14 DAY TRIAL // Mathusalem is a very reliable backup solution for Mac OS X users. Whether you want to use it as a preferences pane, or directly as a command line tool, the program supports a wide range of destinations. Recently updated, Mathusalem now implements the delete operation for FTP, as well as other enhancements and tweaks.
According to the folks at Pol-Online, the makers of Mathusalem, backup data files are now cached locally for faster history browsing. Version 1.6 Beta 3 also added support for Secure Amazon S3 (HTTPS), according to the changelog. Lastly, the program has added French translation. Bug fixes include,
· Requires 1% of extra free space instead of 1Gb on local drive when creating archive so that backup works on small USB keys · Passwords can now contain the '?' character · Backup containing locked files do not fail anymore.
Mathusalem can generate archives in various formats, it can restart a download or upload that failed, it runs only when necessary, in low-priority mode, so it doesn't hang your CPU or hard drive. Best of all, it is fully open source, so it's free to download and use.
Pol-Online claim their program is complementary to Time Machine, as it backups automatically one or more directories of your choice to remote servers. This, of course, ensures extra safety of your most important data, so whether you choose to back up your data to local drives, iDisk, WebDAV, AFP, FTP, SFTP or Amazon S3, you're guaranteed maximum security and reliability.
Mathusalem is also an open source alternative to the Backup application that comes with .Mac / MobileMe. Some users might want more features or "knobs" to turn when performing a backup, even with emails, so Mathusalem comes in handy for them, too. The program generates fully self-contained backups (data and settings which make it possible to access them from any machine or even relocate them). Since the backup data files resulted are plain XML, there are no proprietary file formats involved, meaning you have immediate control over your backups.
Mathusalem is a Softpedia freeware pick.