Bvckup - high speed "delta" sync

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Midas
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Bvckup - high speed "delta" sync

#1 Post by Midas »

[Moderator note: this is the primary Bvckup thread. View database entry]

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Fast real-time backup? Haven't tested but it sure looks interesting -- beta versions are free and beta testers are eligible for free licenses. The site feature summary:
http://www.bvckup.com/ wrote:Real-time, periodic or manual backups; Delta file copying; Precise file replication; Intelligent error handling; Small is beautiful; Powerful and intuitive file filtering; Streamlined and uncluttered user interface; NAS and HDD friendly; Software updates; Light on requirements
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Is it portable?
http://www.bvckup.com/support/forums/topic_show.pl?tid=92 wrote:> bvckup.exe -c path-to-bvckup-configuration-directory

If the "-c" is omitted, then the program defaults to using %LocalAppData%/Bvckup folder.

olliebean
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Re: Bvckup

#2 Post by olliebean »

This is an excellent app, the fastest backup program I've ever used. Leaves others in the dust, even FreeFileSync which was my previous backup program of choice.

It's on version 2 now (http://www.bvckup2.com), and has just come out of beta, so no longer free, but "There's also a free beta release and as I have mentioned before I will be maintaining it with bug fixes, but it won't be seeing any new features and there'll be no tech support available for it."

Not completely portable as the "-c" option mentioned by Midas above requires an absolute path, but if that's acceptable then it's completely stealth.

Not adding it as it's not technically freeware even though there's a free version available, but definitely recommended. Updating my backups now takes less time than FreeFileSync takes just to scan the disks for changes.

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Midas
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Re: Bvckup

#3 Post by Midas »

olliebean wrote:Not completely portable as the "-c" option mentioned by Midas above requires an absolute path
To workaround this path issue, you could launch Bvckup from a batch file...

Code: Select all

SET conf-dir=%~dp0[relative-path-to-bvckup-conf-folder]
bvckup.exe -c %conf-dir%

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Userfriendly
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Re: Bvckup

#4 Post by Userfriendly »

Took me awhile to figure out how to use that batch code... I have a 'Config' folder for all the bvckup2 settings so the batch looks like this...

Code: Select all

SET conf-dir="%~dp0Config"
bvckup2.exe -c %conf-dir%
My path has some spaces so I had to use quotation marks. It kept saving the settings in the root of the drive otherwise hehe... Anyway neat trick Midas. Could probably use that for other apps that requires absolute paths.

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Midas
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Re: Bvckup

#5 Post by Midas »

Duh! Silly me, I always go and forget something as basic as enclosing in quotes the now omnipresent paths with spaces... :oops:

If wanted, the path can be displayed in the console window for visual checking by interpolating the following between those two lines:

Code: Select all

ECHO BVCKUP config path will be set to "%conf-dir%" (press CTRL+C to abort)
PAUSE

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webfork
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Re: Bvckup

#6 Post by webfork »

Ouch. This is amazing. Wish I'd taken a closer look at this back in 2012 when Midas first pointed it out.

Will try to test shortly.

Edit: The site indicates that the program is going to be in perpetual beta and therefore always free. I'm not sure I know what that means, but it does mean that this can move to the submission, rather than payware forum.

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Re: Bvckup

#7 Post by webfork »

So here's the full sequence (presumably preparing for an entry):
  1. Download setup program and install http://www.bvckup.com/download
  2. Copy contents of C:\Program Files\bvckup to a folder of your choice
  3. Uninstall program
  4. Delete uninstall.exe and uninstall.bat
  5. Create a text document in the application folder and paste in the following content:

    Code: Select all

    SET conf-dir="%~dp0Config"
    bvckup.exe -c %conf-dir%
  6. Rename it to bvckup_portable.bat
  7. Launch bvckup_portable.bat

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Userfriendly
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Re: Bvckup

#8 Post by Userfriendly »

At the bottom page of http://www.bvckup2.com/ you can find the download link for the beta version which is free as well.
Last beta
In addition to the production version that is actively developed and supported, we also make the last version from the beta testing cycle available for download.

Last beta is completely free and has no restrictions or time limits.

Caveats

1.Last beta has been feature-frozen since April 2014 and it receives only critical fixes, when and if they surface.

2.We provide no technical support for it.

