IBackup for Windows looks more dated than other programs here, but it's a powerful application with a well-designed interface. The main view displays local folders and the remote backup side by side, allowing you to compare files and versions.
Several wizards simplify common backup jobs: the automatic selection wizard, for example, lets you back
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up a range of applications simply by ticking a box. As with most of the packages here, you can install IBackup on only one PC, but it does let you create multiple backup sets and will quickly calculate the size of each. The interface displays the backups you've defined and your current quota usage. A free, but not particularly useful, plug-in adds support for SQL, Exchange and Oracle servers.
Although IBackup is a US company, it has a data centre in London. Uniquely in this test, the software transmits two files at once during backup and restore operations, which could improve throughput. There's an accurate progress meter, and you can change the bandwidth settings in real time. Backup times were competitive, and the software spotted our changed Wav file.
At 4.7Mbit/s, IBackup was comfortably the fastest program in our restore test. It offers a fair amount of space for the money, too, so it's our Best Buy for technical users.
By Shopper staff
SPECIFICATIONS:
Requires 64MB RAM, 10MB disk space, Internet Explorer 5 or later
