After replacing the old external drive with a shiny new network drive, the next step was obvious: network backups. I was excited. This was going to be a no-brainer. Windows 7 offers a backup tool. And that tool is quite good. Too bad it doesn’t work with Windows 7 Home Premium. Yes, you can backup your system to a USB-attached device. But if you want to use a network location, you’ll have to invest in Windows 7 Professional – or some other tool.
I chose the “some other tool” option. My requirements were simple.
- I want to be able to take full backups.
- I want to be able to take incremental (or differential) backups.
- I have to be able to use my new network-attached storage device.
- I don’t want to spend much (or any) money to make all of this happen.
To start, there are a lot of backup tools. Some come with the operating system. Others are available via purchase at a retail store. Some are bundled with network storage systems. And still others can be downloaded from the Internet. So my first chore was to sort the list down to two or three tools that would meet my requirements. After fiddling with Google search arguments, I finally ran a search that narrowed my choices down.
After checking out a few reviews, I read the review put together by Mark Muller (at BrightHub). Based upon that review, I downloaded and installed Comodo Backup. And I am genuinely thrilled with this product. It does all of the things that you expect a backup tool to do. And it does them on any kind of media (including network-attached storage).
And it does this for free. I’m still trying to figure out how this company makes money. They do offer a remote storage option (a la Mozy or Carbonite). Maybe they will make their money in this fashion. I sure hope that they do – because I really want to continue to use the product. Why do I want to use this product? Two words: it works!
-Roo
