offline upload way too long, need a refund unless can be fixed
I just purchased the upgrade to Acronis 2016 with online storage for 5 computers. I've beeing trying to get some kind of support and find it a futile effort and just as the online reviews say, the support sucks. Sorry, but I'm really pissed because I never thought about the upload time. Maybe someone here can help me identify something I'm doing wrong when starting my upload.
If it will indeed take 30 days for 1.6TB, Acronis should state these facts in their sales letter. There was never any indication of uploads taking a month or more.
The chat button says this is the best way, tried 3 times with no luck of making contact, seems to inidicate I need to pay for chat or something but it freezes with no chat reply.... send an email or two and I realize that its the holiday but I need help now and a company as big and tasks as important as the one s the Acronis provides needs to provide support 24/7. I probably wasted 6 hours or more trying to figure this out and trying to contact Acronis..... no luck at all. What a shame such a potentially profitable company act this way.
I see others have problems with upload speeds for the online storage. I started mine and I have 1.6 TB, Acronis tells me it will take 30 days or more at times according the the progress bar. I just tested my upload speed with Acronis running and I get 11.59 Mbps. Running windows 7 64 and using firefox.
Please tell me I'm doing something wrong with the offline backup.
If it is really going to take 30 days.... I want my money back.
Please tell me how to get a refund. If needed I will do a charge back.
Thank you
Okay - some (rough) sums - upload speed 12 Mbps - that's roughly equivalent to 1.2Mbyte/second (it takes very roughly 10 bits to send a byte of data)
1.2Mbyte/second is 72Mbyte/minute, 1.2Gbyte/hour, 29Gbyte/day.
1.6TBytes = 1600 Gbytes, which will take (very roughly) 1600/29 or 55 days. If data compression is applied, you may see an average of 40% reduction in this, which isn't very far from your "month".
I guess Acronis assumes that people will know their upload speeds and be able to do the math. However, they really ought to make it much clearer how dependent their backup will be on upload speeds.
The bottom line is that cloud backup is pretty useless for anything other than very small backups.
At 12 Mbps (i.e. about 1.2MByte/second) you should be getting 4.3Gbyte an hour, or about 100 GByte a day. So 1.6TByte should take about 15 days.
Thanks for your responses ....after running for 2 days it still says it will take 28 days plus to complete the upload. I added screen shot of my upload speeds. I don't understand why it will take so long.
The completion estimate shown by the application is just that, an estimate. Could take less time, could take more. At a maximum of 12Mbps moving 1.6TB of data is a slow process.
I am having the same problem. I updated to Cloud 2016 and started a backup of around 800GB a few days ago. I have Comcast with 8MBs up. I did not do the math but Acronis is telling me 31 days left. Based on the discussion above, my guess is it will take about that. So it is winter. We get power failures. I like to turn my machine off now and then. What happens if the backup is interrupted? I am close to giving up on the Cloud version. I only upgraded a few days ago. How do I cancel the Cloud version and just update to the regular 2016 version? Enchantech did not answer that question asked by Scott Parat above.
I rarely comment on cloud backup, however, I do read the cloud backup comments.
For several years now, I have wondered why in the world someone would want to commit 500gb, 1TB, 2TB or more as a backup to the cloud.
When I see cloud backup, I am thinking disk or partition backup.
I "can" imagine a few hundred meg's of very important files (NOT OS files) that need to be retreived, while away or on the road, in the event of a simple mistake, file erasure etc.. Now that seems like a logical place for nice Acronis cloud storage location. I have had a cloud storage account at Acronis for several months. Guess how much data is stored there: NONE. Now, that does not mean I dont trust Acronis or the method. It simply means that I "might" store a few files there one day but I prefer quick, reliable backups and recoveries and I have chosen not to commit any large amount of data to a cloud storage location.
Now, for a Disk failure, a catastrophe, fire, stolen computer, multiple hdd failures etc. , seems to me one needs to use an in-expensive HD (OR 2) for quick, efficient file and OS backup and ...the best and MOST IMPORTANT part: RECOVERY. Recovery is only as good as the TEST.... I cannot imagine actually creating an OS partition backup to the cloud and TRUSTING the retreival and Restore process across the internet.... Besides, at 12mb upload speed, I don't have the time to backup my OS and data partitions to a cloud.
