Test by @Macarlo
Team OS/2 Registered

Screenshots by Embellish

 We tested on Warp 4 FP6 the new Back Again/2000 from Computer Data Strategies, Inc. (CDS). Back Again is considered  by some users as the best in show in the backup universe.

We installed the Back Again/2000 evaluation copy without any problem and verified that it runs really fine. In the photo below you can see a step of the install process on our OS/2 Client, where also is running just fine the copy of Back Again included in Object Desktop Professional from Stardock.

This special evaluation edition is limited to backing up 50MB at a time.  After backing up 50MB, the software will display a warning message and will abort the backup.  This software is identical to the full version in every other aspect, including the command line utilities and automated scheduling service.

 
System Requirements

Back Again/2000 Evaluation requires an Intel-based personal
computer or workstation running IBM OS/2 Warp v3, Warp v34, or Warp
Server Entry with at least 16MB of memory, a mouse or other pointing
device, and 15MB of disk space.  Support for ATAPI/IDE tape drives
requires at least OS/2 Warp v3 with FixPak 5.

User's Guide

The user's guide is provided in Adobe Acrobat format, and is automatically
installed when Back Again/2000 is installed.  If you do not have Adobe
Acrobat Reader installed on your system, you can install it from the Acrobat
directory of the Back Again/2000 CD-ROM or download the latest version
from Adobe's web site (http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html).

Supported Backup Devices

Many different types of backup devices are supported by Back Again/2000
and do not require a separate device driver.  Back Again/2000 supports
almost every SCSI and ATAPI/IDE tape drive currently available, and has
been designed to automatically configure itself for future tape drives
as well.  Additionally, Back Again/2000 does not require any specific
device driver to work with a SCSI or ATAPI/IDE tape drive other than
the driver for the SCSI or IDE adapter.  

Back Again/2000 also supports logical disk devices such as floppy diskettes,
Iomega Zip and Jaz drives, SyQuest EZ-135, EZ-270, and SyJet drives, etc.
in addition to internal hard disk and network drives.

If you have a question about a specific device, please do not hesitate to
contact our technical support group.

Photo above shows the Back Again/2000 folder created on Warp WPS

What's New

Compared to Back Again/2 Personal/Professional/Enterprise v4.x, there
are many new features in Back Again/2000.  Some of the major items
are listed here :

  o   Backup and Restore HotStarts
      HotStarts provide a "Wizard" approach to backup and restore
      operations and greatly improve ease of use.

  o   Entirely new media library system
      The new library system allows you to search all backups for one
      or more files, whether those files be backed up on tape, disk, or
      other media.  The media library is also kept in a compressed format,
      which reduces the size by approximately 75% as compared to
      Back Again/2.

  o   BAIIREXX, the Back Again/2000 REXX Function Library
      This library adds a number of callable functions to the REXX language
      to facilitate scripting applications.

  o   CLTAPE, a command line tape tool    
      CLTAPE provides a number of media management functions which can be
      issued directly from a command prompt or called by a batch file or
      other application.

  o   Disaster Recovery HotStart
      The Disaster Recovery HotStart is an all new tool specifically designed
      for the disaster recovery process.  Instead of using the command line
      restore tool as in the past, the Disaster Recovery HotStart focuses
      on making the disaster recovery process as painless as possible.

  o   New backup scheduler
      The new backup scheduler daemon allows backup operations to be run
      without requiring that Back Again/2000 be running.  It replaces
      the built-in scheduler in Back Again/2.

  o   All new tape driver subsystem
      Back Again/2000 is not dependant on OS2SCSI.DMD as is Back Again/2;
      instead, it communicates directly with the SCSI or IDE driver.

  o   New tape format
      Back Again/2000 uses the Microsoft Tape Format, which is compatible
      with a wide range of other backup applications including Back Again II
      on Windows 95/98/NT as well as the Windows NT backup applet.

Back Again II for Windows 95/98/NT Compatibility

Back Again/2000 is completely compatible with Back Again II for Windows 98,
Back Again II Workstation, and Back Again II Server.   Evaluation versions
of Back Again II for Windows 95/98 and Back Again II Workstation for Windows
NT are located in the Demos directory of the CD-ROM.

Back Again/2 for OS/2 Compatibility

Back Again/2000 can read tapes created by Back Again/2 for OS/2, with the
following restrictions :

    o Backups on non-tape media created by BA/2 for OS/2 are not
      supported at this time.  This support may be added in a future
      release.

NTBACKUP.EXE Compatibility

Back Again/2000 can exchange data with the backup utility included with
Windows NT.  However, Back Again/2000 provides many advanced features which
may prevent NTBACKUP from being able to restore data written by
Back Again/2000.  To avoid compatibility problems, we recommend the
following :

        o Do not use software data compression.
          NTBACKUP does not support software compression, and will therefore
          be unable to restore compressed data.  Instead, use hardware data
          compression if available, or disable compression entirely.

        o Do not back up more than one drive at a time.
          NTBACKUP expects to see only one drive per data set.  Instead, use
          a separate backup set for each drive.

        o Do not restrict the backup to the owner or administrator.
          NTBACKUP does not support the encryption method used by Back Again II.

    o Do not change the MTF block size.
      NTBACKUP expects certain block sizes on certain drives.

Photo above shows Back Again/2000 started on @Macarlo's Warp 4

Installing Back Again/2000

Begin the installation process by inserting the CD-ROM into the appropriate
drive and execute the SETUP.EXE program located on the installation media.  
If you are installing Back Again/2000 from a directory on a local or network
drive, change to that directory and run the SETUP.EXE program from there.
This will load the installation program and begin the installation process. If you are installing the evaluation copy from the file downloaded (ba2keval.zip, 4,34MB) simply unzip it on a temporary directory and click setup.

CONTACT AUTHOR

If you would like to perform a more complete evaluation of Back Again/2000, you may obtain an unlock code from CDS, Inc. through either the internet (http://www.cds-inc.com/evalsw/ba2keval.html) or by calling CDS, Inc. directly at 651-730-4156, Monday through Friday, 8:00am through 5:00pm CST.

@Macarlo, Inc.
@Macarlo's Shareware & Web
OS/2
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