best (mirroring) backup software...?

[fisherking]

i've been using synk pro to backup my mac since...forever. all i want is an identical mirror of my mac at any given moment; i don't need time machine's endless versions of files, etc. i take responsibility for this, i just want my mac mirrored. i use synk pro to do the same thing for two external drives.

this has all worked pretty well for years. but had a crisis with the app recently, and tech support has been sketchy about it.

so...can CCC, or superduper (for example) do this for me? mirror my mac drive, and several external drives? or is there another app to recommend?

thanx!

 

[GGJstudios]

Carbon Copy Cloner can make a bootable clone of any drive and maintain that clone with incremental backups. I use it for backing up all drives.

 

[fisherking]

Carbon Copy Cloner can make a bootable clone of any drive and maintain that clone with incremental backups. I use it for backing up all drives.

can it do mirroring? (ie it will add whatever i've added to my drive, and delete whatever i've deleted?)

i don't need bootable, as much as i just want nothing more that what's currently on my drives...

 

[GGJstudios]

can it do mirroring? (ie it will add whatever i've added to my drive, and delete whatever i've deleted?)

Yes, that's what incremental backups are. It only backs up changes made since the last backup.

 

[dukebound85]

Carbon Copy Cloner can make a bootable clone of any drive and maintain that clone with incremental backups. I use it for backing up all drives.

Are there any free methods? now that CCC went from free to like quite a bit

 

[GGJstudios]

Are there any free methods? now that CCC went from free to like quite a bit

Good question. I haven't checked SuperDuper! in a while. I don't recall if it's free or not. I also seem to recall SD had some limitations with regard to incremental backups, but I don't recall the details. I also don't know if SD handles the recovery partition, like CCC does. I usually try to find reliable free software for most applications, but CCC is one of the few apps worth buying, IMO. Of course, I'm still using the free version, which I think works fine with anything up to Lion. I think the pay version is only required for ML.

 

[fisherking]

Yes, that's what incremental backups are. It only backs up changes made since the last backup.

oops, sorry. guess it would help if i read your response before posting again.. will check CCC out...

 

[Yester5]

I use SuperDuper...works great

 

[\-V-/]

Been using CCC for years. It's all I can recommend. Yes it's no longer free and quite pricey, but it's worth it, imo.

 

[dukebound85]

Been using CCC for years. It's all I can recommend. Yes it's no longer free and quite pricey, but it's worth it, imo.

Is CCC at 40 worth more than superduper at 30?

 

[\-V-/]

Is CCC at 40 worth more than superduper at 30?

To me, yes. I've used both of them and either one will serve your purpose of mirroring, but I prefer CCC. I believe they both have trials. Give them both a go.

 

[dukebound85]

To me, yes. I've used both of them and either one will serve your purpose of mirroring, but I prefer CCC. I believe they both have trials. Give them both a go.

Ive used CCC for years. Great product and yea, worth it when I reflect what I have used it for. Just the sudden substantial price hike took me by surprise

I realize my current free version works now but always nice to be on a supported version

 

[\-V-/]

Ive used CCC for years. Great product and yea, worth it when I reflect what I have used it for. Just the sudden substantial price hike took me by surprise

I guess he wanted to make a living from it. Probably not enough people donating.

 

[ZipZap]

I use Chronosync to make syncs of my boot drive and mirror my file repository drive.

 

[mrapplegate]

I guess he wanted to make a living from it. Probably not enough people donating.

After leaving Apple he needed income

 

[heisenberg123]

another vote for CCC love that app

 

[fisherking]

CCC is great; simple, fast. thanx for the recommendations!

 

[Weaselboy]

Is CCC at 40 worth more than superduper at 30?

IMO yes... CCC handles cloning of Recovery HD partitions and SD does not. Also, CCC is much faster when doing partial disk clones.

 

[Icy1007]

Time Machine is the best backup software for Mac I've used. Lol

 

[Krazy Bill]

Time Machine is the best backup software for Mac I've used. Lol

You're not too far off. Although it won't clone a disk image, there's been a few times when I've gone back a few weeks to recover a document/file.

 

[fisherking]

2 things: CCC is currently on sale for $29.96 (i just bought it).

time machine is good if you want to save every version of every thing.
all i want is a mirror of what i keep; if i delete something, i don't need it on an external drive.

this is obviously not a workable plan for everyone...

 

[\-V-/]

2 things: CCC is currently on sale for $29.96 (i just bought it).

time machine is good if you want to save every version of every thing.
all i want is a mirror of what i keep; if i delete something, i don't need it on an external drive.

this is obviously not a workable plan for everyone...

... and that's exactly what CCC will allow you to do. Glad you made the right choice.

 

[GGJstudios]

time machine is good if you want to save every version of every thing.

CCC can do that, too.

 

[fisherking]

CCC can do that, too.

of course, but time machine INSISTS on doing that...

 

[Icy1007]

of course, but time machine INSISTS on doing that...

It also doesn't hurt that it's integrated into the OS.