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Show HN: Bvckup 2 – Simple Fast Backup for Windows

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Re: Show HN: Bvckup 2 – Simple Fast Backup for Windows

#51

Post by tempestn »

latitude wrote: post #11
czam wrote: post #9

How does it compare to http://freefilesync.sourceforge.net/ ? Apart from the delta copying the feature list sounds similar. I find the FreeFileSync UI quite usable.

Faster bulk copying, lighter build, lighter on resource usage, removable device tracking, much better UI (it's subjective, of course, but just try it out and see for yourself). Formal backup planner, dry runs, native support for running as a service with separate engine and UI processes. -- edit -- Let me give an example of what I mean by "much better UI". Bvckup 2 has a hierarchical log viewer [1] and this thing doe…

freefilesync does do dry runs. Can bvckup2 copy the changed portion of files only? Does it compare file contents, or just size/modified time? (Or is that an option?)

Agreed that trying to parse the giant logfile dumps of most sync programs is a pain, so kudos for that.

Re: Show HN: Bvckup 2 – Simple Fast Backup for Windows

#52

Post by latitude »

tempestn wrote: post #51
latitude wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Faster bulk copying, lighter build, lighter on resource usage, removable device tracking, much better UI (it's subjective, of course, but just try it out and see for yourself). Formal backup planner, dry runs, native support for running as a service with separate engine and UI processes. -- edit -- Let me give an example of what I mean by "much better UI". Bvckup 2 has a hierarchical log viewer [1] and this thing doe…

freefilesync does do dry runs. Can bvckup2 copy the changed portion of files only? Does it compare file contents, or just size/modified time? (Or is that an option?) Agreed that trying to parse the giant logfile dumps of most sync programs is a pain, so kudos for that.

Re: dry runs - my bad, I should've checked more carefully.

Re: copying changed portions only - yes, http://bvckup2.com/#delta

Re: compare file contents - not for deciding if the file was modified or not, no. There was just no demand for this. That said, it's easy to add and it can be done more efficiently than doing a raw comparison between the original and the backup copies. That's because the delta copier computes file hash as a part of the process, so the app can simply go through the source file, redo the hash and see if it's changed since the last run. But as I said there were zero demand for this, so the comparison is done based on timestamps and the file size. Depending on the file system support the app automatically selects between comparing just the modified time or both the modified and created. HTH.

Re: Show HN: Bvckup 2 – Simple Fast Backup for Windows

#53

Post by cuu508 »

hnriot wrote: post #47
latitude wrote: post #2

Author's here. A bit of a background on the project if I may. I wrote the original version several years ago. It was purely for myself, to automate the way I was doing the backups at the time. I also threw together a website and put it online, just because and with no hope that something this simple would be in demand. Then went on doing other things like having kids and what not. Fast forward to 2012 and there's a c…

not sure why you claim it has an excellent UI, it's a very simple UI with the usual toolbar (who has those anymore? I guess that's a Windows thing.) To me, it looks like one of the basic autogenerated MFC apps with a toolbar and list view that I made dozens of in the 90s. I guess I'm spoiled on a Mac and don't need additional tools (or UIs) on Linux.

"very simple" is one of the best compliments an UI can get! It's deceptively simple--looks like there's a lot of information and functionality packed in, and attention to details is apparent.

Contrast this with the too common designed-by-programmer UIs of Windows utilities, and I'd say this looks great.

Re: Show HN: Bvckup 2 – Simple Fast Backup for Windows

#54

Post by latitude »

skrebbel wrote: post #32
abcd_f wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I didn't understand how I would set that up with your program > I was just surprised to see it marketed as a backup tool instead of a file synchronization tool https://www.hackerschool.com/manual , Ctrl-F, "feign surprise"

That's not at all the kind of surprise that article is about. If you're going to go all Baloney Detection Kit on us, at least do it right.

To be fair, if someone casually links to a HowTo for rsync-based snapshots, saying that he can't understand how a mirroring app can be used for setting up rolling backups is a pretense modesty.

Re: Show HN: Bvckup 2 – Simple Fast Backup for Windows

#55

Post by thisjepisje »

latitude wrote: post #44
thisjepisje wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah I see. It says so under the button at the bottom of the page, but not under the one at the top.

Oh, good point. I totally missed that, thanks. (Edit) Better now?

