TI vs Backup
I recently needed to upgrade a number of Windows PCs that currently run TI 2010 and needed to select either TI 2014 Premium or Backup 11.5
Acronis publish a feature comparisons of the two (see http://kb.acronis.com/content/43726), and both packages do what I want, but there is nothing extant which compares their ‘look and feel’. So I thought I would download trial versions of both and make my own comparisons as someone coming new to them (TI 2010 is substantially different from either).
One general comment is that the ‘Help’ Manuals for both are surprisingly well written (I am using the International/British English language version) and the one for Backup is particularly comprehensive. I read every section of both and encountered just one syntax error.
In what follows, I have picked on items which appear salient, bearing in mind that TI is aimed at domestic/SOHO users and Backup is aimed at IT people.
TI 2014
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The main ‘Backup and recovery’ tab goes straight into a list of backups (presumably from the catalogue supplemented by a search). These can be sorted in various ways but not filterable, so I cannot select by backup device or e.g. partition letter within backup device).
There is no mention in the Help of a ‘catalogue’ (just occasional references to metadata) which can be a bit confusing when looking at the list of backups - given that the catalogue may not be in step with the actual backup files.
On the ‘Backup and recovery’ tab page, the horizontal menu options are:
Disk and partition backup
File backup
Other backups
etc
But to run an existing backup I need to ignore these and select (re-)run one of the backup tasks listed in the main window. So these menu options should really read NEW Disk and partition backup (etc)
Much more confusingly, when setting up a new backup, it is not immediately obvious what the difference is between the ‘Backup name’ under Settings and the file name of the backup which is set under Destination (which is the only place date and time can be appended to make a unique .tib file name).
And clicking ‘Backup scheme’ name gives a screen panel that allows the user to define a named scheme for the backup method (full, incremental etc), sequencing and version cleanup. But this screen also allows users to define Advanced options such as Validation (and the other tab options of Performance, Notifications and Exclusions); however these options Advanced (etc) tie in to the Backup NAME and not the Backup scheme name even though they can be amended by clicking on the Backup scheme name. The window itself is entitled Disk Backup Options and not Backup scheme, even though it can be invoked by clicking the Backup Scheme name!
When recovering a file backup, the View Versions link is in small print at the bottom of the screen whereas for a disk or partition backup there is a good pull-down for versions at the top of the screen. Why not use a similar pull-down for file backups as well?
One fundamental difference between TI and Backup is that TI either
- encourages you to 'back up now’
or
- gives you a list of existing backups (actually backup tasks which related to one or more individual backups) for you to re-run
Thus in TI there is no notion of starting off by creating a backup plan: the assumption is that you do the first backup and then use that as a template (or ‘as is’) for future backups.
Backup 11.5
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Unlike TI, Backup has a specific task to CREATE a backup plan. When setting up a Backup 11.5 backup plan, there is a sequentially filed-in form rather than a multi-screen (‘click Next…’) Wizard. This results in a named Backup Plan’; in passing, I cannot see much point of the ‘Remove disks/volumes’ area (under ‘What to back up’) since this can be done quickly by unclicking the ‘Items to back up…’ – but no matter. Unlike TI 2014 there is no backup SCHEME name to confuse things: the scheme (e.g. grandfather/father/son, full/incremental/differential, the run schedule and retention rules are simply set as part of the ‘How to back up’ pull-downs.
Again unlike TI, Backup makes specific reference to Vaults and Vault management. One point which initially confused me is that a personal vault is defined by “the path to the folder that will be used at the vault” but the vault name becomes an alias to the folder name: it is neither the folder name itself (unless the user chooses to make it so) nor the name of a new folder created within the path.
I was unable to use a [TIME] variable (in addition to [DATE]) within a ‘simplified’ backup file name, but I accept that ‘standard’ file naming provides this automatically.
+ + +
In summary, I found using Backup 11.5 MORE intuitive than using TI 2014 Premium - but than I have an IT background. But Acronis does need to address TI's backup name / backup scheme name / backup file name complications because I think they can confuse anyone: 'Help' is fairly clear about what each one does, but the way in which each is set is confusing (is scheme name really needed?)