About once a year I need to research and purchase more backup software for my clients, this year is no different. Each year the software choices become better and cheaper. I looked at three different software applications:

• BackupAssist $229
• Acronis True Image $699
• MigoSoftware PC Backup Server Edition $119.00

I selected MigoSoftware due to price and functionality. The real selling points became the fact that the backup has the functionality to create bootable media that can then restore the system from scratch. The only question I still have is how does it work with any files that maybe open, which generally is going to be a problem no matter which software you choose. The system states for Windows XP it includes the 'Open File Backup' which should alleviate the problem but even support couldn't tell me if it would work on the server or not.

BackupAssist would have been my second choice and I have used it before so I know it is good software. The main problem became money. It would cost $229 + $119 for the open file option. The advantage of this software is also that the standard windows backup software can read the file format.

Acronis has the really nice feature of the ability to backup to a virtual machine providing the end user with the ability with very little work to get the system back up and running. However the cost differential didn't offset this feature.

I will keep you posted if I run into any problems.