Questions and Answers about LiveBackup at Carleton

Q: Who can participate in LiveBackup?

A: LiveBackup is currently for College-owned Windows workstations (desktops and laptops). Our initial deployment is focusing on users whose workstation is already being backed up by Retrospect.

Q: Why don't we just use Retrospect?

A: Retrospect isn't providing adequate data protection, despite the amount of staff time we are spending. This is due in part to product design, the number of workstations we are trying to back up, and work schedules in our community. By reducing the number of workstations that Retrospect is covering, we expect that Retrospect coverage will improve.

See the LiveBackup Features page for a list of features. If you are familiar with Retrospect on campus, you will probably understand why we have switched to LiveBackup.

Q: Why aren't we replacing Retrospect for our Macintosh users?

A: There aren't as many choices in the Macintosh world for workstation backups. Atempo, the maker of LiveBackup, has indicated they are working on a Macintosh release of LiveBackup. They made no promise that they will release such a Mac version of LiveBackup, but indicated that they might release one as soon as Fall, 2007. We are hoping that by moving Windows workstations out of Retrospect and making other changes, we can make Retrospect work well enough until later this year, when we will know better whether or not there will be a Mac version of LiveBackup.

Q: May I ask ITS to put my College-owned Windows workstation into LiveBackup if it's not currently participating in Retrospect?

A: Yes. Talk to your Coordinator. We are focusing on current Retrospect users because we think that Retrospect will improve when we remove many of the workstations it is trying to back up, but we should be able to accomodate some additional users at this time.

Q: May I ask ITS to put my personally-owned Windows workstation into LiveBackup?

A: At this time, we are only planning on licensing LiveBackup for College-owned computers.

Q: Are the data transmissions secure between my workstation and the LiveBackup server?

A: The data is protected using a 128-bit encryption algorithm, similar to the algorithms used for online shopping.

Q: I backup my workstation to an external hard drive. Should I be using LiveBackup instead?

A: Sure! When you backup to an external hard drive, it happens either on a regular schedule or when you think about it. LiveBackup, on the other hand, is always running when your computer is on, and it backs up your files in the background shortly after you save them. There is no need to remember to start your backup or to leave your computer turned on for a regularly scheduled backup.

There is another good reason to use LiveBackup instead of external hard drives. If something happened to your workstation such as theft or fire, it is likely that you would also lose your external hard drive--and all of your backups! With LiveBackup, your data is protected on servers in our data center. If your computer is lost to fire or theft, the data center (probably) won't be affected.

Q: How do I recover files with LiveBackup?

A: We will be providing documentation on how you can recover your own files and folders. For now, though, call your Coordinator, who will be happy to help you through the process.