Knowledge Base/Tips, Tricks & FAQ's

FAQ: Factors affecting backup speed?

Rick Tuhimata - DataLock Support
posted this on July 15, 2009 11:55 am

  1. [DataLock Software] Version: ALL
    OS: All platforms


  2. Description:
    What are some factors that can affect the speed of my backup?


  3. Steps:
    Stages of a backup with [DataLock Software] are outlined below:
    - A connection from the [DataLock Software] client to [DataLock Server] is established
    - Pre-command is run (if necessary)
    - A Shadow Copy set of the backup source is created (if available)
    - Download the server file list from the [DataLock Server]
    - Data of the backup source is compared with the server file list to compile the following file lists:
             - New file list
             - Modified file list
  4.             - Deleted file list
    - Delta file is generated (if necessary)
    - Data are encrypted, compressed, and then uploaded onto [DataLock Server]
    - The Shadow Copy set of the backup source is removed (if necessary)
    - Post-command is run (if necessary)
    - Backup is declared completed successful



    Backup performance:
    The following describes the factors that can affect the speed of a backup at different stages of the job:



    Internet connection speed:     Check on the speed of the connection between the [DataLock Software] and the [DataLock Server].


    Hardware specification of [DataLock Software] client machine.
    1. Check on the hardware specification of the machines in concern (RAM available, processor speed), are the resource sufficient for the backup operation
    2. Check if the CPU usage is high during restoration.

      For machine installed on Windows, you can view the CPU usage with the Windows Task Manager
      For machine installed on Linux / Mac OS X, you can view the CPU usage with the command:

      Example:
      >top

      If the CPU usage is constantly maxed out during the restoration, it may suggest that the CPU power of the machine is insufficient for the backup operation


    3. Disk specification of the disk of the [DataLock Software] machine
        i.        Check on the local disk I/O performance of [DataLock Software] client machine
      ii.        Check on the local disk I/O utilization of [DataLock Software] client machine.
                For machine installed on Windows, you can view the I/O utilization with the       Windows Performance Monitor
                   For machine installed on Linux / Mac OS X, you could view the I/O utilization with the command:

    4. Check if the backup source is located locally, or over a network
      If the backup source of the backup job is set over a network, the backup speed may be affected depending on the network traffic.

    5. Location of the temporary directory (local / network drive):
      1. Check if the temporary directory specified for the backup set is located locally, or over a network
        If the temporary directory is specified on a network partition, the backup speed may be affected for backup type such as MS Exchange server backup, or MS SQL, depending on the network traffic.

    6. Backup source data size (number of files and size of files):
      a.  How many files are selected as the backup source
      b.  Check if the backup source contain a large number of files within a small number of directories
      c.  If the size of the backup source is large, you may need to alter the amount of memory available to [DataLock Software]. Please refer to Step 10 for more information.

    7. Number of delta to be generated
      a.  How many delta files are being generated, and their size
      b.  The speed of a backup job can be affected if the number to delta files to be generated is large, or if the delta files to be generated is large.
    8. Encryption settings
      a.  Check on encryption key length configured for the backup set in concern
      b.  For [DataLock Software] version after 5.5, backup data can be encrypted with key length of 256-bit, which may slow down the backup operation for machines with insufficient resource.


    9. Local Copy module
      a. Check if the Local Copy module has been enabled for the backup set
           - For [DataLock Software] version after 5.5, local backup data are compressed and encrypted, which may also slow down the backup operation for machines with insufficient resource.

      b.  Check if the Local Copy destination is located locally, or over a network (local / network drive)
            - If the Local Copy destination of the backup job is configured to a network partition, the backup speed may be affected depending on the network traffic.

    10. Amount of memory (Java heap size) available
      Check on the Java heap size setting, modify the setting if the currently allocated size is insufficient for the backup operation.  The instructions to modify the Java heap size can be found by reading article http://support.datalock.co.nz/forums/45069/entries/44529.

    11. Number of backup / restore job connecting to the [DataLock Server]:
      Check on the number of backup / restore job connected to the [DataLock Server] during the your backup.  You can submit a support ticket (      http://support.datalock.co.nz) asking for recommended times for backup.  Typically, it is best to avoid from 9pm to 10pm if possible.