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Entered CNET Catalog: 08/19/2003
SKU: TU10A006500
Manufacturer: EMC
Manufacturer description
Designed for use in small and midsize businesses, as well as workgroups in large enterprises, Retrospect Small Business Server delivers proven technology, complete protection, easy administration, and fast backups with accurate Smart Restores. It runs only on Microsoft Windows Small Business Server, and it backs up and restores the server as well as networked desktop and notebook computers. Retrospect Small Business Server includes the Exchange Server Agent, the SQL Server Agent, and the capability to create a Disaster Recovery CD for the Small Business Server computer. Retrospect provides the utmost in safety and security by protecting against loss due to viruses, newly installed software, user error, damaged hardware, hardware upgrades, hackers, and lost or stolen computers.CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 06/11/2004
When you run Retrospect for the first time, it asks you for the product's serial number and offers to register the product. Afterwards, it takes you into your first backup job.
With an Explorer-like interface, Dantz Retrospect makes it easy to choose what you'd like to back up, whether it's a shared network folder on a client's computer or local drives on the server hosting Retrospect. It's just as simple to identify where to store your backup. The software configuration includes the ability to set passwords and schedule regular backups.
Retrospect 6.5's interface is minimal, with a set of expandable menus down the left-hand side of the screen, including tabs for Backup, Restore, Automate, and Reports. Dialog boxes walk you through every backup process--an approach that's comforting at first but will grow cumbersome once you get your sea legs. Dantz Retrospect 6.5 for Windows Small Business Server includes some sophisticated features but only entry-level accessibility. A network-based backup system can back up just the network server or the server and its clients, and all files or just a select few. It can also store the backup on a variety of storage media. Dantz Retrospect 6.5 can do all that, but it will leave more-sophisticated users wanting more. For example, most businesses keep seven tapes of backup volumes and overwrite Monday's tape each week. A wizardlike applet called EasyScript guides you through the process of configuring your daily rotations. The trade-off for this convenience is that Retrospect offers basic configuration options with limited granularity.
Surprisingly, the program generously includes a server disaster-recovery feature, but you'll have to shell out extra for client-recovery tools. You might expect all backup software to include disaster recovery, given that most buyers purchase backup software to protect against catastrophes. But many other server-backup packages, including Veritas Backup Exec and BrightStor Arcserve, do not.
Like most Retrospect 6.5 tools, Dantz Retrospect Disaster Recovery is easy to use should you need to restore everything on your server. From the recovery disc, pick which set of files you'd like to recover, then insert your Windows Server CD and product key. The program isn't able to confirm whether you typed in the key correctly, so it asks you to double-check a dialog box. This doesn't engender the warm, fuzzy feeling you seek from a disaster-recovery process.
In addition to its disaster-recovery feature, Dantz Retrospect 6.5 is unusual in that it includes features for SQL Server and Microsoft Exchange Server, critical if your business uses or collaborates with other systems running these Microsoft programs. Most other server-backup apps charge for SQL Server and Exchange Server features.
Although they aren't as extensive as the competition's, Retrospect supports plenty of backup-hardware options, including tape drives, hard drives, optical drives, and even Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices. An optional add-on called Advanced Tape enhances performance by enabling multiple tape backups to run concurrently. Depending on the type of hardware and software you have, there are some optional features worth purchasing to fill out the Dantz package, including Open File Backup. Dantz's free telephone technical support is limited to two incidents within 30 days of the date you purchase the package. After that, you'll have to pay on a per-incident basis ($69.95) or purchase an annual support contract (currently between $749 and $929). Live support is available Monday through Thursday, 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT and Friday, 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. PT, excluding holidays.
Retrospect 6.5 for Windows Small Business Server's built-in help files are sparse compared to the competition's, although they do an adequate job of explaining the basics. Unfortunately, the online help is not much better, geared more to Dantz's better-known desktop products than to the newer server-based versions of Retrospect.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2
User Rating: 
1/10
Files? What files?
Pros: zip. nada. nothing. zilch. Dantz, I hate you.
Cons: Backups are not usable. Lost data.
Review:
Unspeakably criminally bad.
It's only supposed to do one thing
BACK UP THE FREAKIN DATA
Now that I have a disk crash, I go to my backup (Maxtor external HD) and - - sorry, Dantz can't read the catalogs - - doesn't remember doing any full Duplicates - - can't find anything in its restore points.
It's only supposed to do one thing
BACK UP THE FREAKIN DATA
Now that I have a disk crash, I go to my backup (Maxtor external HD) and - - sorry, Dantz can't read the catalogs - - doesn't remember doing any full Duplicates - - can't find anything in its restore points.
User Rating: 1/10
Worst backup program out there
Pros: None found
Cons: Poor user interface. Unreliable backups.
Review:
I have worked with many backup systems over the last 18 years and I cannot recall one worse that this except for the old Irwin software.
Retrospect forces you to use their backup methodology which is an attempt to be clever but a poor implementation. They try to simplify a complex backup strategy that involves recyling tapes efficiently. Unfortunately, it requres so much user intervention that you can't automate the process for a simple tape swap by a secretary. Their "system" requires manual tape erase, rename or replacement in order to get off-site rotation which is a "must do" for my customers. Their recommended methodology is to leave a tape in all week while it appends backups to it. If you are willing to lose a weeks worth of data because of a bad tape then go ahead.
In ANY other backup product, you can create a repeating job that overwrites the inserted tape. Retrospect demands that you prelabel the internal tape if you want it to work right and if you get anything out of sequence it is a mess to fix.
If you are using this product and think that you are protected, you don't know what kind of trouble you are in.
Retrospect forces you to use their backup methodology which is an attempt to be clever but a poor implementation. They try to simplify a complex backup strategy that involves recyling tapes efficiently. Unfortunately, it requres so much user intervention that you can't automate the process for a simple tape swap by a secretary. Their "system" requires manual tape erase, rename or replacement in order to get off-site rotation which is a "must do" for my customers. Their recommended methodology is to leave a tape in all week while it appends backups to it. If you are willing to lose a weeks worth of data because of a bad tape then go ahead.
In ANY other backup product, you can create a repeating job that overwrites the inserted tape. Retrospect demands that you prelabel the internal tape if you want it to work right and if you get anything out of sequence it is a mess to fix.
If you are using this product and think that you are protected, you don't know what kind of trouble you are in.
