Bacup 1C: Seven small trips in search of one big utility

Backing up business application data is a theme as old as Cobol, and everlasting like the process of fixing errors on Windows. For this purpose, the true Jedi of system administration are armed with self-made scripts, usually representing the same surprisingly postmodern combination of the latest technologies and antediluvian thinking, like a lightsaber from Star Wars. The office samurai, in contrast to the Jedi from the server room, go to their manager, daimyo, and ask him for a dozen or so “coca” of rice to buy advertised proprietary processing for data backup. (For those who do not know: “processing” is a program in the internal language of 1C, and “Koku” is a measure of the volume, which samurai measure their salary.)
I was thinking about the problem of creating backup copies of 1C a little more than a year ago, for the first time I received a short instruction on the list of my official duties - “to ensure the safety of enterprise backup data in the 1C system with the possibility of their effective recovery”. Alas for me - I'm not a Jedi IT specialist and not a samurai manager. I'm a traveler by nature. And so, taking advantage of Google and some favorable signs from the accounting department of our institute, I set off on a long journey to find a decent utility for backing up 1C data in both file and SQL modes. I will continue to talk about the solutions I have discovered in this journey and about the various amazing adventures connected with them in my further narrative.

Wandering first. Effector saver

In any journey there are places that cannot be passed. For example, the Indian monkey commander Hanuman, flying from India to Lanka, could not escape the mouth of the Suras water snake; pigeons, carrying Zeusa ambrosia past the border guards, regularly broke on the stones Simplegad. You yourself, once in Paris, be sure to go and stare at the Eiffel Tower. And, of course, no searcher of backup utilities for 1C will be able to avoid contact with Effector Saver, a free program for saving 1C data! Well, here I am, too, plunged!
No, I will not swear. Effector Saver - the program is very good. There is a free version, there is a backup of SQL content 1C, along with the files, there are many other nice "buns", which make life easier for a sysadmin or enikeyschiku life.
Advantages such as the ability to run the program as a Windows service, in order not to distract the user's attention with unnecessary actions, and automatic shutdown of active 1C users for the time of backup, are especially encouraging. The interface is very logical, easy to learn and gives no reason to think about every action.
Difficulties began in the transition from theory to practice. I am a shot sparrow and a crap roll, therefore, before trusting the fate of my native enterprise to a third-party commercial product, I first of all checked the user feedback. And they, to put it mildly, are contradictory. And let the ratio of tar to honey is quite traditional - a barrel to a spoon - but the reaction of the program developer to the detected tar, to put it mildly, is far from perfect. In other words, he is conflicted. He rightly believes that he has done a very good (and this is so!) Free program, and that this program’s minor problems should not be scolded for. But the problem is not swearing! 1C is not a recording file for a toy under DOS, it is a thing under the control of which many millions can suddenly spin. And no one wants to lose these millions due to the fact that the developer (I repeat, who has done a tremendous amount of work!) Did not listen to a couple or three unexpectedly minor remarks.
I repeat: I do not want to be unfair. Effector Saver seemed to me a great program. But where it’s about money, beauty alone is not enough. And I had to part, reluctantly, with the wonderful country of Effector Saver and embark on my next journey.

Wandering the second. Handy backup

This product initially captivated me with a combination of a somewhat old-fashioned exterior design with a very modern content. It looks archaic, like Windows 98, and is reliable in functionality, like a Kalashnikov machine gun. Under the mossy interface is hidden, as in a magical grotto, a wonderful set of the most relevant functions for backup, recovery and data synchronization. Here, you’ll record backups to any commercial cloud, even Dropbox, even Amazon S3, even OneDrive (not to mention more mundane media, like FTP or USB disk), here you can work with all types of databases, and store several versions under the timestamps ... The Handy Backup User Guide, which prompted innumerable possibilities, captivated me as the nymph Calypso captivated Odyssey, who was once caught by the storm. Everything was described there in detail, in general everything that can be done with backups! It was a very exciting read ...
I immediately rushed to the official website of Handy Backup and downloaded a trial version for thirty days to see how the advertising promises once again clouded my view of the ugly truth. I was disappointed! No, not in the sense: I was disappointed in my expected disappointments. Handy Backup does what it promises! In desperation, I contacted the technical support service of the product (“provided for the entire life of the license,” as written on the site) - and suddenly I received competent, serious technical advice. This feature also works like everyone else! Moreover, during my testing of Handy Backup, two updates were released, each of which contained not new plugs and plugs for previous errors, but new useful functions.
Why did I leave this earthly paradise and went further, to new journeys along the inhospitable shores of foreign software products? The answer is simple: money. Handy Backup is a paid program, and the soul, as you know, asks for free programs. And Handy Backup has a free version only, allowing you to save copies of anything (yes, 1C too!) Exclusively on Yandex.Disk. For everything else, it is necessary to lay out the money, in an amount depending on the required set of automatic backup functions. And if the file version of 1C Handy Backup is able to recognize and save in all configurations, starting with the basic Standard for about forty dollars, then you will have to pay a lot for storing backup copies of an SQL-based DBMS.
Having sent the management a detailed report on the charms of Handy Backup (in the hope that they would suddenly give money!), In the meantime, I collected my meager luggage and moved on to a new journey.
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The third journey. "Guardian V"

