HDClone vs Veeam Agent for Linux

HDClone creates physical or logical copies and file images of hard disks and other mass-storage media. It works independently of partitioning schemes, file systems, and operating systems, including proprietary formats that might otherwise be inaccessible. For defective media, SafeRescue first skips damaged areas and then carries out the rescue operation. HDClone can make differential images containing changes to an original image, typically resulting in smaller files. Images can be optionally encrypted with AES and compressed, or saved in VMDK, VHD, VHDX, and VDI formats. Miray Virtual Disk can mount images, including VHDX and VDI, as Windows drives with read-only or writable access. HDClone supports Windows from XP through Windows 11, and an AppImage is available for Linux distributions. The self-booting package supports SecureBoot and includes boot-media creation setup for USB or CD/DVD. The free edition is for private use, supports up to 4 TB, and lists speeds up to 70 MB/s. Paid editions start at €19.90 once for Basic Edition.

Veeam Agent for Linux protects Linux instances running on premises or in public clouds. Its free edition supports backups of a whole computer, individual volumes or files, with recovery options including bare-metal, volume-level and file-level restores, plus bootable recovery media. For incremental backups, the agent combines kernel-module changed block tracking with built-in snapshots. It encrypts backup data on the source computer before the data leaves it. The agent integrates with Veeam Backup & Replication repositories and their file-level recovery capabilities. Backups can go directly to a Veeam-immutable hardened repository; the Linux backup solution also supports cloud or on-premises object storage and selected object-storage-based Veeam repositories. The free edition is distributed as RPM and DEB packages and supports default Linux distribution kernels from version 2.6.32 and above. Its Free plan costs nothing and allows one backup job, with several destinations and processing options excluded. Veeam offers a 30-day full-functionality commercial trial, but the Free edition does not include a commercial support program.