Retrospect 8 Users Guide

[dstranathan]

I just bought RS8 Multi-Server edition. Im looking for the full User Guide. Are you serious? There is no documentation for the product other than the skimpy "Getting Started" doc? This is unacceptable. I used to admin a RS6 server many years ago, so Im pretty comfortable with the product, but it has changed a LOT over the years (since EMC bought Dantz), and Id like to get some clarification on the new features. Wow. No User Guide eh? Nice...

 

 

[GMRMacBackup]

I was talking to a Retrospect engineer yesterday about a change he recommended on my library to keep it from going offline. I mentioned it would be nice have a bit of documentation on the little things that makes Retro and tape libraries work at peak efficiency. His response was "you can find most hardware configuration is covered in the user manual".

 

/facepalm

 

Good to hear progress is being made.

[dangermouse]

I don't know why you think the product is being ended. That is totally not true.

 

I am happy to think this is not true, but can you really be surprised people worry about this?

 

The release of a product without a manual is extraordinary. It's been promised for ages and not appeared. I seem to remember someone questioning it's lengthy delays before and being rebutted quite forcefully, only for months to pass with nothing appearing.

 

The third sticky item (I think that's what you'd call it) in this very forum is titled "Retrospect 8.1.525 released ", so this makes the site look very poorly maintained, referring to an old version superseded several times.

 

EMC now owns Iomega, who, after weeks of waiting for an update for the Rev drive drivers to work with Snow Leopard, simply stated there is an incompatibility which 'will not be fixed'. This, too, is extraordinary. A current product still on sale simply drops an entire platform on a whim. People have invested heavily in this Retrospect / Rev solution for backup, and it just gets summarily dropped?

 

Why, in the face of these issues and the attitude revealed by this last point, would people feel confident?

 

Even if a company has every intention of continuing with something, they have to be a viable business to do so. At the very least these issues have irrefutably shown you have significant resource limitations, and one has to wonder why.

 

I do hope things will improve. The product itself sees to be far the most viable, yet it is still not good enough and having to guess how it works seriously undermines its usefulness and reliability.

Edited February 14, 2010 by Guest

[dstranathan]

I was told by an EMC Retrospect employee today that the R8 User Guide should be out on March 8th.

 

I assume the year is 2010. ;0)

 

 

Sounds like a patch will be relase around the same time. Features may include:

 

AppleScript support

64 bit support

Backward-compatibility with 6.1 Catalogs and/or Media Sets

Bug fixes

Other goodies

Edited February 19, 2010 by Guest

[Mayoff]

Actually that was not accurate. That is the internal deadline and not a release date.

 

And no, a Macintosh release is not coming "around that time" either. I will not promise a specific release date.

 

Sorry for any confusion.

[pwilk]

http://www.retrospect.com/en/supportupdates/documentation/

 

There seems to be a user's guide. Took me a while to find it.

Edited June 3, 2010 by Guest

[he9471]

http://www.retrospect.com/en/supportupdates/documentation/

 

There seems to be a user's guide. Took me a while to find it.

 

Great! A more comprehensive manual. Better and appreciated. Now we just need the functionality of the software to match the manual. When will rules work right? When will the engine stop going offline? When will locating clients be reliable? When will restores be more reliable?

 

As I recall, the last sw update was in September of 09. With a list of problems as long as Retrospect's we really expected some incremental updates to solve a few problems. None have come.

 

A lot of us believe this product is at end of life and are frustrated by that idea. Retrospect used to be a product we relied on and could trust. That's not the case, anymore. And with no updates coming, we can only believe more of the same is on the way.

 

However, the emergence of a manual is somewhat encouraging. Late - but encouraging.

 

 

 

[CallMeDave]

A lot of us believe this product is at end of life and are frustrated by that idea.

 

Then that same lot would have it completely backwards.

 

Retrospect 6 was, officially, End Of Life'd by EMC. Some of its development staff was given the choice of sticking around during the EOL transition time (I suppose there are government or accounting regulations about it), or moving on to other EMC opportunities (I know some went over to VMWare).

