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Clonezilla VS Time Machine

Compare Clonezilla VS Time Machine and see what are their differences

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Clonezilla logo Clonezilla

Clonezilla is a suite of software that's designed to allow you to back-up and image new hard drives with your data.

Time Machine logo Time Machine

Time Machine is the breakthrough automatic backup that’s built right into Mac OS X.
  • Clonezilla Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-16
  • Time Machine Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-24

Clonezilla features and specs

  • Free and Open Source
    Clonezilla is available for free and the source code can be reviewed, modified, and distributed by users.
  • Wide Compatibility
    Works with a variety of file systems including ext2, ext3, ext4, reiserfs, xfs, jfs for Linux, and NTFS for Windows.
  • High Performance
    Utilizes programs like Partclone, Partimage, and ntfsclone, which offer efficient cloning and imaging capabilities.
  • Flexible and Powerful
    Provides numerous advanced options and features for power users, including unattended modes and network cloning.
  • Broad Hardware Support
    Compatible with various types of hardware, and can clone a single machine as well as multiple machines simultaneously.

Possible disadvantages of Clonezilla

  • User Interface
    The interface is not very user-friendly and can be challenging for beginners to navigate.
  • Complexity
    Offers a steep learning curve with numerous advanced features and command-line options that may overwhelm novice users.
  • Limited Incremental/Differential Backup
    Does not support incremental or differential backups natively, requiring full backups each time.
  • Limited Support
    Support mainly comes from community forums and documentation, which may not be as reliable or fast as paid technical support.
  • Boot Media Requirement
    Requires creating and booting from live media (CD/USB) for operation, which might be inconvenient for some users.

Time Machine features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    Time Machine is built into macOS, making it simple and intuitive for Mac users to back up their data automatically without needing additional software.
  • Automatic Backups
    Automatically backs up the entire system, including apps, music, photos, emails, and documents, at regular intervals without user intervention.
  • Versioning
    Maintains multiple versions of files, allowing users to revert to earlier versions or recover deleted files easily.
  • Seamless Integration
    Integrates seamlessly with macOS, ensuring optimal performance and compatibility with other native Apple applications and features.
  • Incremental Backups
    After the initial full backup, Time Machine only backs up changed files, saving space and reducing backup time.

Possible disadvantages of Time Machine

  • Storage Requirements
    Requires a significant amount of storage space, especially for the first full backup, which can be cumbersome for users with limited storage capacity.
  • Mac-Only
    Exclusively available for macOS users, which limits its utility for those using other operating systems.
  • External Drive Dependence
    Requires an external hard drive or Time Capsule for backup, which can be an additional cost and inconvenience for users who do not already own one.
  • Initial Backup Time
    The initial backup process can be time-consuming, depending on the amount of data that needs to be backed up.
  • Network Performance
    Backing up over a network can sometimes affect performance and speed, especially on slower networks or with large amounts of data.

Analysis of Clonezilla

Overall verdict

  • Clonezilla is considered a good tool for those who need a powerful, flexible, and cost-effective solution for disk imaging and cloning tasks. It is particularly well-suited for IT professionals and system administrators who need to manage multiple systems. However, it requires some technical know-how, so it may not be the best fit for users who prefer a more graphical, user-friendly interface.

Why this product is good

  • Clonezilla is highly regarded for its efficiency and reliability in cloning and imaging computer systems. It supports a wide range of file systems and is capable of handling both Linux and Windows partitions. The tool is open-source, which means it is free to use and continuously improved by a community of developers. It offers advanced features like multicasting, unattended mode, and the ability to encrypt images for added security. Users appreciate its robustness and the fact that it can perform full and incremental backups efficiently.

Recommended for

    Clonezilla is recommended for IT professionals, system administrators, and tech-savvy users who need a reliable and cost-effective solution for cloning and imaging tasks. It is ideal for those who are comfortable working with command-line interfaces and require support for a wide range of file systems and disk formats.

Analysis of Time Machine

Overall verdict

  • Overall, Time Machine is highly regarded for its reliability and ease of use, making it a good choice for Mac users looking for an efficient way to safeguard their data.

Why this product is good

  • Time Machine is a robust backup solution integrated into macOS, which provides a simple and automatic way to back up all your personal data, including apps, music, photos, emails, and system files. Its ease of use, seamless integration with the macOS ecosystem, and ability to restore specific files or entire systems make it a valuable tool for data protection.

