Simple Network Backup Public beta
Living product reference

What SNB supports now—and what comes next.

This page separates working beta capabilities from planned work. It is checked against SNB component versions during every release.

Desktop 0.2.2 Agent 0.2.2 beta 2 Target service 0.2.2 beta 1 Central service 0.2.2 beta 1 Updated 12 August 2026

Current release

Supported now

These capabilities are present in the current Apple Silicon beta. Beta status still means you should keep an independent, tested backup.

Desktop / target

Local recovery protection

Configure and operate encrypted folder backups from a restore-first Mac interface.

  • Select multiple folders and an external or mounted destination.
  • Create scheduled and on-demand encrypted recovery points.
  • Configure retention history, exclusions, and post-backup verification.
  • Browse, compare, report, verify, and restore local recovery points.
  • Continue scheduled protection from the menu bar after closing the window.
Visible remote Agent

Guided workstation backup

A normal Applications-folder app configures an outbound-only background engine.

  • One-time signed enrollment without exposing device private keys.
  • Multiple source folders, skip patterns, manual backup, and schedules.
  • Connection, service compatibility, target availability, and backup status.
  • Automatic authorized repository-key acceptance during first backup.
  • macOS Keychain protection for device and repository secrets.
Encrypted data path

Efficient client-side protection

Plaintext is processed on the source Mac before ciphertext enters the relay.

  • FastCDC content-defined chunking for useful cross-snapshot reuse.
  • Adaptive Zstandard compression that skips unhelpful compression.
  • AES-256-GCM authenticated encryption with fresh nonces.
  • Repository-scoped cryptographic content IDs and encrypted manifests.
  • Agents have no deletion, retention, or repository-administration authority.
Connection services

Signed discovery and compatibility

SNB uses its central address service to connect authorized devices across changing networks.

  • Signed service directory, version policy, enrollment, and device credentials.
  • Outbound rendezvous, presence, target discovery, and bounded ciphertext relay.
  • Backward-compatible `snb-control-v1` and `snb-relay-v1` protocols.
  • Unsupported future versions fail safely with an explanation.
  • Desktop offers signed in-app updates; Agent reports when an update is available.

Clear boundaries

Not supported yet

These are product boundaries, not hidden options. They remain unsupported until their implementation and acceptance evidence are published.

Beta limitation

Platform and recovery limits

  • No Intel Mac, Windows, Linux, mobile, or NAS Agent.
  • No bootable clone, bare-metal restore, or macOS system recovery.
  • No application-consistent guarantee for active databases or virtual machines.
  • No stable-release durability, uptime, or data-recovery guarantee.
Remote beta limitation

Operational limits

  • The target Mac must remain online with adequate destination storage.
  • The Agent currently reports transfer submission, not a returned signed verification receipt.
  • Automatic Agent and target-service updates are not yet available.
  • Offsite replication, multi-target fleets, bandwidth controls, and resumable large transfers are not yet production-ready.

Development sequence

Roadmap

Roadmap order reflects current engineering priorities. It is not a delivery-date commitment and may change as testing reveals new risks.

1
Acceptance now

Complete the two-Mac recovery loop

  • Observe Agent transfer, target receipt and commit, complete verification, and restore a test file.
  • Return target verification evidence to the Agent as a durable Recovery Ready receipt.
  • Exercise disconnect, sleep, retry, permission, and wrong-version failures on physical Macs.
2
Management next

Make remote recovery easy to operate

  • Browse remote recovery points and perform guided restores from Desktop.
  • Add a device dashboard for contact status, latest backup, verification, storage use, and actionable failures.
  • Add centralized folder and schedule policy without granting Agents deletion authority.
3
Release reliability

Update every component safely

  • Add signed automatic Agent updates with a non-blocking failure path.
  • Update the target background service alongside Desktop so component versions cannot drift.
  • Publish component compatibility and migration evidence with every version.
4
WAN hardening

Handle slow and interrupted networks

  • Resume interrupted objects and commits without restarting a full backup.
  • Add bandwidth limits, pause/resume, metered-network policy, and bounded offline queues.
  • Run large-folder, high-file-count, packet-loss, and long-duration stress testing.
5
Platform expansion

Add offsite resilience and fleets

  • Add separately verified offsite replication and recovery.
  • Add multi-target and fleet administration with tenant isolation and audit evidence.
  • Evaluate Windows and Linux Agents after the macOS recovery contract is stable.

Keep another tested backup.

SNB is proprietary pre-release software. Do not use this beta as the only copy of important, regulated, legally preserved, safety-critical, or irreplaceable data.

Download the current beta