Download http://www.bvckup2.com/get/beta

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webfork
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Re: Bvckup

#9 Post by webfork »

Some usage notes:
  • Could dramatically increase the life of Flash media

    This program is THE solution for a problem I brought up a long time ago: Why an easy to use, portable RSYNC for Windows is important. If you're only using Flash media for critical backups, I'd disable the "Copy file in full after X partial backups" and just use a hash comparison program like MultiHasher or FileVerifier++.
  • This is not the fastest copy method until AFTER the first copy.

    If you're just moving something important from one place to another and don't plan to update it later, Bvckup is a waste of time and energy. I'd recommend FastCopy with verification enabled.
  • Initial backup

    I recommend initially setting the "Destination" to an empty directory. I ran one on a directory that wasn't empty and the program zapped everything there. This, despite a warning message about that but I still didn't register. I guess the message here is either don't run backups late at night or don't be a moron. Regardless, when you're dealing with backups it makes sense to be extra careful. Alternatively there's a "Do not delete any files" checkbox under "More options".
  • Backing up TrueCrypt volumes

    Disable "Preserve modification timestamp of file containers", which TrueCrypt has on by default for security reasons. Bvckup doesn't check files with the same timestamp and I couldn't find a way to force Bvckup to run a check.

    I would also dismount the volume even though Bvckup's shadow volume copying feature will function. If you're going to the trouble to encrypt and then backup your stuff, it's probably worth it to be careful.
  • Internal backup verification

    There is a small chance that there might be data corruption, a problem with delta copy systems. The dev addresses this and has tried to correct for it using a system not unlike BitTorrent hashing (I got a 9.6 meg hash file from a 15 gig file analysis; it's one of the reasons why you can't change the home directory after it's first set.) However, even the dev acknowledges that it's not fool proof and by default will do a full copy every 8 backups.
  • No single files backup

    There doesn't appear to be a way to backup a single file, only a full directory. I know there's a "Contents" bit that you can add/modify, but when I tried to backup a single file on my drive's root directory, I got a uniquely weird error:
    5/25/2014 10:51:03 AM FindFirstFile(C:\\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data) failed with 1921
    If anyone knows a way around this, please let me know.

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Userfriendly
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Re: Bvckup

#10 Post by Userfriendly »

Did you try bvckup 2? The interface is much better and you can easily filter out files to exclude if you wanna do that single file backup thing. No errors. There could also be some changes to performance and compatibility with Truecrypt. I only skimmed through the support forums and there were some mentions of it.

I don't see a reason to stick to the old version when the the 2nd version beta has the same 'Free As In Beer' license.

vacherin
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Re: Bvckup

#11 Post by vacherin »

webfork wrote: If anyone knows a way around this, please let me know
All of this is resolved in Bvckup 2.

To explain, the original version is now 5 years old and it is something that I wrote in a course of 3-4 weeks for my own use. I then put it online just to gauge the interest and surprisingly it took off. So a couple of years ago I sat down and started redoing the whole thing from scratch. It took about 18 months of full-time effort and the result is Bvckup 2. If you are still using the original version, you should seriously consider switching.

Now, point by point -
  • This is not the fastest copy method until AFTER the first copy.

    V2 is faster than recent versions of robocopy, which are pretty damn fast and significantly faster than FastCopy. It has a fully async I/O module that uses adaptive buffering, so if you find a faster bulk copying software, I'd like to have its name.
  • Initial backup

    The issue of people ignoring the warning when backing up to an existing directory is now handled by an archiving function. Should a user in fact decide to dismiss a VERY LOUD WARNING without reading all your existing files will still be there, merely moved into an archive directory.
  • Backing up TrueCrypt volumes

    TC volumes may still get their timestamp not changed even after unchecking the "Preserve modification timestamp of file containers" option in TrueCrypt preferences. This is a known TC issue. The workaround for this is to use "$touch c:\path\to\your.tc" as a pre-backup command, which will force the timestamp change on your.tc. Again, this is in V2.

    With regards to dismounting a TC volume before the backup - this is a reasonable advice, but if you have a volume that sits idle and gets no I/O during the backup time (e.g. if you run nightly backups), then you may very well skip the dismounting/remounting step and just use the shadow copying instead.
  • Internal backup verification

    > There is a small chance that there might be data corruption, a problem with delta copy systems.

    No, bad phrasing. There is an infinitesimal chance of a hash block collision. That is when two different 32KB blocks end up having the same hash, leading to the case when a modified block not getting copied when it should be. This is a theoretical possibility and the "copy file in full" option in V1 was just a paranoid precaution.

