Parachute is an interesting alternative to Time Machine which allows you to make customized backups to local and external drives as well as FTP servers.
Parachute is very simple to use. Just select the files you want to backup and then select a target and time schedule. However, although Parachute is supposed to save your preferences for each backup, it appears that it doesn't so you have to enter the same details every time you want t perform a backup which isn't ideal.
There's also no easy way to see how scheduled backups are progressing either - it would be useful if Parachute warned you when a backup is in progress. However, in all other respects it's a decent app with a clean and clear interface and simple setup procedure.
Parachute isn't really a complete backup tool but it's better than nothing for basic backups
