Written by Philip Roy | 19 June 2009

It's a hard road finding the perfect backup routine...particularly when you're as fussy as I am. But over recent weeks, as I've tried various options, I've found myself wanting...still. Thanks to the makers of ChronoSync, who provided me with a copy of Version 4 of their product, I may be getting closer to the ideal solution...maybe.

Those of you who use the forum will know there was a lengthy discussion about my backup needs. This culminated in the purchase and review of the Voyager Q from NewerTech....a purchase I am still very happy with. My two main objectives were:

• A backup routine that was simple as could be
• The ability to create offsite backups, by swapping backup disks once a month to an offsite location

 

The solution at first was the Voyager Q and TimeMachine. TM is stunning, not only in its visual appeal when you travel back in time, but in its simplicity. But I started to get a bit fussier:

• I didn't want an hourly backup taken of my Mac. Once a week will do.
• I didn't want to have the Voyager Q on all the time
• I wanted to be able to schedule a weekly and monthly backup

 

With that in mind, I started to look around a bit more. SuperDuper appealed at first, but it appears to have an "all or nothing" approach to backing up. That's putting it crudely, but what I mean is it is exceptionally difficult with SuperDuper to exclude things from the backup. I have no interest in backing up a few folders such as the Applications folder (I'd rather do a clean install on a new machine or with a rogue app) and (as another example) a folder called "Mac OS X Installs", which contains most recent OS X installers that I need on hand or to support friends/clients but certainly don't want to backup so many files...particularly as it changes so often when new update disk images are released.

Getting started

 

So, I started to look at Chronosync and the makers of it (Econ Technologies) kindly provided me with a license to try it. Installation is exceptionally straight forward and once installed and launched, it is easy to determine what to backup and to where.

Once installed, you need to set your options and save a file. This file is effectively your backup settings or routine, but you can have more than one of these files (one for each backup routine you establish basically). I only mention this as it is a little different to other programs, that tend to store this information within the body of the application rather than as a document you need to save.

I've split my external 1TB drive (sitting in the Voyager Q) into 3 partitions..."Weekly" backup, "Monthly" backup and "Laptop", for my work laptop that I bring home on weekends (I also excluded all these partitions from Spotlight archiving). The laptop has been using Backup from my old .Mac account until now. I'll probably just back the laptop up once a month here at home. Keeping with my fussiness, I also want to try and make sure I can easily:

• Exclude folders and files from the backup
• Make the backups bootable

 

Setting up my backup was (for the most part) very straight forward. I easily selected the internal Macintosh HD and which partition of my external drive (more on that later) that I wanted to backup to. Excluding certain folders was also very straight forward. Just go into the "Analyze" sidebar option, look at the list of files and folders and right-click and select "exclude"...although I think this area could be a bit more Mac-like. As it stands, it's like the Apple Backup exclusion section but with a lot more complex info. It would . Personally, I love the simplicity of the TimeMachine exclusion process.

It didn't take long to realise I was almost ready to go...however I had some nagging questions that weren't readily solved just by looking around the application (I always review products minus the help manual if I can). These were:

• How do I make the backup bootable?
• What options am I setting up for changed files. On my backup, I don't want files removed from my source HD deleted from the backup..I want them kept. Changed files should of course be updated, but if an older version could be kept, great.
• There are two options on the main screen that I am confused about...
  • Synchronise deletions (which I think relates to my last question)
  • Archive replaced files (ditto)
• The app is telling me the program is ready to synchronise, but is giving me two warnings....
  • "Some files might not synchronise because you do not have full access to the left target" (the left one is my Macintosh HD)
  • "The right target volume is ignoring file ownership which may lead to unexpected owner/group membership of files"
• How versatile is scheduling and what will happen with regards scheduling, if the external drive is not switched on?

 

So....time to answer those questions.

How do I make the backup bootable?
I'm really impressed that I just had to go to the Help menu, type in "Bootable" to be able to find a page in the Help System about bootable backups. But even more impressive was the level of detail provided...

On reading, I discovered I'd missed a setting that was right in front of me...just deciding what kind of transfer I wanted from the left (source) drive to the right (target) drive. Changing this was no problem and solved some other issues.

The app is telling me the program is ready to synchronise, but is giving me two warnings...."Some files might not synchronise because you do not have full access to the left target and "The right target volume is ignoring file ownership which may lead to unexpected owner/group membership of files"
Well that appears to be a permissions error...but it was solved by ChronoSync 4 itself when it prompted me that it had concerns with the new target drive....and offered to try and fix it, which it did.

This was great, but I should also mention that the previous warning had a context sensitive "Help" button there that probably would have given me more details on what the original solution was. I'm really impressed by the level of detail that has been put into the Help system and making sure that it is relevant and on-hand when you need it.