I realize that "Cloud Storage" is all the hype now days but for my 2 cents and several REAL HDD failures over the past few years, a local, removable, inexpensive HDD's worked flawlessly, quickly and gave me a reliable test bed to make darn sure that when I needed my TIH2010, 2014, or 2016 image, it was there, it had been tested and would work when I needed it most.
This was only to express my view. Others view the cloud much differently and I respect your views.
Steve
Even though I've been messing around with computers since the trs-80, I'm not a hardware guy and I always struggle trying to figure out the right thing.
YOu're right, "The Cloud" is a big thing these days and since I was upgrading it seemed like a good 2nd solution to my backups. In other words, I will still do the local backups to a desktop drive and have my online copy for safe keeping.....all the while hoping it doesn't get corrupted getting there, while there or retrieving.
The online storage seemed attractive to me because I got hit by lightning a while back, lost 3 computers about 6 backup drives and 4 printers. Even though I thought I was protected from lightning or surges, my solution did not work. Think I have that fixed now but won't know unless I get hit again. Even in that case, if I am home I unplug everything!
The point is I lost my local backups along with the original drives. Thousands of dollars worth of software and apps..... not to mention data.
I guess I could backup to a local desktop drive, unplug it and then store the backup drive. Maybe that's what I'll do.
But I do appreciate your thoughts :)
BTW, I have post with a cloning question....wonder if you could take a look?
I backup all my computers to the cloud using disk and partition backup. I have tested restoring all my computers from the cloud. I use a three tier backup senario. Original disk, local backup to an external hard drive and cloud backup. I have 1.7TB backed up to the cloud.
How long did it take to back up 1.7TB to Cloud the first time and do you only do incremental backups thereafter?
Hello Scott,
I cannot comment on the cloning issue. In all these years with TIH, I have yet to use or trust cloning.
The fabulous MVP's here can definitely help you.
I use the partition method combined with diferentials for all my backups. Like you, I also have that second backup HDD stored away.
I put mine in a small safe and rotate it out once a week or so. My backup tasks are worded for HDD "A" or "B" to help me remember which drive to use.
Enjoyed your comment about the TRS-80. I have a functional TRS-80 Mod 4 in the bottom of a cedar chest.
Have a great day !
Steve
None of myomputers have over 200GB of storage except for my nephew who is a gamer and has about 500GB. The calculation above was the same for me 12 Mbps. I would say 200GB took 3 days. Cloud backup only uploads changes since the last backup.
I wish Acronis had a service like iDrive Express. iDrive will send you a USB disk to do your first "seed" backup. You return the disk to the company and they load your account with it. THis way the initial backup is done in a matter of a couple of days. Each customer is entitled to one free operation per year, including free shipping back and forth.
Acronis used to have a seed service, but the last entry I could find on it was for 2011, so not sure they still provide that. You also have to pay for return of your backup disk.
Also, I am trying the cloud backup option and discovered that our ISP has terrible upload speed. But at least on the Mac version, says can close Acronis and backup continues in background and will resume when it left of if you close down your computer. Haven't tried that last one, though.
@Robin,
Yes, ISPs don't advertise the upload speed very much. Mostly, they market the download speed. Cloud backups are limited mostly by the upload speed, which is typically a few megabit/s.
Hence I agree with Perdido B, doing big backups to the clouds is only for people that have access to high uploads speeds, the rest of us mortals is better off with local backups, and rotatings disks for safety consideartions.
UPdate
Acronis has been working in background uploading my 1.8GB drive to the web for 8 days now.
I did upload an upgrade that was available. No difference in upload speed.
I figured out why its taking so long, I tested my upload speeds on a couple of different sites and I get around 12 MBits/s. If Acronis could upload at that speed it would take no more than 2 weeks and closer to one.
Here's the rub..... Acronis is only uploading at 1 to 3+ Mbits/s ....thats why it's going to take two months. I don't know why they would release this without testing and taking advantage of the users upload speeds?
What's more I feel there is a bit of deception going on. There is an estimated time to completion at the bottom of the app. Originally it would say 30 days or more, after downloading and installing the update the bottom number now will show 6 days, 11 days, 8 days..... generally random numbers. I can only assume they have done this so people don't get pissed at the extended period of time needed...... in other words those estimated times are fake.
