Q: Appropriate Backup Software for Server?

Suggested Backup Software

  1. Carbon Copy Cloner

  2. Data Backup

  3. Deja Vu

  4. SuperDuper!

  5. Synk Pro

  6. Tri-Backup

Others may be found at VersionTracker or MacUpdate.

Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore.  Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files.

Not for me. I suppose you can set up a large, separate hard drive for your users' backups. They can use Time Machine. But I would use backup software designed for multi-user/machine backups. My preferences would be Synk Pro, Tri-Backup, or Carbon Copy Cloner.

Same opinion. I'm not a lover of Time Machine.

This is the official line on backing up a server with TM:

Restoring OS X Server from a Time Machine backup

I've found that a full-system restore didn't result in a completely functional server. I'm not sure why not. The best practice is probably to use both TM and a mirroring tool such as "Carbon Copy Cloner" or "SuperDuper." In case of a bare-metal restore, I would restore from TM first in order to preserve the backup history, then (if necessary) restore from a mirror backup. Any files that need to be restored from the most recent snapshot can be recovered in the time-travel view.