Smooth Operator

Network backup platforms are often unwieldy, partly because of the complexities of scheduling logic and media management. User friendliness can be hard to find in an enterprise-ready backup system. The BackupPC project [1] fills the backup niche elegantly, handling backups over the network for a plethora of platforms and transports.

BackupPC follows the Unix tradition of small programs that perform a single task very well. Like other classic Unix utilities, BackupPC leverages the power of other applications instead of trying to reinvent the wheel. BackupPC supports several protocols for both Windows and Unix-like clients – from rsync and SMB/CIFS, to tar and rsync tunneling over SSH. The focus is on efficient scheduling and a user-friendly restore process.

BackupPC has an active user community with mailing lists and a user-generated wiki, and the project is still led by the original primary author, Craig Barratt. Although the tool has been around since 2001 and is relatively mature, the latest version – BackupPC 3.1.0 – seems to be reaching new users.

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