[comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc] shareware 'fastback' wanted

aadm@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Atkins D. Michael) (06/27/91)

we have been using FASTBACK to transfer data between 20-30
sites across the state for sometime. we actually have about 
130 sites, but the rest have not been pushed to purchase
fastback and therefore we have been using pkarc and dos backup.
i am looking at data that may reach 30 to 60 meg and will
not fit onto 1 diskette hence pkarc alone won't work. needless
to say, not everyone uses the same version of dos (3.3 in most,
4.01 in some with >300 meg drives).

we need to have everyone using the same consistant backup method
(because of a new shell menu that we are creating), but fastback
has come out with several incompatible versions over the last 
few months (yet none seem to have corrected at least one very
serious bug/oversight).  it is a nightmare trying to get everyone 
upgraded (all sites are independent school districts with their
own levels of red tape) and this is only a few sites.  by the
time everyone has upgraded, anotherversion is out - another site
has decided to get fastback, receive the new one and everyone
is off to the races again trying to get to the HIGHEST common
denominator.
(by the way, i have talked to the high mucky-mucks at fifth
generation and while they are sympathetic to the problem, i need
a cure, not a promise.)

now for my question - i would like to find a vanilla fastback-like
procedure. maybe a shell that would work with pkarc/pkzip/et. that
would allow consecutive disks for backup and that i could share
with all sites reguardless of dos version.

and leads/suggestions/recommendations would be greatly
appreciated. 

ericb@hplsla.HP.COM (Eric Backus) (06/28/91)

>>now for my question - i would like to find a vanilla fastback-like
>>procedure. maybe a shell that would work with pkarc/pkzip/et. that
>>would allow consecutive disks for backup and that i could share
>>with all sites reguardless of dos version.
>
>It's not particularly pretty (but then again, it doesn't sound like that
>really matters to you), but you could use PKZIP (et al) and then some
>kind of SPLIT utility (such as my own SPLIT.EXE) that will split up the
>big archive into floppy sized pieces.

One disadvantage of SPLITting a large PKZIP file is that the individual
disks are not readable by PKZIP - you have to put them all back together
first.  And if your hard disk doesn't have room for the whole PKZIP file in
addition to your files, you have a problem.

You can get around these problems by using ARJ.  ARJ compresses better than
PKZIP and is approximately as fast.  It has the capability to break its
archive up over multiple floppy disks, and when it is done each floppy is a
separate archive which can be read by ARJ.  It can create an index file as
it goes, so you know where to look for a file.  It can be told to archive
only files with the ARCHIVE bit set, and it can be told to clear the
ARCHIVE bit on the files it archives.  It has more features than I could
possibly name in one paragraph.

I highly recommend ARJ.  I use it as a cheap backup program and as a
generic file compressor/archiver.
--
				Eric Backus
				ericb%hplsla@hplabs.hp.com
				(206) 335-2495