[comp.sys.mac.apps] Retrospect

muaddib@thor.INS.CWRU.Edu (Dave Pieczkiewicz) (06/25/91)

How far does Retrospect go in determining whether a file should be added
to an archive or not? A few other people at INS have asked me about this
with respect to the remote backup option. The possible scenario is this:
Multiple machines are backed up to a single archive. Some files on different
machines may have the same name, but different data. In these cases, we
would naturally want all instances of these files to be backed up, if they
were the least bit different in content. Does Retrospect look at just the
dates and/or sizes to determine whether to tag a file for backup, or does
it actually scan the contents as well?

Also, does anyone own version 1.3 of Retrospect (especially with the
Remote features)? What things have changed? Supposedly, Retrospect 1.2 was
labelled "Mostly Compatible" on the System 7 Compatibility List because
the remote shutdown feature would not work when machines running System 7
were involved. As far as I know, 1.3 is supposed to correct this. I am
also hoping that 1.3 solves a problem we are having with intermittent
crashes while backups are in progress; about one-half of the time, Retrospect
will lock up while in the middle of a backup procedure. I'm currently
experimenting with Retrospect, so problems like these aren't critical, but
I won't be able to move the system into production until the crashing
problem comes under control.

FYI, the upgrade from 1.2 to 1.3 is free. If you have not been contacted
about an upgrade, you can call Dantz Development at (415) 849-0293 (they
don't seem to have an 800 number) to request it. I called for it last week,
and it is supposedly on its way.

Thanks in advance for any help,
David Pieczkiewicz

David Pieczkiewicz        =========       =      muaddib@usenet.ins.cwru.edu
Macintosh Specialist             \     =======   dsp3@pop.cwru.edu
Information Network Services      \     / =      muaddib@m-net.ann-arbor.mi.us
Case Western Reserve University   =======        (216) 368-2982  (216) 791-7384
-- 
David Pieczkiewicz        =========       =      muaddib@usenet.ins.cwru.edu
Macintosh Specialist             \     =======   dsp3@pop.cwru.edu
Information Network Services      \     / =      muaddib@m-net.ann-arbor.mi.us
Case Western Reserve University   =======        (216) 368-2982  (216) 791-7384