I did a 1 minute or so screencapture video, you can see how the upload rate varies and you can see how long it is now telling me completion will take.
Any thoughts???
I suggest that you check to see if you can adjust QoS (Quality of Service) settings either in your modem or router if you run an independent router. If you can adjust QoS for upload priority rather than download this will enchance your upload speed.
My problem is not really the speed since it works in the background and doesn't affect my computer use. My problem is that the Acronis software or their server side software doesn't handle interruptions well; it will do a partial backup and then quit with a message saying backup failed.
As an alternative, I have been testing CrashPlan, and while it doesn't backup faster than Acronis did, so far it has proved very robust, not batting an eye when the computer goes to sleep, get rebooted or loses connection for some reason. The backup just picks up where it left off, and it looks like my full backup is going to be successful. Acronis usually fails at some point. Once it failed when I intentionally clicked the Pause button. So I am requesting a refund from Acronis for the online service because I find it useless.
I am new to using the cloud myself, but like Technogod, I usually have a 3 tiered backup plan as well. Until now, I've had multiple copies of local backups and am now looking to the Cloud as that extra layer of protection (just in case) for my offsite storage. For me, my OS is important, but not nearly as important as family photos that could not be replaced if my house burned down (I have original on one drive, an exact copy on another stored in a fire safe, a local Acronis backup on another and now the cloud).
That said, uploading is painfully slow, but I think this is an ISP upload issue. Downloads scream with my 100MB pipe , but my uploads seem to be capped by my ISP at about 10MB and Acronis Cloud upload is averaging 5-6MB. At this rate, it has taken almost a week to upload 300GB and I have another 80GB to go, but I anticipate the subsequent changes to be much faster once it's initially complete.
I also read that Acronis does accept disks for seeding locally (at an extra cost) so that is another option people can use for large data sets if they don't have the time to wait for that first full set to complete through Cloud uploads.
FYI, with uploads, I find that services like Netflix sometimes suffer. When I download large files, there's plenty of bandwidth to go around, but when my uploads peek at 7MB, Netflix will sputter for awhile. As Enchantech mentioned, QOS may help and in general, it may be a local router issue as I've found that rebooting my ASUS AC1900 during the Acronis Cloud push gives it higher bursts when the router is fresh, and over a period of a couple of days, the upload gets a little slower.
Robin, best of luck with CrashPlan. I tried it a few years ago and was very happy with it for awhile. However, I had issues with corrupted backps and failed backup jobs on a few occassions as well. I have yet to find the perfect backup solution. Give any of them enough time (Acronis, Crashplan, Macrium, EASUS, Retrospect, Ghost, Windows backup, you name it) and eventually a problem is going to pop-up. I stick with Acronis because the full system imaging and recovery has worked countless times in my personal and work environment and that has been the most important feature for me.
Bobbo, Thanks for your thoughtful and thorough post. In theory I keep a backup in my safe deposit box but since money is an issue I balked at getting the two extra Passports I'd need to make that work. So I have a fairly recent pair of Passport backups (2 laptops) off site. I also have my key data synched with Dropbox. I am frustrated with Acronis because the upload has proved unreliable on the two laptops (1 MacBook Air and 1 Lenovo Yoga Windows 10) and two different networks, so it's an Acronis problem and not my setup. Acronis gives no useful feedback as to what's happening. On my desktop app, the little annimation in the middle keeps on pulsing as if backing up is happening, but this animation keeps going even when the backup has died. CrashPlan, on the other hand, gives me constant feedback as to how much has been backed up, what it's backing up now, how much is left to go and the current upload speed and connection status. And, as I have said, in contrast to Acronis, CrashPlan has recovered from every glitch on my multi-day backup of my Mac. Some people have noted that the Android app for CrashPlan doesn't work well, and I have confirmed that by trying to download a few pictures from my cloud backup, and only one made it to my phone while the app claimed to have downloaded all the ones I selected. But a bad Android app is not a problem for me. Having a good cloud backup of my computers is more important. I'll see what the backup is like when CrashPlan finishes. I hope Acronis will refund my online cost because it just doesn't work for me and I don't have time or patience to work with them to figure out why.