Yeah now it's perfectly clear :)

Re: Show HN: Bvckup 2 – Simple Fast Backup for Windows

#56

Post by mmastrac »

latitude wrote: post #30
dufferzafar wrote: post #22

This is probably the nicest looking Windows application I have seen in a while. The website is pretty slick too. This is the kind of detail that you usually get to see for Mac applications. Great Job. Seriously. Right after I saw the animated details (you know, the one that pops up when you click "Change") I wanted to see its source code :/ Can you please tell us what language? and/or 3rd party controls are you using…

It's in C++, but closer to the C than to ++. The UI is done in a thin wrapper framework that runs directly over Win32 API. Custom controls, animations, etc. - all's from scratch. It's all much easier than it looks, just need to let MFC/ATL/XYZ go :)

I always thought that of all the Microsoft "frameworks" ATL and WTL were the best thought-out and most useful, and reasonably lightweight. I never really got the hang of MFC, but WTL clicked very quickly for me.

Re: Show HN: Bvckup 2 – Simple Fast Backup for Windows

#57

Post by kilburn »

latitude wrote: post #11
czam wrote: post #9

How does it compare to http://freefilesync.sourceforge.net/ ? Apart from the delta copying the feature list sounds similar. I find the FreeFileSync UI quite usable.

Faster bulk copying, lighter build, lighter on resource usage, removable device tracking, much better UI (it's subjective, of course, but just try it out and see for yourself). Formal backup planner, dry runs, native support for running as a service with separate engine and UI processes. -- edit -- Let me give an example of what I mean by "much better UI". Bvckup 2 has a hierarchical log viewer [1] and this thing doe…

> It could very well pass for a modest PhD thesis in a smaller university :)

This may be a bit far-fetched. Some might even say disrespectful to the bulk of PhDs out there, who typically worked several years (not weeks) to complete their dissertations.

From properly relating to current state of the art, to actually developing multiple (not just a single one) techniques improving it, and finishing by properly presenting all that work in a scientific manner: your nice trick has a long way to passing as a PhD.

EDIT: Ok, I didn't get the playful tone. Sorry.

Re: Show HN: Bvckup 2 – Simple Fast Backup for Windows

#58

Post by sciurus »

latitude wrote: post #54
skrebbel wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not at all the kind of surprise that article is about. If you're going to go all Baloney Detection Kit on us, at least do it right.

To be fair, if someone casually links to a HowTo for rsync-based snapshots, saying that he can't understand how a mirroring app can be used for setting up rolling backups is a pretense modesty.

What I meant was I don't understand how I could set up an efficient rolling backup scheme using this tool. I included the link to Mike Rubel's page because it demonstrates using hard links to share unchanged files between backups.

Re: Show HN: Bvckup 2 – Simple Fast Backup for Windows

#59

Post by sciurus »

latitude wrote: post #16
sciurus wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, I was thinking of rolling hourly/daily/weekly backups and I didn't understand how I would set that up with your program. Would I have to sync the same source to multiple destinations on different schedules? That seems inefficient compared to e.g. http://www.mikerubel.org/computers/rsync_snapshots/ Please don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to denigrate the software you've written! I was just surprised to see…

Why is it that you are surprised to see it marketed as a backup tool? I know about bup , thanks.

What thaumaturgy said. I guess my background as a systems administrator has made me somewhat particular about what people consider to be backups.

Re: Show HN: Bvckup 2 – Simple Fast Backup for Windows

#60

Post by latitude »

kilburn wrote: post #57
latitude wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Faster bulk copying, lighter build, lighter on resource usage, removable device tracking, much better UI (it's subjective, of course, but just try it out and see for yourself). Formal backup planner, dry runs, native support for running as a service with separate engine and UI processes. -- edit -- Let me give an example of what I mean by "much better UI". Bvckup 2 has a hierarchical log viewer [1] and this thing doe…

> It could very well pass for a modest PhD thesis in a smaller university :) This may be a bit far-fetched. Some might even say disrespectful to the bulk of PhDs out there, who typically worked several years (not weeks) to complete their dissertations. From properly relating to current state of the art, to actually developing multiple (not just a single one) techniques improving it, and finishing by properly presenti…

Yes, I know how doctorate degrees work and what they mean. It was a joke (as indicated by a smiley) and as with every joke there's a grain of joke in it. Not all PhDs are created equal.
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