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ATI2021 Progressively Slower Backups: Drinking in the Last Chance Saloon

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I recently upgraded from ATI2019 to ATI2021 (build 32010). I created new incremental backup jobs which create a new full backup after 8 increments and keep 3 chains of backups. The first full backup backed up 677GB data in 3h1m to a NAS drive (accessed by its ip address) at a speed of 265Mbps. The 8 increments took about 10 mins each. These speeds are consistent with the performance of ATI 2019, perhaps slightly faster.

After the 8 increments, the next full backup backed up 742GB data in 8h38m at a speed of 156Mbps, i.e. more than twice a slow as the first full backup.

The third full backup backed up 742GB and took 11h17m at speed of 120Mbps.

Clearly, each full backup is taking longer than the previous one. This is a problem that I had when I upgraded from ATI2019 to ATI2020 earlier this year. I raised a support request with Acronis but couldn't get a solution so I reverted to ATI 2019 and everything was fine. Now it seems I am having the same problem with ATI2021.

I have another Windows 10 PC running ATI2021 which backs up to the same NAS drive but with a significantly smaller amount of data (about 100GB). That PC has no problems and backups are all consistently the same speed.

 
So, my question are:
 
1. Is this a known problem and is a solution on the horizon? It seems other Forum users have reported the same problem but don't seem to have got closer to a solution.

2. A Forum post proposes a workaround that allows ATI2021 to create backups that use TIB rather than TIBX files by manually modifying configuration files. Is it OK to use this workaround?  Are there any issues with this?

The performance of ATI2021 is not acceptable for me. Unless there is a solution, I will either revert to ATI2019 or cancel my subscription and use an alternative backup product.

I raised a support ticket with Acronis but they suggested doing a whole long list of tests that are the same as what I did  earlier in the year without it leading to any sort of solution.  I am therefore reluctant to spend hours repeating this process.  I am an ex-software developer so I appreciate the need to systematically investigate problems but right now I just don't have the confidence that these steps will lead to a solution based on my previous experience of Acronis support.

I am a hair's breadth away from ditching ATI.  Can anyone pull me back from the brink?

 
1 Users found this helpful

Graham, the current version of ATI 2021 is now #34340 which supersedes #32010 you say you have installed.

I would recommend splitting up your source for this backup size to create multiple tasks of a smaller size than the current 677 GB you state.  This will help reduce the time needed for the backup and improve overall performance.

There have been some reports from other users of increasing backup times similar to that which you have described here.  If validation is included with the backup task, then you should check the settings being used for this as some options can cause significant operation times if validation is applied to all created backup files rather than just to the most recent.

The work-around of creating a disk backup using .tib files (mimicking how ATI worked in 2019 & earlier versions) is still working fine in ATI 2021 and should continue to work for as long as Acronis support continuing backup tasks that were created by earlier versions.

The decision on whether to continue with ATI 2021 or revert to an earlier version or jump ship to a different product has to be yours to make. If you have a current subscription then you should ensure that you understand that this may be set as automatic renewal with no obvious simple method of stopping this unless you reach out and request Acronis to do so!

I would definitely encourage all ATI 2021 users to submit Feedback direct to Acronis for all issues being encountered and especially when these prevent normal or correct use of the application.  If more users use Feedback, then Acronis would get a better understanding of the real strength of feeling running through the user community with the changes being introduced and the need to give users fuller control over what they install / use!

Steve,

Thanks for your reply.  The times I'm seeing are purely for the backup.  Automatic validation is disabled and I do a manual validate once a week (which runs for a few hours).  This is a carbon copy of the problems I had after upgrading from ATI2019 to ATI2020 earlier this year so it seems that whatever was wrong then is still wrong now.  The things that the support people are asking me to do are not trivial in terms of time and, rightly or wrongly, I don't have massive confidence that they'll sort it out.

I could try splitting backups though, to be fair, ~750GB of data shouldn't really be a problem for software from a company of Acronis' standing, should it?  And it works fine for the first backup - it's just the subsequent ones that are taking too long.  I guess this would be a better option than going with a workaround. 

Regards,

Graham

Graham,

I have a question for you.  Does this backup include a Windows 10 OS?  If yes what version of Windows 10 is it currently and has that version been a recent upgrade?

Yes, it's Windows 10 Home version 2004 build 19041.685. Also Windows Experience Pack 120.2212.551.0 (whatever that is!)

I have automatic updates turned on so it gets periodic updates.

I have now split my backup into two pieces: one for my C drive which contains the OS plus frequently-changing files and my D drive which contains mostly pictures, music and archive copies of other files which don't change much.  It'll take a few weeks to discover whether this has helped because I will need to wait until it's done a few backups to see if there's a performance degradation.  I'll report back here if I remember.

An update.

 

The backup of my C drive has now done its next full backup (after the 8 incremental backups I'd configured it to do).  The second full backup took the same amount of time as the initial full backup to within a minute. The backup size is ~230GB and on each occasion it took ~1h37m at ~255Mbps. So, it would seem that the full backups for this size of backup are not getting slower. 

It will be interesting to see whether the next full backup of my D drive (which is ~430GB) is slower than the initial one.  That'll take a bit longer to determine because I only do it weekly.  Watch this space!