Bonkey 3.0

After a long wait for this code monkey, Bonkey 3.0 for Windows hits the airwaves. It has been with testers for a while and it's time for public debut. You can get it at http://s3.amazonaws.com/bonkey/setup.exe. Note that you need to have an up-to-date version of Sun's Java. A Mac release will follow, hopefully within a month.

For new users, Bonkey is a simple to use backup system. It can backup to most storage devices, but it is specifically designed to be used with Amazon S3, which provides cheap online storage. You choose which files need to be backed up, select how often, set the destination and voila! your files are backed up.

Bonkey is free for non-commercial use; commercial users should contact thebackupmonkey at Google's mail (you know the one) for licensing information. Once again, Bonkey is provided without warranties - ie all care, no responsibility: if your computer ends up as a smouldering pile of plastic, or your files end up in the Never-Never (/dev/godhelpme), don't call me.

For existing users, there have been a number of important changes since the last release to make your life easier:

• runs as a Windows service: no need to login for it to start; uses less memory; and is invisible;
• summary screen shows you all you need to know and makes managing your backup groups easier;
• file transfer mode for easier drag and drop transfers;
• synchronisation to remove out of date files from backup targets;
• download updates from update site;
• two methods for file searches for even more flexible backup settings;
• built-in restore wizard to restore to a folder or original locations; and
  
• the bug which halted large file transfers on low-end machines has been exterminated.
  

For those who are new, Bonkey could already:

• backup to multiple locations, including Amazon S3, SFTP, FTP, Windows shares, and local disks;
• backup Microsoft SQL Server databases;
• backup automatically at a set interval and at a set time if desired;
• backup only modified files, or a snapshot of the files you select;
• compress and encrypt files during backup;
• be configured to email any errors during backup to you;
• allow drag and drop transfers between different locations; and
• show built-in help.
  

Other things worth mentioning:

• no spyware, adware, ads, viruses, spam, trojans or STDs. Just the backup software;
  
• runs on Java;
• S3 is run by Amazon - I have nothing to do with it and no responsibility for it. I use it though, and it ain't bad (it's cheap, which can't be bad); and
  
• thanks to Eclipse for the framework, Apache for a number of libraries, Eclipse for icons, and superconnected604 for the chain-smoking briefcase bearing primate.

Here's a simple screenshot of the summary page.