LiveBackup is a hybrid application that performs continuous backups and makes system snapshot files.

Strictly captive to Microsoft platforms, Atempo uses MS SQL Server 2000 (included) to keep track of backup client-system data movements.

It's fast -- it made a snapshot of our system in a matter of minutes -- and provided a desirable negligible load on client performance while it was backing up continuously. Where there's a lot of continuously changing data, a fast pipe to the server (such as a symmetrical broadband connection) is recommended to ensure the lowest delta in the backup data set.

LiveBackup was tougher to install than normal in this test, and the client-side application can't have its installation options (such as the IP address of the server and the system name of the client) changed without the client application being uninstalled and reinstalled.

This shouldn't be difficult for static situations, where nothing changes, but we don't like to bet on those. We also had to do additional installation tasks that might stump some, such as configuring the MS SQL Server to start in the host server system, something Atempo could have done easily by supplying an installation script.

It's otherwise easy to understand and navigate backups from client to server, whether you're an administrator or a slightly savvy user. A LiveBackup 128-bit cipher encrypts data backed up from client to server on the wire (or through the air or whatever the network transport is).