Before I get into specific Retrospect windows or activities, I want to explain some important terms as Retrospect uses them. Understanding these words will make everything else much easier.
Backup: An operation in which Retrospect copies files into a special file called a backup set (see "Backup Set," ahead in this list). Every backup to a given backup set after the first one is, by definition, an additive incremental archive. (Retrospect doesn't perform differential backups.) So, for the remainder of this appendix, I use the term "backup" to refer to what I normally call an "archive."
Duplicate: An operation in which the entire contents of a volume are copied exactly to another volume. Subsequent duplicates are incremental, and may delete files absent on the source (using the "Replace Entire Disk" option) or leave such files on the destination (using the "Replace Corresponding Files" option). Duplicates of startup volumes to external FireWire drives, secondary internal drives, or partitions on such drives, should be bootableas long as you chose the "Replace Entire Disk" option. Duplicates do not use backup sets.
Archive: A backup operation in which Retrospect deletes the original files after copying them into a backup set.
Restore: An operation in which files are copied from a backup set to another locationwhich may or may not be their original location.
Script: A saved set of options for a backup, duplicate, archive, or restore operation, which you can run at any time (manually or on a schedule). Scripts include what data you're backing up, to what destination, with which selectors and other options, and schedule information. The term "Script" is a bit of a misnomerunlike with AppleScript scripts, shell scripts, and so on, you don't actually see a script (a sequence of coded instructions); you see only settings in dialogs and windows.
Backup Server: A script type for backups (not found in Retrospect Express) that provides for a flexible schedule and multiple backup sets. Using this script type, Retrospect can back up clients whenever they happen to be available on the network, and store the backups on whatever media happens to be present. This makes backing up laptops and rotating backup media much easier.
EasyScript: A series of dialogs that walk you through the creation of a basic backup script (including a Backup Set, if necessary) by asking you simple questions. I've found that EasyScript selections always require significant modification after the fact, so I prefer to skip EasyScript and define my own scripts manually.
Backup Set: A special file that stores all the files and folders you're backing up; what I refer to elsewhere in this book as an archive. A backup set can contain many versions of any given file, and may optionally be compressed, encrypted, or both. Backup sets are readable only by Retrospect; you can't access their contents directly from the Finder.
Catalog: An index of a backup set's contents. For backup sets stored on a hard disk or network server, you can opt to store the catalog in the same file as the backup set or as a separate file (even on a different volume from the backup set), so you can view and search the contents of your backups even if the backup set itself is unavailable. (Backup sets stored on removable media always keep their catalog files on your hard disk.) If a catalog is missing or damaged, Retrospect can reconstruct it from the backup set itself.
Source: Whatever you're backing upvolume(s) or subvolume(s) on one or more physical drives.
Destination: The location where backed-up files will be stored. For backup, backup server, and archive operations, the destination must be a backup set (or more than one backup set); for duplicate operations, the destination must be a volume.
Subvolume: A folder you've designated as a backup source or destination. You cannot create a bootable volume by duplicating a startup volume to a subvolume, because as far as Mac OS X is concerned, a subvolume is just a folder.
Client: A computer on your network that's running Retrospect Client, and which you can back up to a server running Retrospect Desktop.
Device: A physical device that can store datasuch as an optical drive or a tape drive. (Hard drives and network servers don't count as "devices" in Retrospect's usage.) Some devices require special setup before they can be used, but in most cases, optical drives are recognized automatically.
Normal: The default backup behavior, which is to copy all the selected files on the first run, and then copy only new or changed files (an additive incremental archive) on subsequent runs.
Recycle: This setting instructs Retrospect to erase a backup set and then perform a normal backup.
New Media: This setting instructs Retrospect to create a fresh backup set (with all the attributes of an existing set) on a new set of media, without erasing the existing media.
