Review Miscellaneous
ShadowProtect 4: Not a second to lose and no data lost!

We are used to using "Bare metal Restore" back up and restoration tools which we believe are indispensible for workstations, with ShadowProtect Desktop 4 offering this and more. This tool protects your data in real time, backs up your system configuration (full, incremental, differential) on either a local hard drive or network drive, with a restore being done extremely quickly in the event your computer is compromised! When you have a technical problem, the user won’t lose any time and will be able to continue working by using a backup converted into a virtual machine (VirtualBox, VMWare, VirtualPC), even while the physical restore of the drive is being done in the background.

ShadowProtect 4: Not a second to lose and no data lost!

March 31st, 2011 - 06:10 pm ET by

Real time protection with your data backed up

box_shadowprotect_desktop4ShadowProtect Desktop 4 easily completes its initial objective of protecting your data in real time (a snapshot taken every 15 minutes if you require it), administration of the backups (compression, encryption, password protection) from the administration console, backups to a local/external drive or a shared network/network drive (NAS). Besides this, the administrator also has verification options available for their backup image which guarantees the integrity of their data. The "backup" tasks can be run either manually or automatically with the help of the scheduler. You can also use this tool to organise an easy migration of your Windows system (or other) to a new desktop or laptop computer.

 

"Bare metal" full or granular restore depending on your needs

vue_administrativeRestoring your workstation to or from a different environment is possible thanks to the HIR technology (Hardware Independent Restore), with the operation being a very quick affair. This is a full or granular "bare metal" restore option which can be used thanks to the backup Explorer which allows you to mount a backup image as a logical drive, from where you can choose which files you want to restore, on a case by case basis when you need them.

 

VirtualBoot et VirtualConverter modules incontournables !

verifier_limageWe particularly appreciated the modern options made available with ShadowProtect Desktop 4, with the administrator having a range of tools which are today indispensible. With VirtualBoot, you simply need to right click on the image file in one of your backup points to automatically start the corresponding virtual machine in VirtualBox. With VirtualConverter, the available possibilities are even greater, with it being possible to convert a ShadowProtect image into a *.VHD or *.VMDK file which can then be used in VirtualPC or VMware.

 

Complimentary tools which shouldn’t be forgotten

restaurerThe administrator also has tools available to them to take things even further. Besides the verification of backup sets, they also have the possibility of activating notifications in the event a backup failure and/or success (simple window, sending of an email). You can automatically consolidate your image files thanks to ShadowProtect ImageManager, view and export events and generate and burn ISO files (ISOTools). ShadowProtect Desktop 4.1 is, in our view, an excellent product providing protection for your machine.

 

Manufacturer’s site

Purchase Shadow Protect Desktop 4.1 from 79€

+ Pros

  • Intuitive management console
  • Complete or differential backup to local drives, network location or optical disks
  • Full administration of networked computers
  • Super-quick "bare metal" Restore
  • HIR, system restore to different hardware or a virtual machine
  • VirtualBoot, easy execution to a virtual environment for free
  • VirtualConverter for the creation of VHD and VMDK files
  • ShadowProtect ImageManager (file consolidation, (re)verification, image mounting, extraction/injection of elements, task notification…)

- Cons

  • Exporting of the backup history is a manual process via a copy and paste
  • Backup to an FTP location is not available in the Desktop version
  • The 32 bit version is 64 bit compatible, but there is no dedicated 64 bit version
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