Retrospect is a family of software applications that

back up Backup is the computing function of making copies of data to enable recovery from data loss. Backup may also refer to: Information technology * Backup (backup software), Apple Mac software * Backup and Restore, Windows software * Backup softwa ...

computers running the

macOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

, and

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

(and until 2019

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

)

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...

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 many national agencies and international organizat ...

(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 Gui or GUI may refer to: People Surname * Gui (surname), an ancient Chinese surname, ''xing'' * Bernard Gui (1261 or 1262–1331), inquisitor of the Dominican Order * Luigi Gui (1914–2010), Italian politician * Gui Minhai (born 1964), Ch ...

-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 EMC Corporation (stylized as EMC²) was an American multinational corporation headquartered in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, which sold data storage device, data storage, information security, virtualization, analytics, cloud computing and other pro ...

in 2004. In 2006 version 7.5, the refined first release of the Windows variant under EMC, added performance features needed by SMEs. 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 Corporation (later LenovoEMC) was a company that 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, i ...

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

Time Machine A time machine is a fictional or hypothetical device that allows time travel. Concept A time machine is a device that makes time travel possible. The ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' distinguishes between two different types of time ma ...

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 form ...

, 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 2 ...

, 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. Now operating as Xperi, the company is primarily involved in licensing ...

. 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 was a manufacturer of a series of external storage devices for computers, including Direct-attached storage, DAS, Storage area network, SAN, and Network-attached storage, NAS appliances. Their main product was also known as Drobo. Between 2 ...

—announced that it had acquired Retrospect Inc., which it will operate as an wholly owned independent subsidiary. After the 2023 bankruptcy of StorCentric, Retrospect was spun off into a separate company owned by Serene Investment Management, a private equity company which had a financial link to StorCentric.

References

External links

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

History

See also

References

External links