Seagate Replica Backup Appliances Designed to Do One Thing Well

Posted 04/28/2009 at 4:09pm | by Mark Edward Soper

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This week, Seagate announced its latest backup devices, the Replica backup appliance family. Replica is available in two versions: a single-computer 250GB model ("Single PC") and a 500GB version ("Multi-PC") that also includes a dock.

Replica's 'plug it in and forget it design' is intended to make it  a close hardware equivalent to online backup services in terms of ease of use, but it's not designed to be as flexible - or as fast - as a traditional USB hard disk. Seagate refers to Replica as a "backup applicance" for good reason: the included software makes a backup copy of your entire system, and you get a bootable recovery disc that helps you restore your system in case your system drive dies.

While you have the option of restoring the entire PC, or just dragging individual files from Replica back to your PC in case you deleted your latest draft of the Great American Screenplay, Replica won't do drag and drop copying from your PC to Replica. Seagate's reasoning: if you want an external hard disk, get yourself a Seagate FreeAgent or FreeAgent Go, or a Maxtor OneTouch or OneTouch mini. By contrast, Replica is designed for users who don't want to think about anything after installing the software and plugging the drive into a free USB port.

Estimated pricing on the Single PC version is $129.99, with the Multi-PC version expected to sell for $199.99. Look for Replica to hit store shelves in May.

From my perspective, Replica might be a handy solution for folks who need backup, and only backup. However, am I the only one who is noticing how large laptop and desktop hard disks are getting these days? No matter how easy Replica is to use (and it sounds about as easy as it can get), what happens when you fill up the unit? What do you think? Is Replica just fine as is, or should Seagate include bigger drives? Hit Comment, backup experts, and tell us what you think.

Seagate Replica Multi-PC version illustration courtesy of Computer Shopper.