My path led me to a deserted, uninhabited island with the sign of “Guardian V” full of romantic charm. The developer of this magic diva - to match the name, this is GANDALF. So, and that is the name of the company that created the magic product.
On the company's website about the functionality of the "Guardian" was able to learn quite a bit. Much more attention was paid to advertising slogans and banners, rustled everywhere, like a wild forest. Not too clarified the situation and a short expedition to the surrounding forums; the mysterious “Guardian” by GANDALPH was still mysterious and unclear to me. Perhaps, in the old days this region was full of life and movement, and many jubilant users made backups of 1C from morning to evening, not wanting to think about a better fate; now the “Keeper” looks homeless, and, judging by the site, the last time the sysadmin’s leg went somewhere else back in 2011.
I confess: I was suddenly frightened. I was scared to wander among the slogans and advertising appeals of the "Guardian"; I did not dare to disturb the virginal calm of this place by attempts to download a program or some other violation of silence. I was afraid that I would remain the only user in this program and would be forced to lead a robinzonadu for many years, fighting for survival alone. Ak to know: perhaps, a terrible and overwhelming bug lurking in the thicket, which is just waiting to devour all my data! And I, disappointed, left this magical, but completely empty edge, to continue my journey into the sea of ​​the Internet.
Not far from the Keeper of the GANDALF, another islet was discovered, artlessly marked on the maps of 1Cbackup. The survey showed that this product sank completely, and only a few breakers on the mossy forums indicate to the random wanderer his past existence.

Wander number four. "Bekaper-1C"

Finally, fate brought me back to a civilized place! “ Backer-1C ”, written, as I managed to understand, by programmer Alexey Karmanov, not only lives, but is also updated from time to time (the latest version was released sometime in the middle of 2013). This program is simple, free and has a good intuitive interface. In addition, the developer is very friendly, well explains not only the benefits and advantages of his program, but also the technique of working with it, and, apparently, quickly and adequately responds to user comments. After contacting “Bekaper”, a short experience with Effector Saver seems to be a year spent in the cave of the Polyphemus Cyclops.
"Bekaper-1C" is designed for "simple" users of 1C and, as a result, is deprived of some important features of the functional. In particular, I was unable to start it as a Windows service. In addition, for archiving data, he uses the built-in program 7-Zip, which is very convenient for users, but sometimes causes the most unexpected problems, for example, with a corporate security policy. Nevertheless, this decision took place in my personal rating alongside Handy Backup; I wanted to return to it more than once.

Fifth Wander: "1Script Manager for MS SQL"

In this place, doubts began to torment me: did I get there? After all, I need to keep backup copies for the file version, and for the most different DBMS! But, apart from mentioning MS SQL in the title, I didn’t find any other options for working with 1Script Manager . The price was also horrified: about five and a half thousand rubles for a product with, to put it mildly, limited functionality!
I wanted to turn around and end the journey, but I was attracted by unexpectedly good product reviews. System administrators are a harsh people, they will not needlessly praise Steve Jobs, nor Steve Ballmer, nor, oh, horror, Peter Norton - and then suddenly gathered on the forums and sing real praises! In other words, if backup 1C with a base on MS SQL is exactly what you need personally, then this option, apparently, can and should be considered. I also urgently needed backup for the file version. Therefore, I was upset and left this resource.

Wandering Six: Archipelago of Scripts and Utilities

During my wanderings in the sea of ​​forums, I came across a whole scattering of small applications, either happily escaping dissolving in the sea of ​​time, or just being born. Out of curiosity, I visited and related resources; I will name among them what seemed to me worthy of special mention. Finding information about all these utilities and scripts is easiest at infostart.ru .
Cyclic backup by day of the week. A script created by a milkers programmer for users who need, oddly enough, a cyclic backup by day of the week. It is a compilation of various backup scripts, but the compilation is successful and, apparently, reliable.
Installation of automatic archiving for 1C 8.1 and 8.2 (4.0.4.2). Apparently, the program, unlike the previous one, is a 1C processing. Quite comfortable, but has very limited functionality.
Automatic archiving of databases 1C 8.2, 8.1 and 7.7 . A very old version of the archiver for 1C, but, apparently, very reliable. For those who are not afraid to work with software products released during the reign of plesiosaurs and, apparently, long ago removed from technical support.
After curious about these and other wonders, pretty tired of wandering and reading technical forums, I finally went home (that is, to the homepage), and there, in deep silence, I made my choice.

The seventh and last journey: The choice is made!

I will not make a secret: I chose Handy Backup. I also liked the Effector Saver and, in particular, the Bekaper-1C, but two reasonable considerations led me to a different decision.
First, technical support for free utilities usually leaves much to be desired, and critical situations have the habit of arising unexpectedly. With technical support, I did not have any problems with Backup; I note, however, that for the year that has passed since the times of the described travels, I took advantage of it only once, when I installed network agents. By itself, the program worked and works like a clock.
Secondly, there is no doubt that it is very pleasant to have a good utility for backing up files there or, on the contrary, SQL version 1C, or for backing up, say, Yandex.Disk, or some other backup. But you need to back up everything, literally everything, and it is very convenient when the same product does all kinds of work for you!
So I made my choice. I went back to Handy Backup, to its vintage interface, a convenient set of storage and ultra-reliable extensions. It was Handy Backup, on my recommendation, that 1C data from our accounting department was entrusted. Subsequently, it was to this very program that I transferred first the storage of technical and user documentation at our institute, and later my own small photo studio, where I have to store both the commercial data of the 1C system and the photo archive in archives. I have never regretted the amount spent. They would still not be enough even for a trip to Hawaii, not to mention the new travels to the fabulous islands, where efficient and free software is growing on the trees.
And without travel - what kind of life ?!