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Product Review: Page (1) of 1 - 04/03/06

RedPaw's Backup Box Lives Up To Its Name It's so easy, the boss can use it. By Esther Schindler Every IT manager winces when the phone rings and a distraught user cries, "My hard disk seems to have died." The first question is, "When did you last back up your computer?" -- and the answer is usually depressing. Yet, we know that most users simply won't deal with backups. An entire industry has been built around this, from services that deal with the results of not backing up, to enterprise level tools that manage backup at the server. Red Paw Systems Inc. has taken a much simpler approach, and I think it works brilliantly.

The start-up company's new product is the BackupBox, which is available in several flavors. (I'll get to those in a moment.) It's basically a hard disk that you plug into the computer or laptop's USB port. When it's connected, the BackUp Box performs a full system backup, in the background, whenever the PC is idle. Best of all, no user intervention is necessary.

That's right -- the user doesn't even know the backup is happening. The first time the box is connected, Windows recognizes the new device and automatically installs the software. After a short and painless registration (during which the software checks to ensure it's running the latest version), the software utility steps out of the way and becomes essentially invisible. Whenever the computer is idle for more than three minutes (you can change that setting), the BackUp Box saves the contents of the boot (C:) drive in the background. If you start working again, it puts the backup on hold.

You probably never need to look at this status page.

In other words, this is the exact right solution for the user whom you privately describe as "the ten fingers of death." The user really doesn't need to know a thing about using his computer. Plug it in, and the system is backed up. It doesn't get easier.

You can, of course, click a button to say "backup everything now," or even "back up now, and then shut down the computer," which would be handy at the end of the workday. And you can fiddle with the settings somewhat, or watch the device's status box to see how much of the backup has been completed. But the essence of the BackUp Box is simplicity, and Red Paw appears to have found the sweet spot to which Albert Einstein refered when he said, "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."

If your hard disk crashes, you install the new hard drive, plug in the BackUp Box, and boot from the supplied CD. The software will guide you through the restoration process, and you'll be back in business. (Note that I did not test this process; the IBN test labs aren't quite set up yet.)

I didn't do any performance tests, so I'm not sure of this, but the BackupBox doesn't seem to be the speediest backup device. It's USB, after all, not FireWire. Then again, it doesn't have to be super-fast. That isn't its point; this device is meant to be a manageable station wagon, not a sports car. You won't find a lot of options for backing up a specific directory or changing disk compression, either; the BackupBox is for the user who doesn't want to mess with those settings. Or the user who might be dangerous if she did.

The company has several models; we tested two. The portable Mobile BackupBox, with a list price starting at $299, has a 40GB or 80GB hard drive and is USB 2.0-powered. The Personal BackupBox, a wall-powered single desktop unit, starts at $209, and has drive capacities ranging from 80GB to 250GB. The mobile unit weighs about the same as my laptop's battery pack, so it really is portable. Even if you don't send the sales staff out on their rounds equipped with a unit, attaching a BackUp Box to their docking stations will mean that the computer is backed up between road trips. The desktop model has a larger capacity, and has a steel-and-neon retro design that looks really cool. (My only quibble is that its neon red glow implies that something is wrong. It does look neat, though.)

Models are also available for home office and small office, and you can purchase a software-only version if you already have an external hard drive. For a network, the BackupBox storage is placed on the server and shared over the LAN with the client workstations. The software requires Windows 2000 and later, and Vista is supported; our tests used Windows XP Professional and Windows Media Center Edition.

I'm thoroughly delighted with the BackUp Box. I think you will be, too. Red Paw Systems makes backups as invisible and efficient as they're supposed to be.

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Esther Schindler has been writing about technology professionally since 1992, and her byline has appeared in dozens of IT publications. She's optimized compilers, owned a computer store, taught corporate training classes, moderated online communities, run computer user groups, and, in her spare time, written a few books. You can reach her at esthers@digitalmediaonlineinc.com.

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