrible point-of-sale system. Cobian also has the ability to control and monitor all its instances on your network from your own workstation.
JaBack [win] [mac]
Allows backup to FTP and email (as well as any drive on your computer or network), and sports a flexible scheduler. It also has a file monitor function that will perform backup operations whenever changes are detected.
Mathusalem [mac]
Offers FTP/SFTP, Amazon S3, WebDav, and SMB support for backups on OSX. Mathusalem can compress to zip and dmg, will resume failed uploads, and supports scheduling and command line launching. It's also open source.
Server-Based
Bacula [win] [mac] [linux]
Bacula is an enterprise grade network backup solution that runs on just about every platform imagineable. It's a much more complex system than the other options I've mentioned, but is extremely powerful and well-suited to a medium or large scale network.
BackupPC [win] [linux]
A Linux-based, client-free enterprise solution for backing up Windows and Linux machines. BackupPC uses SMB, tar, and rsync to extract backup data from client computers. It 's got a powerful web-based interface for administrators and users, and will even email reminders to users that have been remiss in performing backups.
It's a very flexible solution, and is open source.
NasBackup [win] [linux]
Uses a simple Windows GUI and rsync to perform backups from client machines to a central server. It'll do incremental backups, scheduling, compression, encryption, and the server offers useful per-client controls like limiting the number of versions to store and expiration dates. It also provides daily summaries via email.
Restore [win] [mac] [linux]
The self-proclaimed "reason backup was invented." It's definitely a great product, and full of terrific features. Its web interface is very easy to understand and use - and makes it easy for the mobile admin to monitor and control Restore from anywhere.
Restore supports FTP, WebDav, SSH/SFTP, and multiple revisions. It also provides powerful admin tools, making it easy to create and control users, groups, jobs, and scheduling.
Did I miss your favorite app? Share it with us...Admins everywhere will thank you!
(thanks to Nate R. for requesting this roundup...keep 'em coming!)
Comments
41
Subscribe to commentsNateOct 12th 2008 1:09PM
SuperDuper is all you need on a mac.
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/
JustinOct 13th 2008 6:51AM
SuperDuper, while awesome, is not free. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this list was about FREE backup solutions.
Silly readers :P
PeterOct 13th 2008 10:40PM
The free and limited version of SuperDuper requires that you run a full new copy each time you make a backup, which is quite cumbersome when doing a backup of an 80Gb drive where only a few hundreds megs where changed since the last update.
JoshOct 12th 2008 1:41PM
A backup article that doesn't include TimeMachine? Or SuperDuper? Nice.
Lee MathewsOct 12th 2008 1:45PM
Josh, I think I left out a lot more than just those two. There are scads of apps for all three platforms, and I'm only one guy.
Besides, is there a Mac use that doesn't know about TimeMachine already?
bill sneboldOct 12th 2008 3:34PM
I make a distinction between backup and archiving. Backups are done to safeguard your data against harddrive failure. Archives are done when you want to remove data from your drive but still keep a copy for possible retrieval at a later date.
On the Mac, I use Time Machine for backup and I think it's the bear hands down. The only thing of doesn't do is remote backups.
Justin BrownOct 12th 2008 3:58PM
what about: SyncBackSE, Synkron, SuperDuper, Time Machine?
TheClassicOct 12th 2008 6:16PM
Areca seems very powerful, however when I tried using it configured to backup to an ftp server I found that any network interupption causes the backup to fail and START over (as opposed to resuming). I was unable to get any support from the projects forums, and it seems like the project is basically dead. Very unfortunate.
MartynOct 12th 2008 6:27PM
sudo apt-get install pybackpack for Linux.... combine it with a dropbox account! Bulletproof IMHO
MysteriusOct 12th 2008 6:33PM
I prefer the online backup solution Mozy, available for Windows and Mac. (My experience is with the Windows version.)
They offer 2 gigabytes free, plus another 256 megabytes for new members who sign up through a referrer link (like mine's above), and 256 megabytes for members who sign up new members.
What I like about Mozy Backup is how it runs in the background after I've set it up without bothering me. I've set it to use low resources when backing up, and to only backup when I'm not using my laptop.
The 2.25 gigabytes is enough for me to backup all my documents and bookmarks/settings, but you can sign up for their unlimited service for $4.95/month if you wish.
To restore files, you can either download them from the web site, have Mozy ship a DVD of the files by FedEx overnight, use the program's client, use Mozy's right-click integration into Windows Explorer, or use Mozy's virtual drive. I've only restored a few files I've accidentally deleted, so I don't know how well it works for large volumes of data, but it works well from what I've heard.
2.25 GB referral link: https://mozy.com/?ref=SAXV67
IceDancerOct 16th 2008 12:08AM
What Mozy doesn't tell you is that they don't backup all file types. I relied on Mozy and after a crach, I discovered that they don't backup Lotus 123, FrontPage, or GEDcom. Ouch. I am now in the market for something more comprehensive. On the plus side, their interface is userfriendly.
StuBeeOct 12th 2008 7:07PM
FYI: Just because Cobian Backup is no longer opensource, doesn't mean the newest version still isn't free. (It is)
LunarcloudOct 12th 2008 9:06PM
What about keep?
http://jr.falleri.free.fr/keep/wiki/Home
Leandro ArdissoneOct 12th 2008 7:24PM
Also DropBox is a good alternative for small amounts of data (2gb free version and 50gb paid).
erikuOct 12th 2008 7:49PM
SyncToys 2.0 for vista. Free, simple file copy/echo/sync.
creates a partnership between two folders or drives. just one click and they mirror like rsync.
TheClassicOct 12th 2008 7:53PM
I've been using a paid Mozy subscription to backup my stuff until I have time to figure out and setup the backup solution I want. One of the things I'm backing up is 20 GB (and growing) of family photos. The problem with Mozy is that if my hard drive does die, it would take a long time to restore all of my data, or a lot of money to have it mailed to me (better than losing my data). Ideally, I'd like to backup locally and mirror remotely. That way the only reason I would need to restore from the remote source would be theft of both my PC and backup server, fire, etc.
Steve GOct 13th 2008 7:14AM
That's exactly what I do. Back the family machines up to a 'server'; backup the server both to a NAS at the other end of the house and to Mozy.
MrOssOct 12th 2008 8:09PM
What Happened.... You missed one of the absolute best.
http://mondorescue.org
Mondo cannot be beat when it comes to bare metal recovery of your failed linux server.
KJWOct 12th 2008 8:32PM
My vote goes to carbon copy cloner for OSX ( http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html )
Lee MathewsOct 12th 2008 8:33PM
For the record, cloning apps were left out on purpose. If you check my past posts, you'll note that I'm a huge PING supporter.
Big cloning roundup coming soon(ish)!