But that was it; no more Retrospect.

 

Someday the story may be told, but somehow during that transition time EMC restarted Retrospect development; perhaps they crunched the numbers themselves, perhaps someone made an impassioned presentation to the right department head. Whatever it was, they mocked up a single-page tear-sheet, took out a booth at Macworld Expo, and made some predictions about future releases.

 

Watching from the dark, empty void of my basement bunker it seems apparent that early corporate enthusiasm for the project waned; EMC bought Iomega, where perhaps priorities clashed. The "lots of little update" promises were not fulfilled. And I have no doubt that no one was more disappointed by the pace of things then the developers themselves (and no, I have no first hand knowledge of anyone's personal feelings).

 

So now, just as a large update was being readied (and has already, apparently, been dispatched to some users) the shirts at EMC decided that the shirts at Sonic's Roxio devision could buy the whole thing. The timing was what it was, and no one should expect a new build to go out within a window where the new owners are just acquiring responsibility for the product.

 

So wait or don't wait. Switch to another backup solution or don't switch (but whatever you do, have a backup policy and implement a backup plan). But don't *itch and moan about it, it only makes you look bad and doesn't get us a more stable version any sooner.

 

My opinion only,

 

Dave

[he9471]

Whatever the circumstances, it's apparent confidence is diminishing. I hope Retrospect comes back strong. I hope it's the product it once was. I'm patiently waiting for something usable from EMC and I have high hopes it will come. But when the last update was in September, and there's obviously a lot of problems in the system, you'd think some incremental updates could have been issued to resolve some of the most basic of usability issues.

 

I'm not so much 'itching as I am just another voice in the EMC community expressing my frustration over the current situation.

 

For a product like Retrospect to go from what it was (a standard), to what it is now (a pipe dream), is very frustrating for it's loyal users, of which I'm one for well over a decade.

 

 

[Mayoff]

I'm patiently waiting for something usable from EMC and I have high hopes it will come

 

That is going to be a very long wait. Retrospect is not owned or developed by EMC. Retrospect is now a product owned by Sonic Solutions. Future updates will be released by Sonic Solutions

[he9471]

I could care less who the updates come from. Seriously. Can we just get a product that works?

[cpguru21]

Honestly we have to get to a point (if you are staying and supporting this product - you the user i am talking to) that if you choose to wait for an update, then lets give Roxio a chance here.

 

I am as frustrated as all the rest of the users here. Please dont mistake this message.

 

We should look at whatever went on at EMC as a problem with EMC. We have no idea what it was like to try to develop there.

 

If you decide to stay with the product, like I am choosing, then we have to think of this as Roxio is just putting there fingers on it a few weeks ago. This has not been a whole lot of time for their staff to integrate with the "retrospect" staff. and get changes done.

 

I guess what I am trying to say is I understand the frustrations and some of the comments, but at the same time, we have to be realistic. Lets give Roxio a chance to get us a working product. If we go Months without a resolution, then maybe there is no hope, but I would expect they need time (a few months maybe?) to get their feet wet, evaluate the code and bring it up to Roxio standards (if there is such a thing, i dont know..) wow feel like im rambling and not getting any point across.

 

Give them a chance or make a decision on what is best for you, but posting frustrations here is not helping to move further. The time it will take to get the product released is the time it will take.

 

 

[he9471]

I am giving the product a chance. I'm installing the beta as I type this. I have high hopes (still) for this product. My frustration comes from all the promises that have been made but we keep getting told to wait.

 

Also, I think this is exactly the place to post our frustrations. This situation IS frustrating and we share that frustration as a community of users and customers.

 

I don't wish to knock Mayoff. His assistance, patience and communication has been fantastic given the circumstances. In fact, he deserves a promotion for being so cool over the irate posts he's had to field. I also appreciate the presence of this forum, which has been helpful.

 

As I've said in other threads, Retrospect used to be the standard. I'd love to see it reach that status, again.

 

 

[cpguru21]

This last post is much more powerful then your previous.

 

I can sympathize with your frustration and also look forward to a brighter future for Retrospect.

 

Thanks for that last post.