What options am I setting up for changed files. On my backup, I don't want files removed from my source HD deleted from the backup..I want them kept. Changed files should of course be updated, but if an older version could be kept, great. There are two options on the main screen that I am confused about.. Synchronise deletions (which I think relates to my last question)? Archive replaced files (ditto)?
Well the first option is greyed out now that I decided to create a bootable backup. The second option appears to be one that I want to make use of and found this in the Help system...

Check the "Archive replaced files" checkbox to activate archiving. This is so that old files will be saved instead of deleted. They can be viewed and retrieved from the "Archive" panel. This will take up more hard drive space, but it is better to be safe than to lose that important file. You can change the "Archive" settings in the "Options" panel, under "Archive Handling"

Following the instructions, it's also great to see that you can control how many archived versions of files you keep, or even how long you keep them for.

How versatile is scheduling and what will happen with regards scheduling, if the external drive is not switched on?
Scheduling appears to work well in the tests that I ran, although other than ChronoSync suddenly being open in the background and hearing disk activity, I had no way of knowing that a scheduled backup was taking place. You might like that, but personally I found it a bit unnerving....I could have easily gone and disconnected the external hard drive or shut down the machine, without realising something was happening.

What I don't understand, given that ChronoSync installs a menubar icon, is why that icon isn't used to visually indicate in some way that a backup is occurring? In the same way that applications such as Time Machine (the menubar icon spins backwards as the backup begins) or the backup utility Deja Vu (which will display a working percentage readout as it backs up) do.

To test, I did my first back (a hefty 99 minutes to do) and then made my first scheduled backup for some 15 minutes later. I then closed ChronoSync and waited. I was conscious of something happening on my machine at the appropriate time, but it wasn't until I started using the keyboard combination of command-tab, could I confirm that ChronoSync had sprung to life. Some 11 minutes later, it appeared to be all over. The reason I knew that, is that a sound played in the background of my Mac.

I'm slightly concerned that if it wasn't for the fact I was sitting there testing the application and watching the process, I may have simply thought "What the heck was that noise?". I know it seems odd to be arguing for awareness of a backup occurring (you might argue it shouldn't interrupt you at all), but I don't think it should be so unobtrusive that the possibility is there that you'll have no idea..or perhaps we should be given the choice. Perhaps something such as Growl notifications ("Scheduled backup completed") popping up might be a better idea than just a simple noise?

One of my problems is (as stated previously) that I don't want to have to have the Voyager Q sitting there and on, simply to cope with a weekly or monthly backup, but Chronosync won't warn me when it is about to do a backup. I confirmed this by scheduling another backup, but having the external drive switched off.

Chronosync attempted to work, but the failure of a backup was a brief event. I heard a sound (that I had selected in the preferences) indicating failure and that was it....again, no representation on-screen that an issue had arisen. If I had of been out of the room, I would never have known...and I would never know until I launched ChronoSync again.

Scheduling dilemma

This leaves me with a bit of a dilemma. The scheduling system is great and features a lot of options, but it is too 'behind the scenes' for me. I wish that one of the options when setting up a backup could be a "prompt for target" option or even (a better option based on some other issues I'll talk about soon) a "prompt to commence backup" option....meaning I do manually have to be a part of an automated process....which obviously I'm suggesting could be semi-automated then, for people like me.

Imagine how that would work...ChronoSync would launch at a scheduled backup time, tell you it is time for a backup, prompt you for a target (or to begin)....that would give me time to turn on my Voyager Q and (if needed) select the partition I wanted...and it would be off an running.

As it is, like Time Machine, ChronoSync is relying on me to have my external hard drive turned on. I can understand that in many instances (particularly when backing up to a network drive) you'd want it to be as unobtrusive as possible...but why can't there be a simple menu bar clue...and why can't others of us have an option to select a drive?

Now in ChronoSync's defence, this also happens with SuperDuper. I know, because I asked the makers what would happen if the external drive was off, I got told the backup would simply fail. It's one of the reasons I started looking at ChronoSync.

I guess I look back fondly on Apple's Backup app too much? No, really! I loved how it would start up and tell you it was getting ready..and allow me the time to hunt out the rewritable DVDs I wanted to use...brilliant!

If I'm never going to get the time or an option to get my external hard drive on and ready.....well....I think I'm not going to use ChronoSync's scheduler at all. Instead, I'll just set up iCal to pop up with a message once a week and once a month, telling me it's time to do a back up.

But it looks like there's another reason that I need to take that approach anyway...

Eeek...this is bad!

Over the course of testing ChronoSync, I realised that my partitions on my external HD were the wrong sizes. For example, I had devoted a third of the space (332 Gb) to the laptop backup, when it only required 19 Gb to backup the laptop user directory. So I repartitioned the external HD and started the backup all over again. Strangely though, it started backing up things I had excluded previously.

