incremental backup size 7.0 vs. 8.0

Discussion in 'Acronis True Image Product Line' started by RobH, Aug 17, 2004.

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  1. RobH

    RobH Guest

    Purchased TI 7.0 last June 26th. I especially bought it for the fact that it could do incremental backups. Now I find out that only a couple of weeks later there is a version 8.0 which main improvement is… better incremental backups.

    Now I wonder how big the difference is.

    When I do an incremental backup of my C: partition shortly after a full backup (directly after, or some hours later) the figures are:

    partition size (data) : 5,73 GB
    size full Backup : 3,4 GB
    size increments : resp. 174 MB, 313 MB, 54 MB and 97 MB

    compression is set on normal with all backups.
    OS is Windows 98.
    Backups are done with build 576 (first three increments) and with build 613 (last increment, after a new full backup)

    Can someone compare these figures with TI 8.0 ?
    Is there a big improvement (in size) ?

    I really would like to know

    Thanks
    Rob
     
  2. mike_wells

    mike_wells Registered Member

    Joined:
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    The "size" issue related to the exclusion of pagefile.sys and hiberfil.sys. in TI8. Although they will appear on a VD they are only placeholders and do not consume image space as they did in earlier versions. You can not compare incremental sizes! Your partitions are moving targets (continually changing). This is imaging, not file oriented backup. Each and every byte that changes between the full and the previous incrementals must be captured. Even defragging your partition(s) will play a tremondous role in the size of your next incremental. That is because the physical sector characteristics have changed.
     
  3. RobH

    RobH Guest

    Thanks for replying mike_wells. What you say is true. Comparing increment sizes is tricky.
    Look at my own results, increments range from 54 MB up to 313 MB.
    (now since last night, that is one reboot and maybe 2 hours run time in total, some 271 files changed in c:\windows. Meaning changed clusters all over the disk)

    Still, I'm only looking for an estimate. With enough reactions, some big picture will arise.
    Now if someone with version 8.0 will have a 5GB full, and only 3MB increment shortly after, that will mean something. Even if that 3 MB will vary to be 100 MB sometimes.

    I'm still very interested in figures on increment sizes for version 8.0 (and even 7.0 for comparison).

    Rob
     
  4. mike_wells

    mike_wells Registered Member

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    "Comparing increment sizes is tricky."

    It is not tricky, it can not be done!

    Again RobH, there is NO way to compare incremental image sizes. You would essentially be comparing apples to oranges. I do not care how close you can come in original configurations. The comparison data will be of absolutely no value whatsoever, period. Furthermore no "big picture" will arise that would mean anything at all. Additionally, why all the concern with the size of an incremental image. Makes absolutely no sense and your logic escapes me!

    Mike Wells
     
  5. RobH

    RobH Guest

    Oh, this thread is going into a direction that I did not quite anticipate.

    Maybe I better refrase the original question.

    Does anybody, who made incremental backups with 7.0 and upgraded to 8.0, notice any improvement in the size of the increments ?

    I'd appriciate if some TI users will post their experiences in this matter.

    Thanks
    Rob
     
  6. wdormann

    wdormann Registered Member

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    Absolutely. They are significantly smaller.
     
  7. motiger

    motiger Registered Member

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    Just a quick note of thanks to you Rob and your hanging in there to get a good reply to this question. I think I understand why my incremental backups are no smaller than complete backups. I defrag too often I think. Given that this results in a huge backup file after only a couple of backups (ie: mine run 3mgs+ each) I am gonna have to do fewer backups or fewer defrags....or both. Again thanks and just thought I would let you know you are not alone and you do a service to we newbies when you press for good answers. Also thanks to Acronis for a wonderful product. I can't afford to update each time you update but I love my 7.0 just as much as you folks love your 8.0. I too got caught in the update crunch as I've only had mine for a few months but I'm still happy. BTW I just got rid of my pagefile and hiberfile rather than to keep backing them up for no good reason.

    Motiger
     
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