A giant leap backward
Apple is pushing Time Machine as a reason to rush out and buy OS/X 10.5, Leopard. And, after two solid years of development—not to mention the flashy demos and keynotes by Steve Jobs—this must be the end-all-and-be-all of backup solutions, right? Not.
From an enterprise point of view, as Sean points out, it’s not going to cut it. Incompatibility with network storage devices (NAS), no support for Windows clients or encrypted volumes are show stoppers in the corporate world.
Our own experiences are pretty disappointing as well. The first attempt to use Time Machine over Apple Remote Desktop was a complete failure. Unfortunately, the stunningly fancy and graphics-rich Time Machine user interface must use some direct video tricks—making it completely incompatible with Remote Desktop. Since most servers have no monitor, this is a non-starter to say the least.
The final nail in the coffin comes with what appears to be a complete lack of full system restore capabilities. After going through the scant documentation and exploring the interface there appears to be no way to restore a failed hard drive—I’m hoping someone can prove me wrong otherwise Time Machine is—true to Apple’s form in backup solutions—worse than useless. (I say worse because it will give a lot of people a false sense of security).