What I have noticed is that ChronoSync doesn't appear to remember your exclusions when you make changes related to the target disk. Not the source disk which have the files you want excluded are on, but the target disk that you are copying on to. In other words, the things you have indicated shouldn't be copied, are reset to be copied if you change where you want to back up to.

I consider this a serious flaw, and this is going to be a huge issue for me, as I'm going to be swapping the entire external HD once a month...there's no way I want to keep having to reset my exclusions in those cases.

Here's an example. I've set up my laptop synch to point to a partition on the external HD and have excluded the music folder.

BUT....and here's where the issue arises. If I now decide I want to change which partition I backup to, I do that easily.....but find that when I return to look at my folder list from my source HD, the folders I had previously excluded are now included and are going to be backed up. This is poor. I can't understand why the information relating to the source drive (which hasn't changed at all) is being changed because I've selected a new location to send the backup to?

In the image here, you can see what happens. In the top part, my "Music" folder is excluded and will not be backed up. But simply by changing where I backup to, it is then reset and included...

I decided to contact the makers of ChronoSync to see if it was a bug. The response was as follows....

When you switch Targets it erases all the exclusions because a new target is being used.

Now keep in mind that I know that once a month I will definitely be swapping targets, as I bring a replacement HD back home from my offsite location. They continued by saying...

If you are swapping drives you need to create a separate sync document for each drive. You can click on the Options button and uncheck "strict volume identification". Even if this works it is not recommended. The reason is a sync document remembers the states of the targets based on the last sync. When you add another volume it would not match the volume that should be used and could cause some issues. So the best solution is a separate Sync Document for each drive.

I don't really have an issue with this, but it has meant the end (for me) of using their scheduling system. I'm going to have to create 6 files...Laptop backup even month, laptop backup odd month, Weekly backup even month, Weekly backup odd month, Monthly backup even month, Monthly backup odd month...to cope with the change of HD each month, but I won't be using the scheduling system.

Again, I can understand why I might need to do this so that the document dealing with my backup doesn't get confused with one month to the other....but I still can't understand the issue with regards exclusions.

Put it this way. Imagine if you have a long-standing backup that works brilliantly, but features a number of excluded files and folders. Let's imagine you are on a large network and are then asked to change to backing up to a new location on the network by your IT staff. It should be as easy as simply selecting a new target and you're off and running...but with ChronoSync, all the files that you had previously decided should not be part of that backup, will suddenly become "included" and will require re-excluding to get you back to where you were. Even if only the destination of your backup has changed, ChronoSync has wiped some of your preferences related to your source files.

I consider this to be a real flaw. Perhaps what could happen is that there be an option to "retain exclusions when changing targets".....and personally (and for the selfish reasons I've described throughout this review) I'd love to see an option for the target disk having an option "Prompt for target". This means that I could in fact have a schedule running...when it kicks in, it asks me what I want to backup to. I then fire up the Voyager Q and select the partition to use and we're off an running.

I know that some people don't want to have to worry about being involved in the backup process, but there should be an option for those of us that do!

Side note - changing my settings regarding bootable drives
One of the things I decided over the course of this review, was to only make the monthly backup a bootable partition on the external HD. I decided this as the weekly backups will be the ones that happen the most often, and I want these to happen quickly and not be bothered about booting. It's great to have a bootable copy on the HD, but this doesn't have to be checked weekly...and so I changed my weekly option to a simple left-to-right (as the app calls it) backup.

Conclusion

ChronoSync is a very impressive backup system that will suit the needs of many Mac users. It is far more advanced than the .Mac backup application, and far more user-friendly than applications such as SuperDuper.

A tremendous benefit of the application is the robust help system, that appears to extend to their online help also. However, at this stage, it isn't necessarily an application that will suit everyone's needs without needing to put some considerable effort into setting up your backups. I'm more than happy to do this to get set up, but it's disappointing that the decision to wipe excluded file settings will then impact upon the set up work that I have done. Whilst trying to be as unobtrusive as possible, I believe it is succeeding too well, and perhaps needs to provide some more responses to users as to what is taking place (such as indications via the menubar icon).

Note - I was also supplied with a copy of ChronoAgent 1, but did not test this application as it is not relevant to my needs.

 

Pros

• Simple-to-use interface for the most part, with complex activities hidden away for those that need them
• Detailed help pages. These were one of the best I experienced because they knew what you were seeing (i.e., the errors or warnings matched with the documentation) and said fairly straightforwardly how to solve things. Don't be put off by lots of text when it actually helps!
• A variety of options for most Mac users ('cept fussy ones like me)

 

Cons

• Too unobtrusive - disk activity and the odd beep is not enough for me. It should make use of the menu bar (or Growl) to alert or warn
• Would be nice if scheduling was a bit more flexible (i.e., like "last sunday of the month")
• Excluded files and folders being reset is a big issue I believe (for those who exclude files in their backups)
• A "prompt for target" (as long as my excluded list wasn't reset in the process) or "prompt to commence backup" option would be great