Introducing AX64 Time Machine - hybrid imaging/snapshot software

Discussion in 'backup, imaging & disk mgmt' started by Isso, Jan 18, 2013.

  1. Stode

    Stode Registered Member

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    What?
    Crucial MX100 256GB SSD ... Costs 100 Euros (=131 US Dollars) over here..
    Crucial 512Gb SSD is a bit less than 200 euros..

    Anyways...
    Instead of chitchattin' about SSD's, let's get back to the main topic, that being TM..
     
  2. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    Well, I think discussing SSD is fine, because imaging of an SSD is a real thing, and there is one VERY IMPORTANT point in PROPERLY imaging an SSD drive - the 4k alignment. If you are not sure what it is, google it and you'll find out. In order to properly imaging an SSD, the imaging software has to support automatic 4k alignment of the SSD drive, otherwise, the performance and longevity of the SSD will be negatively impacted, to a large degree.

    So here is a question for the AX64 devs, does TM support SSD 4k alignment?
     
  3. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    I bought an 240GB Intel 335 SSD only for $60 a couple of months ago, I installed it on my Toshiba P75-A7100 laptop as boot drive, and use the original HDD as a second drive for data storage. The boot time is now less than 15 seconds from power on to seeing the desktop. When I had the HDD as OS drive, the boot time was about 1 min and more to see the desktop, and more time was needed in order for the system to be fully loaded. For the SSD, once you boot into the desktop, program loading is almost instant for small programs such as Google Chrome, while only a couple of seconds for large program such as Photoshop CC.
     
  4. Acadia

    Acadia Registered Member

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    Two points I would like to make:
    One, a true imaging program should be able to recover you from just about anything like ShadowProtect and Macrium can, after all, that is their purpose for existence.

    Two, a modern SSD is, in my opinion, as reliable as a mechanical drive. Heck, my current SSD has a 5-year warranty, MUCH longer than any mechanical drive that I have owned ever.
    Acadia
     
  5. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    Modern MLC SSDs with at least 240GB capacity or larger, can endure at least 600TB of writes/re-writes. If you write your SSD at a rate of 60 GB every single day(which is highly unlikely, even you do many imaging re-imaging), your SSD can last 10,000 days, which is equal to 27 years. So the longevity of an SSD is not a problem anymore.

    Anyway, I only believe in reliable data:

    http://techreport.com/review/26058/the-ssd-endurance-experiment-data-retention-after-600tb

    Being a scientist, I was trained to never fully rely on anyone else's information or advice, but only use it as reference. I always do my own research and try to find out what really happens behind the scene. I always believe in the information extracted from reliable data, other than from someone expert's mouth, or from some boastful marketing gimmicks.

    And, if you have a DVD ROM on your laptop, most likely you can buy a HDD caddy adaptor to install a secondary HDD into the DVD tray, and use an SSD as your boot drive to replace the original HDD. I have a 2nd laptop, a Lenovo G580, I am using a 120GB SSD as boot drive, and installed the original 500GB drive the came with the laptop to the DVD slot. So capacity is not a problem for me.

    Edit: As Robin A suggested, I changed the wording from "fact" to "reliable data", when indicating the opposite of just "word". thank you.
     
    Last edited: Aug 29, 2014
  6. Robin A.

    Robin A. Registered Member

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    That being the case, why do you believe in this report? Why is it a "fact"? Did you do the test yourself?
     
  7. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    By "fact", I was comparing it to "word". If you tell me well, an SSD can last 27 years at 60GB a day, then that's word. I don't believe you until you show me some fact, that, either yourself, or someone else, actually practiced the test. The link I cited indicated someone actually did the test, with data, not just word.
    So you are saying, they are lying and the data they demonstrated was fake? That website is quite reputable, I don't think they will put fake data on their site. Do you have any evidence for your claim? If not, then what you said and your question is just "word", which I could not care less. Unless, you go ahead and prove that they are wrong, with your data/fact. Will you do this?

    Edit: you have a point, maybe I should change "fact" to "reliable data", as compared to just word. thank you. English is not my first language.
     
    Last edited: Aug 29, 2014
  8. Rainwalker

    Rainwalker Registered Member

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    Or more to the point: Does V.2_0_0_406 support 4k alignment and if it does, will future versions continue to do so. Changes bring changes. I believe V. 1 did support 4k alignment. Also, have ALL releases since V.1 supported 4k alignment?
     
  9. Baldrick

    Baldrick Registered Member

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    OK, both warm & hot restores tried and both worked well (but then again the hot restored worked for me using v1). Whilst slower the warm restore was smoothly done and in terms of time required was something like double the hot restore time...I can live with that given that a hot restore generally takes no more than 1-2 minutes (depending)...so I am happy with that.
     
  10. MerleOne

    MerleOne Registered Member

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    Hi,
    I think I read somewhere here that the issue between Shadow Defender and TM was resolved with TM V2, but when I try to install it on a Windows 8.1 PC on which SD is installed, I get a big warning saying correct functionning of TM cannot be guaranteed. I decided to uninstall SD to have a go at TM V2, but would like what are the latest news on this.
    Thanks.
     
