Retrospect is a family of software applications that

back up In information technology, a backup, or data backup is a copy of computer data taken and stored elsewhere so that it may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. The verb form, referring to the process of doing so, is " back up", ...

computers running the

macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

, and

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

(and until 2019

classic Mac OS Mac OS (originally System Software; retronym: Classic Mac OS) is the series of operating systems developed for the Macintosh family of personal computers by Apple Computer from 1984 to 2001, starting with System 1 and ending with Mac OS 9. The ...

)

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also in ...

s. It uses the client–server backup model. The product is focused on the

small and medium enterprise Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by international organizations such as the World Bank ...

(SME) market. It performs three types of backup: "A Recycle backup deletes a backup set and adds all files, and a New Media backup creates a new backup set, copying all the files not included. Again this represents all files. Once installed, scripts can also be introduced to enable Scheduled backup using predetermined information supplied by the administrator. This information contains source, destination and other criteria, which enables a backup session to scan and back up one volume at a time, requiring less memory than an immediate backup." The product is used for

GUI The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...

-scripted backup.

History

The software was first developed by Dantz Development Corporation in 1989, initially for the Macintosh platform and continuing later for Windows.indowseview"> With sales split evenly between the two variants and the Macintosh variant claiming 90% of its market, Dantz Development Corporation was acquired by

EMC Corporation Dell EMC (EMC Corporation until 2016) is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Hopkinton, Massachusetts and Round Rock, Texas, United States. Dell EMC sells data storage, information security, virtualization, analytics, cloud ...

in 2004. In 2006 version 7.5, the refined first release of the Windows variant under EMC, added performance features needed by

SMEs Superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) systems store energy in the magnetic field created by the flow of direct current in a Superconductivity, superconducting coil which has been Cryogenics, cryogenically cooled to a temperature below ...

. Acquisition by EMC, under its Insignia brand, led to the product being briefly mothballed when Insignia was shut down in 2007. It was revived in 2008 and transferred to EMC's new acquisition

Iomega Iomega (later LenovoEMC) produced external, portable, and networked data storage products. Established in the 1980s in Roy, Utah, United States, Iomega sold more than 410 million digital storage drives and disks, including the Zip drive floppy d ...

. A "premature" release of Retrospect 8 in 2009 undermined its market after Apple introduced its competing

Time Machine Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...

in late 2007. In 2010, Retrospect was sold to

Roxio Roxio is an American software company specializing in developing consumer digital media products. Its product line includes tools for setting up digital media projects, media conversion software and content distribution systems. The company formed ...

, owned by

Sonic Solutions Sonic Solutions was an American computer software company headquartered in Novato, California. In addition to having a number of offices in the U.S., the company also maintained offices in Europe and Asia. It was acquired by Rovi Corporation in 201 ...

, which was then in turn acquired by

Rovi TiVo Corporation, formerly known as the Rovi Corporation and Macrovision Solutions Corporation, was an American technology company. Headquartered in San Jose, California, the company is primarily involved in licensing its intellectual property ...

. Rovi decided that it was not a core business, but a team who had worked on the product approached Rovi with the idea of spinning out as a separate company. Retrospect, Inc. was formed by a core team most of whom had worked on the product for ten years or more. Retrospect 9 was introduced in 2012, to positive reviews. In June 2019 the holding company StorCentric—which also owns

Drobo Drobo is a manufacturer of a series of external storage devices for computers, including DAS, SAN, and NAS appliances. Drobo devices can house up to four, five, eight, or twelve 3.5" or 2.5" Serial ATA or Serial Attached SCSI hard disk drives ...

—announced that it had acquired Retrospect Inc., which it will operate as an wholly owned independent subsidiary.

References

External links

* {{Official website Backup software Dell EMC Classic Mac OS software Roxio software Backup software for macOS Backup software for Windows

History

See also

References

External links