Amanda vs Cove Data Protection
Amanda
amanda.orgCove Data Protection
n-able.comSide by side
| Figure | Amanda | Cove Data Protection |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $5.99/mo | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 5 | 1 |
| Spec score · Backup and Disaster Recovery Software | 9.5 (#1) | 8.5 (#9) |
| Spec score · Backup software | 8.8 (#26) | 8.8 (#21) |
| Backup scope | mixed | mixed |
| Computer backup | Yes | Yes |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Supported platforms | Windows,macOS,Linux | web,windows,macos,linux |
| Restore modes | file | mixed |
| Security | Amanda supports secure server-client communication using OpenSSH, archive encryption using GPG or another encryption program, and Kerberos 5 security. | N-able says backups use AES-256 encryption at rest and in transit, with mutual TLS authentication to its data centers and mandatory two-factor authentication. |
| Support | The project says free support is unavailable; users can seek help through mailing lists and forums, while formal or commercial support may be available from vendors. | The product pages link to N-able customer support and direct users to contact sales for local phone numbers when the trial form does not load. |
| What it does | Amanda centrally backs up many networked hosts from one master server to disk, tape, optical media or cloud storage. | Cove provides cloud-first backup, disaster recovery, and archiving for physical and virtual servers, workstations, and Microsoft 365 data from one web-based dashboard. |
Plans
Amanda
- Amanda CommunityFree
- Amanda Community EditionFree
- Business$5.99 a month
- Business Plus$6.99 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
Amanda
Amanda is a free backup system that lets an administrator protect multiple networked hosts from one master server. It can write backups to disk, tape drives or changers, and cloud storage; bundled drivers cover DVD-RW, RAIT, and Amazon S3. Amanda schedules full and incremental backups and distributes work over the backup cycle. Its catalog tracks files and media locations, helping identify tapes needed for a restore and manage them to avoid overwriting the wrong one. Archives can be compressed before or after network transfer. Security options include OpenSSH for server-client communication, GPG or another encryption program for archives, and Kerberos 5. The Application API supports custom backups for applications such as relational databases and special file systems. Amanda has a native Windows client, and lists Linux, Mac OS X, and Unix client platforms. It is available for Linux, macOS, Windows, and self-hosting. The community edition is free, open source, and provided as-is; the project says it continues to receive critical security updates.
Cove Data Protection
Cove Data Protection brings backup, disaster recovery, and archiving for servers, workstations, and SaaS data into a cloud-first service managed from a web dashboard. It covers physical and virtual machines alongside Microsoft 365, including Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams; Google Workspace sources listed include Gmail, Calendar, My Drive, Shared drives, and Contacts. Recovery options range from file and folder restores to bare-metal and virtual disaster recovery, with local or cloud server recovery also available. Standby Image can stage a bootable virtual machine in VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V, or Microsoft Azure. Backups can run as often as every 15 minutes, and N-able says TrueDelta can move up to 60 times less data than traditional image backup products. Included pooled cloud storage supports configurable retention up to 10 years. N-able describes encrypted, immutable backups isolated from the local network by default. Supported operating systems include Windows, macOS, and GNU/Linux. Pricing is on request; a 30-day trial is listed, and there is no free plan.