Background

I initially started using the latest version of BackupBuddyVFS in Beta form when I discovered that BlueNomad were developing a version that would backup the ‘Internal’ drive of the T5 as well as the more normal PalmOS memory. This will not be a big deal to most users but if you have a T5, I’m sure you will understand the reticence I’ve felt up to now about using this built in 160MB of ‘pseudo card’ storage that has absolutely no mechanism of backup and restoration available.

This beta version was actually available quite a while ago now and I’ve had it installed and in use for months but the whole process of developing a sensible backup solution for the T5 was somewhat hindered by the fact that the device itself had problems with its NVFS memory that resulted in numerous crashes while running any application that attempted mass memory manipulation. While BBVFS seemed to work despite these crashes, it obviously wasn’t felt to be good enough to release to market without some form of resolution to the problem.

Happily when palmOne (now Palm) released the Tungsten T5 Update 1.1 a month or two ago, all of these memory problems were seemingly fixed so the full version of the BlueNomad product could be finalised and released. As such, now seems an opportune time to take a look at the available functionality, both new and old.

The Software

As managers of one of the more mundane tasks ever to be undertaken by a PDA, backup software is not the easiest thing to review. There is very little benefit to having backups around in normal use and generally, the software that manages them offers very little by way of 'wow' factor. (I guess the handling of the Internal drive is as close to 'wow' as I've seen). Backing up is a necessity though and therefore worthy of consideration as a serious purchase - if you get it wrong and the worst happens, your data is gone.

BackupBuddyVFS is but a single solution to the PDA backup problem and not one I’d used before being given access to the new development. As such, I think it’s only fair to say that a number of other backup solutions exist and many offer similar feature sets to this. As I haven’t tried them all, I will offer no comparative judgement here but simply focus on the features of the software under review.

BBVFS may be used in one of two modes:

Basic mode presents you with a single screen holding three buttons – Backup, Restore and Preferences. The backup button is by far the biggest of these, and pressing it does just what you'd imagine and backs up your entire device. Tapping restore brings it all back while the Preferences button allows you to configure some of the means by which the whole thing is managed.

In Advanced mode you can do exactly the same…if you want to. However, the available functions are provide in much more detail allowing both Backup and Restore operations to be performed on specific files (for example) as well as providing additional options in the preferences panel and other configuration type screens that are available. I must confess that even after all of the time I’ve been using the product, I haven’t managed to fathom quite what all of the individual options are for!

Initiating a backup operation presents you with a simple progress bar, calibrated on the number of files on the device or in the data set (if you’re running in advanced mode). A display of this type won't give you an indication of time left to complete the backup, as files are different in size and the software will only process those which have changed since last backup. What it does do, however, is provide an indication of what is happening at any given time and also gives a feeling for the relative size of any given file. Not particularly useful, I’ll admit, but it tells you that something is happening and that is enough to give you confidence in what's going on. The restoration procedure functions in a similar manner, unsurprisingly.

Timed Backups

In some respects, the most important part of any backup software is the available timer options. An individual backup algorithm can be the best on the planet, but if you don't remember to use it, it's pointless having it on your device. Configuring the backup to be automated in some way, therefore, absolves you of needing to remember to backup but gives you the full protection that you’ve (hopefully) paid for.

Two automated options are offered by BBVFS, both of which are quite straightforward. You can either specify a backup to run at a set time each day or select the 'Power Off' backup operation. Personally, I'm not wholly convinced by the ‘Power Off’ option because of the time taken to perform the operation. Adding that sort of delay to every power off on my PDA (which is on and off regularly throughout the day) seems impractical to me (though it does work very well). Regardless, the option is available if your opinion differs from mine in this regard!

As with manually triggered backups, in Advanced mode, both timer options can be set up to backup either the entire contents of memory or the currently highlighted set of files which means that you have the option to permanently specify those items that are important to you for all future backups of any type. Note that this is the ‘currently’ highlighted data set though, saving data sets for use later on is not permitted.

One feature I like (though really only of minor importance) is that if you have a timed backup configured but happen to be using the PDA at the specified time, BBVFS doesn’t just cut across what you’re doing and launch into a full scale backup. Rather, you are given a timed warning with the option to disable the current backup. Personally (again) I have waited for the backup to fire up and complete before carrying on with what I was doing but I think the thinking behind the provision of the option is sound.

The Test, The Options…and a Confession

I must confess at this point that I haven't tried a full erasure and restore of my device. While this is a logical step for any review such as this, I’m not going to disrupt a PDA that seems to be running quite sweetly at the minute. What I have done, however, is wiped out some of the contents of my Internal drive and then restored the full contents of that area of memory in order to test out the newest feature of this software.

What can I say…it worked and in getting it to do so, BlueNomad have stolen a march on the competition as I have yet to hear of any other backup solution that offers to do this for T5 owners.

It’s worth noting that the options to backup and restore the data on this drive are only available as ‘pull-down’ options in Advanced mode. This isn’t a problem to me as such but given that it took me a while to work out that Advanced mode even existed when I first looked at this program, I think there is a danger that some users will be unaware of this most useful of device specific features.

Backup compression and encryption are both available, though I haven’t heavily tested either, as is selection of the card to be used as destination if you happen to be equipped with multiple slots. I haven’t attempted to select the T5 Internal drive as the destination for the backup of the Internal drive but I’m intrigued to see what would happen if I did…

Conclusions

BBVFS offers a good solid backup solution for PalmOS as I'm sure is no surprise to anyone. It's one of those programs that just seems to get on with its assigned task without problems in such a way as to make you forget it’s even there until you need it - which is just as it should be.

The addition of the T5 Internal drive to the backup makes it pretty highly recommended to owners of that device (though hiding it in the advanced mode menu rather than making it available as part of the Basic mode backup for the device surprises me a bit) and as one of those owners, I'm happy to stick with it for the foreseeable future.