    Furthermore, V2 removes this option and replaces it with an additional hash check that is computed over an entire file using a different digest algorithm. In an off chance that none of blocks changed, but the file hash did, the app will recopy file in full. It will also log a message to that effect and plead to report the incident to the support. So far, in 12 months of usage and 15,000+ users, there were no reports ... but as I just mentioned, for practical purposes and given the context the possibility of a hash block collision is virtually zero.
  • No single files backup

    Resolved in a major way in the V2. I killed a good month on the new inclusion/exclusion UI widget.

HTH

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Midas
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Re: Bvckup 2 beta

#12 Post by Midas »

In view of the overly favorable reception Bvckup has had recently, I decided to summarily check the latest Bvckup 2 (beta, since it's the only freeware version) for an update post; here are a few findings...

Bvckup 2 beta requires an install/uninstall cycle to get to the files, as (Uni)extract doesn't seem to work. As with the previous version, the very breadth of its features is impressive, especially if you consider the extremely small footprint, so I'll just touch the more prominent ones: Bvckup 2 beta has 32 and 64 bits native versions, is able to run either interactively and as a service, can copy system locked files (via VSS), has delta copy capabilities, and is totally portable via the above mentioned batch file workaround.

As the software itself -- mainly a single executable that doesn't even reach 600 KB -- the homepage is exquisite in it's simplicity, tasteful layout and scope, covering every information aspect a user might need. Also, the support forum (http://bvckup2.com/support/forum/) is a real treasure trove of valuable information (with portability discussion at http://bvckup2.com/support/forum/#!/topic/43).

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author of http://www.bvckup2.com/ wrote:[Bvckup 2] Last beta: In addition to the production version that is actively developed and supported, we also make the last version from the beta testing cycle available for download. [Bvckup 2] Last beta is completely free and has no restrictions or time limits. Caveats: 1. [Bvckup 2] Last beta has been feature-frozen since April 2014 and it receives only critical fixes, when and if they surface. 2. We provide no technical support for it.
Download latest Bvckup 2 beta (currently release 68, changelog: http://bvckup2.com/support/forum/#!/topic/366) from http://www.bvckup2.com/get/beta.

EDIT:
@ http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=69809#p69809, webfork wrote: [*]Create a text document in the application folder and paste in the following content:
[code]SET conf-dir="%~dp0Config"
bvckup.exe -c %conf-dir%[/code]
[/list]
I just realized that, in order to have the console window close immediately after launching bvckup, that code should be instead:

Code: Select all

SET conf-dir="%~dp0Config"
START "" bvckup.exe -c %conf-dir%
On a humorous note, Bvckup 2 beta might provide a great (if puzzling) example for globalization: the previous version was distributed by Yaletown Software Design from Vancouver, Canada; the newer one is distributed by Pipermetrics SA which is Swiss, incorporated in Lausanne; the developer is Alex Pankratov, previously in charge of the Hamachi VPN software (http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/ ... c.php?t=28); the current beta installer is flagged as Canadian English, while the executable itself is in US English... talk about multiculturalism. ;)
Last edited by Midas on Sun Jan 04, 2015 4:59 am, edited 1 time in total.

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webfork
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Re: Bvckup

#13 Post by webfork »

vacherin wrote:All of this is resolved in Bvckup 2
Cool ... I'll test this out and check back in.

Also, thanks for replying to this. I always appreciate when developers take the time to sign up and post.

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Midas
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Re: Bvckup

#14 Post by Midas »

Just a quick note of warning: if you're running Bvckup2 "last beta" portably and get offered an update, you must decline and update manually -- I didn't and got my beta executable replaced with the commercial version (seemingly v1.68, as opposed to v0.68 for the "last beta").

vacherin
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Re: Bvckup

#15 Post by vacherin »

Midas wrote:Just a quick note of warning: if you're running Bvckup2 "last beta" portably and get offered an update, you must decline and update manually -- I didn't and got my beta executable replaced with the commercial version (seemingly v1.68, as opposed to v0.68 for the "last beta").
This was an oversight on my end. When updating from all earlier betas the update dialog shows the change log that includes a warning that updating will pull down a production release and start the trial. I simply forgot to add the change log for 0.68 -> 1.68 update. I added it now, so if you check for updates, you will see something like this -

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