SmartBackup 4.2 Is Now Free
SmartBackup uses its own custom sync engine which offers several performance advantages over other utilities. SmartBackup will immediately start copying data while it in parallel still analyses what has changed. SmartBackup’s sync engine then uses multiple threads that copy files in parallel, squeezing the fastest possible performance out of your storage. This makes it significantly faster that other utilities when cloning SSDs or syncing between fast RAID or SAN storage.
It supports bootable clones and archiving deleted files, and it claims to pass all the Backup Bouncer tests.
More about the threading:
- If a single “spinning” harddisk is involved as a source or destination 2 copy threads will be fastest.
- If source and destination are SSD/Flash based, or a RAID, 4 copy threads will give you optimum performance.
- If you use a network backup, it depends on your setup and the type of data. Somewhere between 2-4 threads will be fastest.
- On fast Xsan/Stornext volumes, choose the number of stripe groups available as the number of threads.
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Seems like a neat, little, Mac backup app. Did I miss a link explaining why the app is now freeware? I'm not complaining, just curious.
SmartBackup was first released in 2007 and until 2017 it was available as a commercial product. It was also available in the early Mac App Store while this was still possible, but then had to be removed because of the limitations of the sandbox. In particular these changes to the Mac App Store and all the time that was wasted trying to make it work there (only to have to remove it in the end) were extremely frustrating and disappointing. I also found it increasingly difficult to market the App outside of the store. Eventually I was ready to let go and discontinue the App when I realised that I don’t really like any of the alternatives that are available. Given that I had already done all this work, and would still maintain it for my own use, I decided to try something new: Make one of the things I have created available for free, and in the process provide a completely free App to create (and maintain) a clone of a Mac startup volume.
Not to pile on the Mac App Store, but how many times have I read a story that essentially boils down to, "I spent a lot of time dealing with requirements of the Mac App Store and it forced me to abandon further development of the app. Or even, "I spent all this time with Mac App Store specific bugs, restrictions, etc. and then had to pull it from the Mac App store anyway."
It's concerning. When I was a Mac user, I actually liked the Mac App Store for downloading apps for say, my mother, but then I would have to "sideload" Carbon Copy Cloner and similar anyway, so it was only of limited usefulness. I'm not sure that much has changed for me and I usually steer people away from the Mac app store to this day. If a user/client asks, I just say, "Let me vet the app really quickly and I'll tell you if direct download looks safe."
I also steer people away from the Versiontracker, MacUpdate, etc style sites because what was a valuable resource became increasingly unsafe. Malicious or confusing on site ads and tag along installs, no thank you. I'm just curious where personal computer marketplaces are heading.
Hi everybody,
I'm not a coder, but I think it would be great to help in the development of this app.
Don't you think we could help to make a translation of this app ? I could do the job for French langage. Just give me a text file, and I will translate it.
Regards,
Malik
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[…] Preis von $25 im Mac App Store angeboten wurde, ist die App inzwischen kostenlos zu haben. Bauer reagiert damit auf Apples App Store-Einschränkungen, die den Verkauf der Anwendung im offiziellen […]
This is a very nice little app. I have been looking for a backup software application for what seems like forever, and I think this is it. It has all of the basic functionality that you want with none of the complexity. This program is well designed and extremely intuitive and it's free. Would definitely recommend. P.S. I would be more than happy to make a one-time donation to the developer, just to keep the software up-to-date.