  11. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

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    Folks, it's an advantage if an imaging tool can "re-align" an existing saved partition, but usually an option. A true imaging tool doesn't create images out of thin air, it images what already exists. If the existing partition was aligned properly then the imager contains that information. If you restore that image to an existing partition, and the existing partition is mis-aligned, I'm guessing the resultant restoration will also be misaligned (that's what you're telling it to do). If there is no partition on the disk you're restoring to, then an imager will use the saved partition boundary info and use that to create the new one... if the saved one is at a 1mB boundary (the critical point for an SSD block), it will be returned that way. But if you're restoring an existing saved partition to an existing partition (or a chunk of unALLOCATED space) that is not on a 1mB boundary, most imagers WILL NOT automatically re-align the restored partition.

    If the saved partition was on a 63-sector boundary (old HDDs), and you ask an imager to put that on a blank disk, some will either automatically (IFW, for example) place the restored partition on a 1mB boundary or offer to do so through an option. This easily handles restoring a HDD partition to an SSD IF you're not forcing it into an existing partition (or unALLOCATED space) that itself is mis-aligned.

    The whole partition alignment thing would be non-sequitor if suddenly, all applications that create partitions (imagers, partition tools, Windows/Linux distributions, etc.) started defaulting all partition operations to a 1mB boundary (works fine on an HDD), we could all be talking about something else :rolleyes:
     
  12. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

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    MerleOne... be careful with these claims. Some ADMIN person got on the AXTM Feedback & Support forums and responded to the COMPLETED ITEMS area that a ton of these types of issues have been solved with the released of v2. Apparently this is not the case... test it carefully.
     
  13. MerleOne

    MerleOne Registered Member

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    Thanks. I am glad to have uninstalled SD, I can always re-install it at a later point. Currently, the backup part of TM V2 works nicely, but I have still to test the recovery media and if necessary the restore feature, which is what matters most. I am using Build 2.0.0.439. I wonder if TM V2 automatically looks for an updated version...
     
  14. wajamus

    wajamus Registered Member

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    Hi Keith we answered your question in the live chat. Also it is a monumental task to switch to vhdx, but we are looking to support this in the future.

    The bare metal fix is being tested. We hope it will be in the next release. We aim for Sept 15th but this is not fixed.
     
  15. Baldrick

    Baldrick Registered Member

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    Good to know Waj, thanks for the heads up.

    Regards, Baldrick
     
  16. demoneye

    demoneye Registered Member

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    i will say it again , snap i mad about 2 days ago restored pretty fast , after 2 days i try to restore it again and it was slow like hell , no speed boost like TM should be... coz of that i may consider my future using it...

    i wasnt doing any disk defrag and using latest version 2
     
  17. dagrev

    dagrev Registered Member

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    You might have to define "fast" and "long." The more snapshots (and more changes between them), their are increases the time to restore. It's been stated from devs that this will be addressed in the future.
     
  18. taotoo

    taotoo Registered Member

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    But in the meantime it means that its quick-restore functionality only lasts for a few days after installation. Given that there's no option to auto-create a new baseline every few days, it requires manual intervention in order to consistently have fast restores. Personally I'm considering giving TM a rest until they've attended to this issue. The quick backup feature works indefinitely though, so there may be enough mileage in that alone for many people to keep using it as is.
     
  19. demoneye

    demoneye Registered Member

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    i am talking on only 1 snapshot taken after the full back up , and i took it after i made the fullback up.
    when i say "slow" and "fast " its regard to slow compare the fast backup i took.
     
  20. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

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    If DemonEye is running the app in AUTOMATIC mode, the new criteria is hourly followed by daily. That guarantees him about 25 or so snapshots. Personally I think that's excessive, that's why I run a manual system instead. 25-30 snapshots will guarantee a longer restore time than an immediate or hourly return time.
     
  21. dagrev

    dagrev Registered Member

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    My restores where there are a week or more take only about 10 minutes from start to reboot. Sure 3 minutes is faster but I can go get a drink or let one out and come back and it's ready to go. 10 or 15 Minutes for a restore is great by me compared to a normal restore which takes an hour or more of the computer not being usable. I'm just not in that big of a hurry. I do have a good processor and my HD is a hybrid so it's over twice as fast as a platter HD (which I also have in the same laptop as a 2nd HD).
     
    Last edited: Aug 30, 2014
  22. demoneye

    demoneye Registered Member

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    first thing i did after install TM is disabling the "automatic update" :)
     
  23. andylau

    andylau Registered Member

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    Is it V2 still cannot make an image backup in WinPE?
     
  24. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

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    At this point, all recovery media CANNOT take an image.
     
  25. andylau

    andylau Registered Member

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    I mean make an image backup under WinPE environment
    IFW, Acronis and so many can do that
     
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