File backups are an essential part of every users computer administration. Whether it is an office setting or at home, backups are important. Your hard drive will fail at some point; you will need a backup, and you'll be kicking yourself if you learn this lesson the hard way.
While it's always been possible to backup files in Linux, until now there has never previously been a program that users and beginners could feel comfortable configuring. TimeVault allows you to backup your system wit
h snapshots. This means that if you lose files or want to return a document to a previous state, it is as simple as selecting the file through TimeVault's Snapshot Browser and clicking "Revert."
While reviewing TimeVault I selected to backup my documents, binary files, and photographs. By default, TimeVault will include your /etc folder, which contains the configuration files for your system. This can be very useful if you make a disastrous change to your computer at some point you can simply revert to the working version.
You will probably want to tell TimeVault to create a "Baseline" copy of each directory you are backing up; this will force it to create a backup of the files in their current state. When you do this, they are added to the Pending Snapshots window. [See image 1]
One of the biggest issues I have with TimeVault is that it doesn't allow you to reschedule your backups for a later date, or specify a time (preferably during which you're not using the computer) to do backups. While this is usually only a minor inconvenience, it can become frustrating when TimeVault starts copying files when you're right in the middle of something intensive. A nice feature would be able to postpone a backup in the "Pending Snapshots" window. [See image 2]
As far as I can tell, TimeVault will only allow you to backup directories, not single files. While this is what you want to do most of the time, it can cause problems. Backing up your Firefox bookmarks list, for example, requires creating a directory, and putting a link to the bookmarks file inside the directory (as done above). This is something I'd really like to see fixed soon. [See image 3]
While advanced and experienced users have been able to schedule backups using rsync, cron, and other tools, new users will find TimeVault a comfort; knowing that their files can be easily and safely backed up. The interface is relatively intuitive, and although the configuration could be a bit simpler, beginners should have no problem setting up TimeVault to keep their files safe. [See image 4]
I am looking forward to the next release of TimeVault, and I hope they continue to add new features. As TimeVault is a relatively new project, it isn't available through most distribution's repositories. To install TimeVault ope
https://launchpad.net/timevault/+download within your browser and install the latest package.
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