Recommended for

    Time Machine is recommended for Mac users who want an uncomplicated, built-in backup solution. It's especially beneficial for those who value automatic backups and seamless data restoration without needing third-party software.

Clonezilla videos

+ Add

Clonezilla vs Acronis

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Clonezilla Tutorial: How to back up or clone your PC's HDD or SSD
  • Review - Cloning hard drives with Clonezilla!

Time Machine videos

+ Add

Bad Movie Beatdown: The Time Machine (2002) (REVIEW)

More videos:

  • Review - The Time Machine (1960) Review
  • Review - THE MORLOCKS (The Time Machine) EXPLORED

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Clonezilla and Time Machine)

Clonezilla

Time Machine

Cyber Security
79 79%
Cyber Security
21% 21
Backup & Restore
76 76%
Backup & Restore
24% 24
Antivirus
100 100%
Antivirus
0% 0
File Sharing And Backup
0 0%
File Sharing And Backup
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Clonezilla and Time Machine. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Clonezilla and Time Machine

Clonezilla Reviews

Linux File Backup - 5 Best Softeware for Linux Desktop and Server
As the name implies, Clonezilla(secured URL: https://clonezilla.org/) is all about cloning, disk imaging, and more. It is a free backup tool with features like UDPcast, partial cloning, and image partitioning. You can avail yourself of two different editions: Clonezilla Live (general users) and Clonezilla SE (server usage).
Source: www.easeus.com
The Best Free Backup Software and Why it is Difficult to Find One
Clonezilla claims to be a similar software solution to what Acronis True Image and other programs offered – a disk imaging/cloning program with unimpressive capabilities but with an amazing operation speed. Clonezilla has different versions of itself for regular users and servers with large numbers of machines – Clonezilla live and Clonezilla SE, respectively. It can perform...
Source: www.bacula.org
Top 7 Best Hard Disk Repair Software for Windows in 2022 (That Actually Can Rescue Your HDD!)
The best way to guard against data loss is to create backups. Cloning entire drives – or at least the important partitions – can save you much headache in the event of a drive failure. CloneZilla is the perfect freeware tool for this task, with some basic MBR repair capabilities, tacked on.
Source: www.handyrecovery.com
The Top 17 Free and Open Source Backup Solutions
Clonezilla is open source backup software from Symantec Ghost Corporate Edition, based DRBL. The primary mechanism of the solution includes image partition, partial clone, and udpcast, as well as bare metal backup and recovery udpcast. There are two versions of Clonezilla are available: Clonezilla live for single machine backup and restore, and Clonezilla SE for a server. In...
Source: solutionsreview.com
15 Best Acronis Alternatives 2022
Clonezilla is unaffected by the OS of the computer being cloned, backed up, or restored. For Clonezilla Live, it is installed on a CD/DVD or USB first, or it can be used as a server application in the case of Clonezilla Server instead.
Source: rigorousthemes.com

Time Machine Reviews

We have no reviews of Time Machine yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Clonezilla seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 2 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Clonezilla mentions (2)

  • Upgrading mass storage on laptop and keeping windows license
    Cloning drive using https://sourceforge.net/projects/clonezilla/ should work. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Best OS for Java dev
    It wakes your machine up (if properly setup) and performs a incremental backup during the night. There are other ways using free software but they are advanced and mostly only worth if you want to learn how to get those things work. Source: over 3 years ago

Time Machine mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Time Machine yet. Tracking of Time Machine recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Clonezilla and Time Machine, you can also consider the following products

Acronis True Image - (Formerly Acronis True Image) Complete protection for your digital life

Macrium Reflect - Macrium Software - the creators of Macrium Reflect backup, imaging and cloning software.

Duplicati - Free backup software to store backups online with strong encryption. Works with FTP, SSH, WebDAV, OneDrive, Amazon S3, Google Drive and many others.

HDclone - HDClone by Miray Software is the universal tool for cloning disks and other mass storage media fast and easily. To be used for backups, data recovery, system migration and professional duplication of several disks at a time.

rsync - rsync is a file transfer program for Unix systems. rsync uses the "rsync algorithm" which provides a very fast method for bringing remote files into sync.

AOMEI Backupper - AOMEI Backupper is a software created to help a person backup, restore, clone, and sync their entire Windows system.

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