Retrospect

as a user until version 8, I strongly recommend to avoid using retrospect above version 8. For those looking for an alternative, I chose bacula.org : - designed for tape backup but usable with files/disks - client available for linux/macos/windows (macport client available) - server available for linux/macos , reported to work on windows - free and open-source - very customizable but hard to configure - once properly configured, forget it and use the web ui for restorations / unscheduled backups - fast incrementals, reasonable fulls, fast restores (using disks) - commercial version available with some plugins like incremental vmware/outlook/database backups etc. (i don't use it)

After Time Machine's been acting up since 10.9, I thought it would be a good idea to check out Retrospect again. Retrospect used to be a trusted, well-rounded backup solution for power users. It has a lot of great features Time Machine lacks, including advertised support for de-duplication, support for Linux and Windows clients, data verification, and powerful scheduling features. After four days with it, here's what I can say about it: - Holy hell - The client's "instant scan" feature takes 50% CPU, constantly, for four days continuously, and had to be disabled via the command line - The client chewed up almost 1GB of memory - Clients that weren't added to a backup set reported they were backed up successfully even if they never were- not even a byte - De-duplication doesn't work at all. I had two clients with 200GB of the same iPhoto folder. Both clients using the same Media Set, the images were copied twice. (Actually, the resulting backup was about 1.5x the size of both clients) - Even though many clients were on the same network segment, Retrospect could only locate some of them. The rest had to be added manually - Just the scan before a backup starts took over 2 hours per client- this is before any data is even copied! - It's expensive. Good software is worth the money- especially for something critical like backup. Unfortunately, it's not remotely worth it. I hate leaving negative reviews, but Retrospect stinks of abandon-ware, likely on life support until it can be sold to yet another company or put to bed for good.

I need tape backup and that's the only reason I use Retrospect. This program has tortured me for years. A backup program that's been plagued with serious bugs from day one. It's shameful. Current version 10.2: email notifications still broken randomly loses ability to connect to clients media sets say they are "in use" when they are not RetroISA uses more than 100% if CPU and has to be disabled via command line on clients (no other way) randomly, some folders get backed up multiple times with no de-duplication, which runs quickly through tapes