I have been using various backup software over the years and had some unexplainable behaviour and disasters with a couple of programs. This was not down to operator error but flakey applications. I work in music production and have to look after backups on a daily basis. That includes big project folders over various drives and huge amounts of data - hundreds of GB on a normal album session.

The only software that has not let me down ever is Tri-Backup. It is not a widespread program and the developer is small. However, I have converted many people over the years and never heard of any horror stories. One of the users on this website commented about a lack of communication from the developer. I have had a support request once which was followed up the next day and fixed my problem.

Some people complain about Tri-Backup being too complicated. This is not true. Whilst it is not as straightforward as SuperDuper or Silverkeeper it is a lot more advanced than those applications and has features that are quite remarkable considering the price. Also, there are a lot of hints built into the main interface so getting started should not be a problem. However, when you work on big projects with lots of backups going on several times per day over several sets of hard drives etc you will come to appreciate Tri-Backups reliability and customization.

I have used SuperDuper and it seems very reliable and has a great user interface. I would say that SuperDuper will be the program for you if you are a home user in need of bootable safety copies etc. Since it is half the price of the regular version of Tr-Backup it makes sense to go for SuperDuper. However, if you need the functionality and customization that Tri-Backup offers you will be hard pushed to find a better piece of software for the price.

All of this is true for the standard version. There is a pro version for $35 more which offers some advanced functionality which you may never need. This is a nice touch by the developer as it reduces the price for many users without being a restricted cut-down type software.