And the agent version can target an SMB share on a NAS, perfect for the TrueNAS use case.
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hello,
what about Restic?
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Iâve been using Acronis and itâs worked well for me. I did encounter a Recovery Environment issue one time, but I feel like that was my fault. The backups are great and Iâve been able to roll back when I needed to.
Curious why it doesnât seem to be on this list at all.
Does image backup like everybody else, asks for 50$ per year.
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While I dont recommend Acronis and instead use Macrium, I dont think being paid should be considered some big disadvantage.
I mean, how much is 50 USD per year for saving all your data? I dont think itâs that much.
Itâs the same reason I dont mind paying for antivirus.
I personally think the most reliable and safe option for my data is Macrium and so I didnt mind paying for it.
Of course thatâs also because it offers partition backup and easy and fast restore of whole system on bare metal.
If I just needed file backup I think something like Restic would be enough.
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The free windows Veeam agent is excellent. It just backs your computer up easily. It is block level so is very efficient.
I use this for my main PC and when my IT customers need a easy to use backup for their PC I give them this.
One of the best features is you can get the backup to automatically run when you plug the USB drive in and then when it is done self eject (ransomware protection).
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hello,
can u provide more details on that? why is macrium better? thanks
When I was choosing backup solution few years ago I first used Acronis and then I switched to Macrium.
From what I remember I have read good reviews about it and for some reason I just trusted it more. And since then it was just âset and forgetâ.
When I am saying âWhile I dont recommend Acronisâ I dont mean that Acronis is bad. Just that I dont actively recommend it. I guess I could write it more clearly.
Is this the latest in the free version?
https://download.macrium.com/reflect/v8/v8.0.7783/reflect_setup_free_x64.exe
My version is 8.0.7097 so it looks like yours is a little newer than mine. Iâm not 100% positive but you may need a serial number, even though it is a free version. Let me know how it works. Iâd buy the software for a flat fee but no way as a subscription, especially it those prices. The For Home version should be reasonable, not priced for a small company.
The free version is no longer supported but should be available forever.
This is different from the trial version.
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I can provide some info here as a former Acronis user. I switched to Macrium sometime ago after years of using Acronis Home (or whatever the name was). Both products have been very dependable for backup, bare metal restores and partition resize features for disk upgrades.
I switched because of the subscription model change and the bloat they are pushing for cloud backups. I donât want cloud backups and I donât want perpetual payments for my backup software.
Other reasons:
- SiteManager central console and configuration. Policies, agent management, and anything can be done at the console. Brilliant for the 10 PCâs I backup and zero cost.
- Monitoring and alerting options are more flexible to eliminate noise.
- Dataset and retention policy management is simpler in my opinion.
- Backup pool replication engine is built in. I let SiteManager have a continuous sync of the storage pool between two NAS servers.
- Self-contained recovery disk with 3rd party drivers in the rebuild disk. Reboot and restore from network basically.
- For some people I have recommended and configured Macrium Reflect Home for daily backups with a USB attached. No errors if the drive is not there, catches up when the drive is reconnected. Acronis used to barf in this situation and hang the machine till it timed out. That really sucked. Runs daily and alerts me if there are issues (Mom proof). In 5 years, only issues encountered are external USB drives have died.
I have no problem paying for backup software if there is value add and the ability to get unpaid support. I would switch to an opensource solution in a heartbeat should Macrium decide to change their onetime pricing model. I have not found anything as functional and intuitive to use in the opensource space.
- Bacula / Amanda - Ya, I donât have months to get this up and running.
- UrBackup - Fine but no central management and you have to purchase CBT license I think.
- BackupPC - This was my 1st experience in opensource. Was great but times change and Perl isnât the star it used to be for speed. They did eliminate links which is good.
- BackInTime - Cool but I donât think supports Windows.
We use Veeam for AIX servers and SAP/rman backups so I am familiar with the product and would probably go to this but it gets expensive for a home user in my opinion if you want a management control plane for client backups.
Although this topic has been closed, I would like to reactivate it.
I am using an older 64-Bit version (Version 16.6.0.133) of Retrospect backup software which I may upgrade and use as backup software for my TrueNAS based NAS.
As this software has not been mentioned in this topic: Does anybody have experience with current version 19? Any other experience, maybe someone has made a comparison between Retrospect and other backup software? This may help my decision whether to upgrade or to change to another product.
I last used it ca. 2005. At that time Retrospect was the game in town on what then was Mac OS X.
My guess is that the hosts you are backing up are not running macOS, otherwise you would use Time Machine to back them up to your NAS. Am I right?
Youâre right. My both mobile and desktop systems are Windows based except the NAS.
I suppose that this topic is related to MacOS, however, I thought that you - or other users - may have experience with current Retrospect versions.
I originally started this thread, because I was looking for backup software on Windows hosts needing to be backed up to my NAS. I had hoped I would find something of similar ease-of-use and feature set as Time Machine on macOS. I guess, not.
I am quoting myself on a previous comment (Windows clients) as it appears the time has come for Macrium to move to a subscription model. 
Quoted from https://www.macrium.com/reflect-x/faq
For Reflect Home users who purchased V8 before July 1, 2024:
You are eligible for two options. The first option is 50% off Annual plans for life. Option 2 is our âBetter than Black Friday 2024 Offer:â 3 years for the price of 2:
If you choose 50% off annual plans for life, you will have to trade in your current Reflect Home V8 license.
If you choose 3 years for the price of 2, you can keep your Reflect Home V8 license. This amount must be paid up front and at the end of the plan, customers may renew based on offers available at the time (or return to your one-time license.)
Essentially, I read they have subscription now or take a gamble that we will have OTHER options in 3 years time. Sure, I highly doubt there will be a standalone option.
Kicked around urbackup last weekend and it was easy enough to setup and get clients working. However, I registered in 3 of 4 Linux clients with no issues and the 4th (which is identical image as the others) just would not get registered. Hummm⌠Not a good 1st start.
Windows side was ok and worked as expected. Did not purchase the CBT license for testing.
General impression, it does the job, web interface is basic but exposes what you need. I need to do further bare metal restore and disk migration testing but not sure I like the interface and the minimal job options as compared to SiteManager and the recovery builder.
Iâll post any other updates as I decide where to go next with client backups.
I still run old Macrium v7. It works great and I dont have reason to upgrade.
I guess when the product is basically finished and people dont upgrade you dont get any more money if you dont switch to subscription model.
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I agree, I am still running Macrium Reflect v7 in Windoze 11. It works great. I use to use Acronis but they have also moved to a subscription model.
I do have AOMEI Backupper Standard installed, it is free. It has the basics.
Another free backup tool I recently evaluated, it works however it is a purely manual event, Rescuezilla. The problem, you must boot off a flash drive so you can run a backup. I have not evaluated Clonezilla which makes compatible backups and is GUI based.
With the exceptions of Macrium and Acronis, I have not restored a backup from the other three I listed. I do need to test those out eventually.
Clonezilla is flawless in my experience no matter the OS or partition geometry. Clonezilla in combination with rsnapshot are my current Linux backup/recovery solution.