REBIT Q and A

All articles on this site are by Harry Skevington unless otherwise noted with another byline

Email Q and A with David Schwaab
Director, Product Marketing, Rebit Inc.

January 17, 2008

[Harry] Are the files compressed

[David Schwaab] Yes, they are compressed whenever possible. As you know, files like jpeg and mp3 are not very compressable, because they are already compressed.

[Harry] Why can I not see the drive in My Computer so I can check remaining space?

[David Schwaab] Rebit is a total PC backup appliance (solution). As such, its value to the user is that they only need to plug it into their PC to get completely automatic and continuous PC backup (not only their data, but everything,, including applications, settings, operating system – everything). Rebit transparently handles all of the backup processes for the user so that the user doesn’t have to – continuously backing up anything that changes on the computer, just after it changes. In like manner, the user also does not need to concern themselves with the “fullness” of the Rebit drive where the backup information is stored – Rebit manages that for them so that everything on their PC is always backed up (the “NeverFull” feature). Rebit “trims off” the oldest information on the Rebit that is no longer on the PC when it gets full to make space for new information on the PC. In this way, the user is always backed up (backups do not fail because the drive is full, as they will with other backup products, and Rebit does not burden the user with deciding what to do, e.g., delete old backups? as they must with other products when their backup drive gets full. Rebit is truly a “plug it in and forget it” complete backup solution.

[Harry] When I right click on a folder or a file I only see a list of details like size in database and number of files in a folder. Why?

[David Schwaab] I assume this is when you are looking in the Explorer Window at the Rebit appliance backup store -- The reason is that the backup files on Rebit are not “NTFS” (Windows XP/Vista) files. They are only presented in a way that permits the user to see them (folders, files, versions of files, deleted files) as if they are Windows files, for “drag-and-drop or open/save as” backup file recovery. We store backup information in a proprietary way, a compressed form, that is also a “de-dup” (de-duplicated form). This is a patented way that is a key to what makes Rebit so special – Rebit provides for file version recovery, as well as recovery of the user’s entire PC to a given point in time. (We found that users want file information for files on their PC, which they can get of course, but their interest in their backup files are for recovery only).

[Harry] What is the process to Restore a drive or a folder or a file?

[David Schwaab] Rebit’s user interfaces is Windows’ own file system user interfaces – Infotips and Explorer. Recovery of a file or folder is drag-and-drop from Explorer to the desired location, or “open” or “save as” from the Rebit backup to when the user wants them. (It is important to note that the user sees Rebit only as an “appliance” – the frog icon rather than as a drive letter. This is because the user can restore files from the Rebit drive from Windows Explorer, but the user cannot delete files from it nor can the user write to it. This ensures that the user will always have backup integrity and cannot do anything to “mess it up”. Again, Rebit is a backup appliance (as opposed to a hard drive that the user must manage).

To Restore the entire PC from a disk crash, the user needs only to replace the disk with a new raw disk, plug in the Rebit, drop in the supplied PC Recovery CD, turn the PC on, and Rebit will display a window with the points in time for the user to recover to (they may want to recovery to yesterday or the day before). The user makes a selection and Rebit rebuilds the new disk to look exactly like the old disk at the selected point in time. Upon completion of the rebuild, the system will boot back up to the original state – the user does not need to do anything. (You may ask, what if the user rebuilds to three days ago, but wants three files (or whatever) they worked on since then? -- The user then simply recovers those three files from the Rebit after their PC disk is recovered).

[Harry] Is it possible to see how full the rebit is?

[David Schwaab] It is, though the storage management function of “My Computer”. We consider this not needed by the user, however, because Rebit manages the Rebit storage space so that everything on the user’s computer is always backed up.


	Harry Skevington has been involved with electronics since 1981. He has taught, written for, and provided support to, computer users since 1985. Information that will help consumers with buying decisions is more important than ever due to the current convergence of computers and other consumer products . Harry attends CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas on assignment as a working press writer each year to find and write about emerging technology that seems to fit the needs of his readers. Contact Harry

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