Other Software > Announce Your Software/Service/Product

Bvckup

(1/18) > >>

apankrat:
Ahem... tap tap tap... Is this thing on?

Hi,

I would like to introduce a little creation of mine called Bvckup.

In short, it is a folder cloning utility. One points it at a pair of folders and it makes sure the second folder is exactly like the first one.
Do I see a puzzled expression on your face? Not a rocket science, you say? Just give me a minute :)

---

First
Bvckup's default mode of operation is to constantly monitor for changes. Once the changes are detected, it propagates them to the destination. This makes Bvckup a real-time backup utility.

Second
Its default copying mode is delta copying. Which is a fancy way of saying that it copies only changed parts of the file. This makes Bvckup fast, really fast. Lots more details on why and how along, mind you, with the list of drawbacks of this particular approach is available here - Delta copying, explained.

Third
Bvckup is not a two-way sync utility, it's a backup utility and it makes full use of the core difference. By default it assumes that the destination copy does not change between the backups. This allows it to not scan the destination directory to detect what changed, but rather rely on a locally saved summary from the last backup.

I hear you say "bah, so what?". Two words - NAS backups. Not needing to scan the destination directory eliminates a lot of network traffic, and it removes the need for spinning up otherwise idle disks on NAS devices. This adds up to some major time savings, on top of those delivered by delta copying.

---

Still with me? A bit more perhaps? :)

Fourth
The user interface. It is not about utilizing all 16 million colors in a single toolbar icon. Verbosity is not a feature, multitude of options is not a convenience. Properly designed user interface is all about simplicity and unobtrusiveness of the day-to-day interaction flow. A small example would probably go a long way here - Bvckup toolbar - but the only sure way to appreciate the UI polish is to take the app for a spin.

In fact Bvckup is as much about the UI design as it is about technical features. This bit explains how tightly these two are intertwined in case of Bvckup and how they shaped the design of the app - Short history of Bvckup.

Fifth
It is small and very lean. The installation package is about 480 KB. That's as much as a splash screen logo of some other backup products :) The app is written in C++ but without any extensive use of ++ features. It's much more like C with Classes... just like Bjarne envisioned before he got sucked into that bloody language design committee... but I digress.

Sixth
It is technically sophisticated. It doesn't copy just the file contents and the attributes, but also the timestamps, NTFS security and ownership information. If it finds a file that it cannot copy (locked, open, etc), it will try and use Volume Shadow Copying to work around the problem. If it is running under stripped-down administrator account on Vista or W7, it will prompt and offer to elevate itself to full admin privileges.

Also, and it's for true Windows connoisseurs only - it can run in elevated and filtered modes using the same executable. In fact, the even more amazing feat is that the very same executable can interact with Shadow Copying service on both XP and Vista; even though Microsoft explicitly requires linking to two different VSS libraries for these two platforms. Took a while to figure this one out, I can tell you that :)

---

A bit more...
Assorted bits and pieces of some interest - built-in software updates, linear regression ETA estimator, the built-in interactive Mini Guide shown on the first run, a bit of a logo and web design goodness and a bit about myself.

And lastly...
All beta versions are free, with some tasty perks in store for the beta users.

---

So that's about it. I hope you got the feel for what this program is about, and what the design approach behind it is.

Here is the URL - http://bvckup.com - check it out, let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Alex

Screenshot:

sajman99:
apankrat, congrats on your software. :) I've been using Bvckup for a short time and am quite content with it.

I think many more folks will be using Bvckup as it becomes more well-known. It surely deserves recognition as the excellent program it is.

Good luck to you.

cranioscopical:
Interesting stuff, Alex.
Keep it up!

Armando:
Yes, very interesting. :)

I'm currently testing bvckup's latest beta.

1- I'm syncing a 215 GB partition to an external HD, USB 2, not the fastest let me tell you. The first Sync took a while, but that was completely expected. Files first needed to be copied fully.

2- RAM usage started at around 15 MB, peaked at 90 MB during syncing. CPU usage was more than acceptable. I could still do stuff while the syncing was taking place. No errors whatsoever, shadow copy is ON, which means that every single file got copied, even the "in use" ones.

3- subsequent syncings :

a- RAM usage stays at around 60 MB afterwards. Similar to other apps in that category -- more than syncback, much less than Oops!Backup.

b- fast as hell. Less than 7 min each time, about 4 min for the last one.  Here's what the log file says after the last sync (only parts of the modified files are being copied, thanks to the delta copying technology) :

2010-10-14  22:16:14  Job [SyncAllDocXimeta] completed in 4 minutes 11 seconds with 0 errors, copied 228 KB out of 1221 MB in 49 files

Just as you guys know... 228 KB out of 1221 MB (1 250 304). That's about 0.018 % of the total size. Isn't that great ? Instead of copying the whole 1221 MB like SyncBack does, only 228 KB were copied (i.e : the modified portion of the files.)

I don't backup to any network drive, but if I was, it'd be good news.

I need to do more testing of course.... have to somewhat moderate my enthusiasm... but it seems that this could finally replace Syncback or SyncToy as a syncing solution. Especially if apankrat implements versioning and exclusion of folders for the scanning part (when folders are actually excluded from copying)... Oh, and proxy support.  :)

 :up:

Armando:
I had a look at your web site... Impressive. (I like how it looks like too... and I also like bvckup's web site AND its UI. Very slick, simple, to the point.)

So you're also the coder behind Hamachi ? (Congratulations, really, if that's the case...). The way LogMeIn uses it certainly proves its efficiency.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page