Re: Extracting text from an Retrospect Log
Re: Extracting text from an Retrospect Log
- Subject: Re: Extracting text from an Retrospect Log
- From: "Gary (Lists)" <email@hidden>
- Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 16:40:06 -0500
"Gnarlodious" wrote:
> You should use rsync, it is really the right tool for UNIX file
> synchronizing.
Clarifying Retrospect...
While Retrospect can be a general "synch" tool, it is actually a more
complex backup and restore tool. For example, while Retrospect can just
"duplicate" a file set (drive, folder, disjointed collection, etc.) to a
particular place, it can also (and is primarily used to) build a "state
catalog".
Retrospect writes to its own catalog files (I'm not talking about the
activity log here) and allows one to restore, for example, one's Documents
folder to its state at any prior backup date. Every file is not duplicated,
just a record of changed items from the original catalog master.
In this context, synching tools are not an precise replacement.
In my case, I use Smile's plain-Jane "Synchronize Folders" tools to do
straight "backups" of specific projects and folders. I also use other tools
when I want to put a backup process into a larger AppleScript context.
Where Retrospect is handy is when you don't want to "duplicate" a folder
every day or week, and then zip it up and date it. Retrospect handles this
task by recording in its catalog, so that you can have a daily or weekly "go
back to exactly like it was then" feature.
I am not an expert on Retrospect (it came free with my Maxtor drive, and I
like it okay and do use it weekly), and it does not fulfill every kind of
backup/state strategy that I use. But, it's built-in scheduling, reminders
to change external media, and so on -- while certainly replaceable by
individual tools put together (rsync, cron, etc.) -- are pretty good for a
free package and are especially useful when it comes to handling the
un-attended backup chores of an office.
I thought the initial learning process with Retrospect was needlessly
difficult, but that's partly because there are a number of different
strategies that Retrospect can implement (you don't have to "journal"
changes to a catalog, for instance...you can just straight dupe...which
other tools can do faster and better, maybe.)
--
Gary
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