Old IFW V2.x slows down dramatically during backup

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TeraByte Support
Posts: 3598
Joined: Thu May 05, 2011 10:37 pm

Re: IFW slows down dramatically during backup

Post by TeraByte Support »

yes, the systems caches are an issue, utilization an issue, drivers are an issue, writes to the source drive an issue, especially over time to could affect vss and phylock differently, as is fragmentation (especially with V2), as is a lot of other things, including data transfer sizes which can be controlled with /ibos and caches with /iocf and /po, but again, you're looking at something over 8 years obsolete. The program doesn't slow down, it's always going as fast as the system environment its running under lets it. Again, the software your using was obsoleted at the end of 2013. Use V3 and if you want to get down into the weeds for some reason, it adds additional options: /mtcomp, /mtdecomp, /mtso, /mtsomt, /vbbm, /mtvb, /mtvbbm, /tmbps, /tsecs, /tintv.
Mrx
Posts: 68
Joined: Sun Mar 11, 2012 8:22 pm

Re: IFW slows down dramatically during backup

Post by Mrx »

Might be wrong, but I've had serious slow-down issue's with Microsoft Defender - it doesn't seem to store hash's of file's and re-check's them over-and-over. Don't get me wrong - it's pretty good at detecting stuff - but the engine is in-efficient; speed/resource-wise.
Montclair
Posts: 50
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2011 2:48 pm

Re: IFW slows down dramatically during backup

Post by Montclair »

Turned off the AV stuff to remove that as a factor. OK well, guess I'll try V3 and see if this persists. Nothing to lose other than having to remake recovery media. I just find it odd that full backups suffer from this, while incrementals don't provided there's even more going on behind the scenes during them.
Mrx
Posts: 68
Joined: Sun Mar 11, 2012 8:22 pm

Re: IFW slows down dramatically during backup

Post by Mrx »

Definitely try V3. Only problem I've ever had with IFL 3.46 was when I trimmed during re-install (I think). It was fixed in 3.47.

Other idea's - how fast does is validate the existing full image and differential/incremental images ?

Also, Terabytre Unlimted Support make's some really good point's.

I've also had Windows memory file cache issue's (which can be sort-of solved), along with M.2 SSD's not being as fast/consistent due to SLC caching issues.

Just a few more idea's to check out.

Forum mod's - feel free to remove this bit, but have you tried doing full backup + differential/incremental with another app to see if it suffer's from the same slow-down problem. I'd like to find out the root cause though, as I use Terabyte's product's all the time, and think they're the best, personally (apart from not having macOS version)
Bob Coleman
Posts: 785
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2011 5:58 pm

Re: IFW slows down dramatically during backup

Post by Bob Coleman »

Probably not relevant, but I have one internal hard disk and one USB connected external disk used only for backups.

My methodolgy is to do a full disk image of the internal disk to the external disk once a week and daily throughout the week do an incremental backup of the internal disk. Typically these incremental backups take bwtween 10 and 20 minutes, but occasionally the backup slows to a crawl and may take over an hour. As determined by viewing task manager, this appears to be due to something other than IFW causing significant disk usage despite the fact that I have IFW set to have High Process Priority,
Montclair
Posts: 50
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2011 2:48 pm

Re: IFW slows down dramatically during backup

Post by Montclair »

Mrx wrote: Sat Jun 18, 2022 6:57 pm Definitely try V3. Only problem I've ever had with IFL 3.46 was when I trimmed during re-install (I think). It was fixed in 3.47.

Other idea's - how fast does is validate the existing full image and differential/incremental images ?
Not sure I understand what you're asking. Incremental backups are quick. I don't do any validating, and would have to look at the GUI again to see how to even do that.
Mrx wrote: Sat Jun 18, 2022 6:57 pm Also, Terabytre Unlimted Support make's some really good point's.

I've also had Windows memory file cache issue's (which can be sort-of solved), along with M.2 SSD's not being as fast/consistent due to SLC caching issues.
Issue happens on hard drives, SSDs, etc. Seems to make no difference the source media as to the backup getting progressively slower.
Mrx wrote: Sat Jun 18, 2022 6:57 pm Just a few more idea's to check out.

Forum mod's - feel free to remove this bit, but have you tried doing full backup + differential/incremental with another app to see if it suffer's from the same slow-down problem. I'd like to find out the root cause though, as I use Terabyte's product's all the time, and think they're the best, personally (apart from not having macOS version)
No, I haven't. I don't own any other backup software. When I bought this, our drives weren't anywhere near the capacity they are now so it wasn't much of an issue. As our source drives became larger, the problem grew with them.
Montclair
Posts: 50
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2011 2:48 pm

Re: IFW slows down dramatically during backup

Post by Montclair »

Bob Coleman wrote: Sun Jun 19, 2022 12:22 am Probably not relevant, but I have one internal hard disk and one USB connected external disk used only for backups.

My methodolgy is to do a full disk image of the internal disk to the external disk once a week and daily throughout the week do an incremental backup of the internal disk. Typically these incremental backups take bwtween 10 and 20 minutes, but occasionally the backup slows to a crawl and may take over an hour. As determined by viewing task manager, this appears to be due to something other than IFW causing significant disk usage despite the fact that I have IFW set to have High Process Priority,
I do a full backup once a month on the first Saturday, with incrementals every other day. It's all over the gigabit LAN to a NAS. Incrementals run fine without any slow down. It's the monthly full backups that slow down over the course of the backup.

There's no disk grinding going on when this stuff runs in the early AM hours, as nobody is using the PC(s) on the weekends, typically.
Montclair
Posts: 50
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2011 2:48 pm

Re: IFW slows down dramatically during backup

Post by Montclair »

So, I went and installed the latest revision of the version I paid for, 2.99-00, and it made zero difference. The full backup just gets progressively slower as it proceeds. Guess I'm going to have to try the latest revision since this version isn't supported anymore. :(
Montclair
Posts: 50
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2011 2:48 pm

Re: Old IFW V2.x slows down dramatically during backup

Post by Montclair »

Ok, so I downloaded the latest version and installed as trial on Win10 machine described in the first post. It is considerably faster, for sure. That being said, I do still see some slow down as the backup progresses -- but at this point in the backup (22%) it doesn't appear to be the same amount as I was experiencing in V2. I think the major slow down is likely something in V2. I'll report back tomorrow after it finishes this backup.

To TeraByte Support: I do find that the ETA to completion keeps increasing as it did in V2, though, which is somewhat frustrating. Perhaps that formula needs tweaking -- maybe average the last 5 minutes of backup MBps and use that to generate the ETA, if the original ETA is more than 5 minutes. That may provide a more accurate ETA (I have no insight as to what formula you're using to make the ETA, but it is frustrating to watch that estimate rise and rise, then level off, and sit at a certain number of hours and minutes -- for minutes on end).
Brian K
Posts: 2214
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2011 1:11 am
Location: NSW, Australia

Re: Old IFW V2.x slows down dramatically during backup

Post by Brian K »

Montclair,

When the backup has finished would you mind telling us the backup image size and the time taken to create the backup.
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