Server on PC or Mac?

[waldorfm]

We have a large base of Retrospect client installations and 4 Retrospect Backup servers for Macintosh, connected to Faststor22 tapeloaders. The Company has unfortunatelly changed from Mac to PC Win2K. We still have some people using Macs. I would like to keep the Macintosh version for various reasons. I'm looking for "war" material, just as far as Retrospect backup concerns. Or if the PC version is the way to go, please explain. Can you help?

 

 

 

One thing I was suggesting is that having the backup on a different platform can increase security, such as done by hacking or viruses.

 

 

 

Some questions I would like to ask are:

 

Is the pc version as reliable as the Mac version?

 

Does the pc version require more maintenance?

 

What are the advantages using the PC version?

 

What are the advantages using the Mac version?

 

How does speed compare between G4 / P3 and Retrospect?

 

Does the PC version backup Mac /OSX files just as good as the Mac version?

 

Does the Mac version backup PC Windows files just as good as the PC version?

 

 

 

I would appreciate any information, in particular if you have practical experience.

 

 

 

Best regards,

 

Markus

 

 

 

 

 

 

[AmyJ]

Is the pc version as reliable as the Mac version? Yes

 

 

 

Does the pc version require more maintenance? No - the program is set up almost identical to the Macintosh version

 

 

 

What are the advantages using the PC version? You can fully backup Windows Servers, Windows2K, Windows NT and Windows XP. The Macintosh version cannot backup NTFS permissions or any system state information, outside of the Registry (which requires RegCopy run separately from the client folder).

 

 

 

What are the advantages using the Mac version? Accessing your old data. Currently, Retrospect data is not cross-platform. If you migrate to the Windows version, your old backup sets will not be readable. You will need to use the Macintosh version for restores.

 

 

 

How does speed compare between G4 / P3 and Retrospect? Windows backup may take longer if you are backing up NTFS permissions.

 

 

 

Does the PC version backup Mac /OSX files just as good as the Mac version? The current Windows release, 5.6, does not currently backup OS X clients. Our next release, 6.0 due out later this summer, will have the ability to backup OS X clients.

 

 

 

Does the Mac version backup PC Windows files just as good as the PC version? No, for the reasons stated in previous answer: The Macintosh version cannot backup NTFS permissions or any system state information, outside of the Registry (which requires RegCopy run separately from the client folder). On a primarily Windows network, you should consider using the Windows version.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[waldorfm]

Hi Amy,

 

 

 

However, PC's will always be more volunerable and first target for hacks, viruses, etc., at least until they are as popular as they are now. It would be more secure to have a Mac doing the PC backups. I know Retrospect for about 10 years, since the first release. PC client and server support came much later, but it seems that during the last couple of years Dantz is more focusing and willing to improve the PC version, rather than the Mac version. Is that true? As a true cross platform soultion, should the Retrospect application not be compatible and provide equal features between Mac's and PC's? There are certainly differences between the platforms, but there has to be a way to sort this out since it's a client/server concept. When the time comes to to realize that a PC based backup will be the most suitable solution, there will most likely be more sophisticated products, like ArcServe, which unlike Retrospect fully support incremental backup of i.e. Lotus Notes databases, etc. Perhaps somewhat more expensive, not as easy to administer, but those are usually temporary facts. What do you think?

 

 

 

Best Regards,

 

Markus