im torn i can buy the upgrade to 5 and then get 6 for free but for 4 users its still over 60$ and then i wonder how long it will be before i have to pay again (i had to pay to go from 4 to 4.2 now to 5 and 6 will here then ill have to pay again for the next major update) i really like macrium but this and the issues i have had with the lic'ing in the past make me unsure if i want to pay again. im wondering what 6 will bring over 5...
Is there any other technical details available ? When using the current latest 5.3 it was not able to restore to a smaller drive. Will the new version 6 be able to do this automatically? I can use TrueImage or diskpart to change the size of the partition ahead of time to do it but TrueImage was the only one that was able to do it correctly automatically the other tools could not do it on their own. Would certainly be nice if Macrium 6 could do it. Like the idea of AX64 but with developer issues doesn't look like it will ever get finished and be stable.
ZFactor, WSFfan's POST basiucally says it all... the RAPID DELTA RESTORE (RDR) is one of the holy grails in the imaging world. This is the feature that AX64 brought to the table a few years back... the one that allows you to return to a time point (INCREMENTAL) by only restoring the DIFFERENCES between where you are and where you're going (much less data restored) rather that everything from the BASELINE to where you're going. This should be a HUGE time saver when imaging... it actually allows you to look at the process like snapshotting. I don't know yet whether this process is bi-directional or not... but even as a unidirectional feature, it's very valuable. The completely customizable (if needed) GFS (Grandfather, Father, Son) chain protection is another major feature. And INCREMENTALS forever offers the ability to limit the amount of INCREMENTAS you wish to take at any given time (will significantly reduce restoration times compared to having tons of incrementals) with Macrium doing automatic merging to maintain the integrity and # of the baseline/incrementals you have. AXTM does some of this but it doesn't allow for any customization other than ON and OFF. Those (3) features alone will make this a great product... assuming it works well for you
LOL as an old school guy who only do cold, full imaging and restoring, these new features are not really appealing to me. To me, being able to restore to a smaller partition is a much more important feature. If you are into incremental imaging and restoring, this new version does appear to be a significant improvement over v5.
Remember in the older days when you used to make full backups and you rotated them... like keeping the <n> most recent in rotation. Well GFS is the same concept except that 3-FIFOs (First in, First Out rotation buffers) are used... one for daily, one for weekly and one for monthly (this can be extended to bi-yearly, yearly, etc.). Mv6 sets these up for you automatically and I believe you can change the specifics if you wish... at least I hope so. Here's a quick description from WikiPedia... Grandfather-father-son Grandfather-father-son backup refers to a common rotation scheme for backup media. In this scheme there are three or more backup cycles, such as daily, weekly and monthly. The daily backups are rotated on a daily basis using a FIFO system as above. The weekly backups are similarly rotated on a weekly basis, and the monthly backup on a monthly basis. In addition, quarterly, half-yearly, and/or annual backups could also be separately retained. Often some of these backups are removed from the site for safekeeping and disaster recovery purposes. This was all started back in the ol' magnetic tape backup days (and man, there was a lot of them!) but still has a place in today's imaging protection.
All this has had me rethinking using Shadowprotects Continuous incrementals. First they are blazing fast averaging 7-10 seconds. Then you can set the retention policy in terms of keeping intra day,daily,weekly and monthly incrementals. It's basically set and forget and it worked beautifully. Going to be curious how v6 works. My biggest interest is in the rapid restore.
Danka. So when it says "rotated", does that mean replaced? Trying to see how this would work in real life here. A. Daily Full Backup, then daily incremental or differentials? B. Weekly Full Backup, then weekly incremental or differentials? C. Monthly Full Backups? 3 Separate "sets" of backups? Or weaving together? And to "snap back", which would you use? Obviously if I needed to snap to two days ago, the daily. But if I needed to snap back to a week prior, then either the daily or weekly? I feel such a connection with AX64, but it sure would be nice to have just one solution that covers what Macrium and AX64 are handling now. Or...I'd still want a backup backup, yes?
Hi All So in essence if this latest product from Macrium (V6) passes muster, it effectively removes most if not all of the questionable advantage that AX64 Time Machine had in the Backup/Snapshot arena. I tried AX64 when Isso was around and was not overly impressed (on the basis of my solo PC). The service and communication were however good. The guys that are now running the show I feel are struggling. For those who have paid for their AX64 Time machine should be, by now, getting a dividend of a reliable product. Happily I did not invest. What a lost opportunity for Ax64. But Macrium has been, is and will continue to be a solid may be brilliant product. For those who may criticise my perceived negative post, remember, this thread is about A64 TM and yet latterly much is about Macrium Reflect. Terry
In theory - though of course the proof will be in the eating e.g. how quick the restores actually work out to be (and the taking of incrementals for that matter).
If these are really DELTA restores as is claimed, they will be as fast or faster than AX64's. What we don't know is whether the DELTA restores can be done in both directions (back and forth between incrementals). The other thing is whether these DELTA restores occur under a LIVE (Hot) or COLD system only. Macrium, in my experience, has always had some of the fastest incrementals among the pack.
Excuse my ignorance, what does the word DELTA signify? Is it the type of restore, or a brand name or what? Thanks.
DELTA means difference. Macrium will be offering the same type of restore to a time point that AX Time Machine does... it'll be restoring only the differences in the disk surface between where you are at restore time and where you want to go. There will be no need for a FULL restore (complete BASELINE and all incrementals) unless the disk has decided to take a vacation.
Thank you. If this new version is stable like its predecessor, then it is going to be a killer backup application. No. 1 even.
Have gone back to using Macrium as part of my weekly image backup routine. I ditched Macrium quite some time ago because the Linux based Recovery CD was unable to 'see' the stored images on my external HDDs! (despite being seen by other imaging programs – Windows Explorer – Xplorer Lite, etc) I revisited Macrium Reflect recently and discovered that simply inserting my own archive name (instead of leaving it at the default) for the image enabled the recovery CD to 'see' the image (how weird is that?)
