Handy Backup

Handy Backup
Stable release Handy Backup 7.5.0 / June 2, 2014[1]
Development status Active
Operating system Windows 8, Windows 7, Vista, XP SP3, 2012 Server, 2008 Server, 2003 Server, Linux[2]
Available in English, Spanish, French, Russian and other (7 total) [3]
Type Backup software
License Commercial proprietary
Website Handy Backup

Handy Backup is a disk imaging and backup software developed by Novosoft LLC. Handy Backup creates backup copies of data stored on computers working under Microsoft Windows OS or Unix-like systems with the WINE Windows-compatibility layer. The backups can be stored to a variety of local and remote devices including HDD, CD/DVD/Blu-ray discs, FTP/SFTP/FTPS and WebDAV servers, Amazon S3 and other storage media. Users of Handy Backup can also take advantage of Handy Backup Drive, Novosoft's proprietary cloud storage service.

Overview

Introduced in 2002 by Novosoft, Handy Backup is a backup software targeted for use in home and small business environments. The program was originally designed for backing up individual files and data and settings of popular software applications. However, after cession of the copyright to Novosoft LLC, Handy Backup quickly acquired multiple advanced features, such as support for backing up Microsoft Exchange Server data, "live" disk imaging, cloud storage and other.

Operation

Handy Backup has a Wizard driven interface and a task-based architecture which allows creating and scheduling three types of operations: backup, restore and synchronization. Program supports all known backup types and is suitable for heterogenous networks. Key options include task scheduler, ZIP compression, Blowfish encryption, e-mail notifications, and an option to start other programs before or after task execution. The program supports MySQL and Microsoft Exchange backup. Handy Backup supports 32-bit and 64-bit operational systems.

Supported file systems

File systems supported by the software include NTFS, FAT16, FAT32, Ext2, Ext3, ReiserFS, Reiser4 and other. This variety is achieved through the use of disk imaging module which allows performing sector-based backup which does not query the file system. Though this feature is not primarily designed for hard disk cloning, it can also be used for this purpose.

Handy Backup .HBI format

Handy Backup stores information about each backup task in index files of its own .HBI format. Each index file contains the list of files, their sizes, time of creation, time of last modification, file attributes, and other data. It also includes a reference to the previous index file and is renewed with each execution of the task, which enables doing incremental and differential backup and save only changes. In Handy Backup, incremental backup is made on file level and differential backup is made on byte level.

Available Editions

Handy Backup comes in three editions designed for individual PCs: Home Standard, Home Professional[4] and Small Server. Also, there is an enterprise backup edition called Handy Backup Network Server which includes all features of Handy Backup Small Server and allows backing up data of networked workstations. The editions have different sets of features and are targeted at different market segments. All programs are distributed as shareware and have a full-featured 30 days trial period.

A legal battle over the trademark ownership

Novosoft LLC was partnering with Novosoft Inc in the field of software development for over ten years. In 2003 due to a financial markets storm caused by a Dot-com bubble crash, the companies decided to make their businesses independently and divide the software products they created together. On May 29, 2003 the copyright of Handy Backup was transferred to Novosoft LLC.

During the reorganization, a group of people from Novosoft Inc accused Novosoft LLC of stealing the trademark and refused to transfer ownership of the Handy Backup web site. They filed a suit against Novosoft LLC claiming that the copyright had been transferred illegally, and continued selling the program, acting under the old name of Novosoft Inc (which in fact stopped its existence as a US-based company).

Since then, both parties have fought in a continuous legal battle which is still not over. There are two websites, handybackup.net belonging to Novosoft LLC and handybackup.com belonging to Novosoft Inc, selling different versions of Handy Backup under the same name.

Novosoft LLC continues to develop and promote the program,[5] while Novosoft Inc sells a five-year-old obsolete version[6] because it has retained high search engine ranking. This has caused confusion among both customers[7] and editors. In 2008, TopTenReviews published a review of Novosoft Inc's version of Handy Backup, mistakenly ascribing it to Novosoft LLC.[8]

In May 2008, the Texas District Court acknowledged that the Handy Backup copyright had been transferred to Novosoft LLC legally and dismissed the case. Immediately after that Novosoft LLC filed a suit demanding that Novosoft Inc transfer the domain name to them.

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.handybackup.net/download.shtml
  2. ↑ |"Handy Backup Datasheet" (PDF).
  3. ↑ http://www.handybackup.net/morelanguages.shtml
  4. ↑ "Review of Handy Backup Professional". Retrieved 2014-06-21.
  5. ↑ "Updates of Handy Backup by Novosoft LLC".
  6. ↑ "Updates of Handy Backup by Novosoft Inc".
  7. ↑ "Novosoft Inc, Novosoft LLC and Softlogica LLC". Discussion on the Neowin Forum. Retrieved 2008-11-13.
  8. ↑ "Handy Backup Review at TopTenReviews". Top Ten Reviews. Retrieved 2008-11-13.

External links