How to know which file are backuped in incremental backup
Hi,
I'm doing a backup of my computer every hours using the incremental strategy. However the volume of data transferred each hour is not coherent with my usage.
I suspect Acronis to backup part of my windows unneeded like VM or other stuff. I exclude some of know paths but I'm sure to be able to do better inspection if I knew which file is backup during a day.
I inspected log file using the tier tool, but I see only "summary", how can I see which files are backup exactly ?
Cheers,
Renaud
Same problem here. Base backup is 1.1 TB, daily incrementals are 120 to 140 GB. I really need to know which files are backed up in the incremental back. The same problem appears when I use differentials.
I suspect X1 (indexer/discovery tool) is the cause, but need to verify what is going on. It would be sufficient to have the directories.
Hello @Ekaterina,
Thanks for your up. Can we have an ETA of this feature ? Because it's quite important for me to know what file are backuped and why.
Cheers,
Renaud
Hello Everyone,
no ETA so far, but I've raised this topic to the product management and will post an update, once I get more details on our plans regarding this functionality.
Hello everyone,
Ekaterina has forwarded me the request from this thread.
Currently it is not technically possible to know which "file" was placed into the incremental copy of the backup as physical files are not always put there. Acronis True Image sees data as a specific structure of blocks. If a block of data is changed, this block is placed into the incremental copy.
For example, if you have File1 which consists of Block1 and Block2 in your first full backup, then Block2 was changed to Block3, the incremental backup will have Block3 (not Block1+Block3).
We are thinking whether we can provide some more visibility to it but I cannot promise this in the nearest future.
Hi Renata,
First of all thanks to take time to give us some feedback about this issue. From my understanding your product work on block (inode ?) and note files. Which seems a good idea because you don't need to have a full knowledge of the FS to do the job.
However I've several questions to have the big picture and see howto reduce the amount of data included in your version of incremental backup :):
- How do you proceed to exclude files/directories in the configuration ?
- If you have only knowledge of blocks, is it meaning that every change made by the OS or something else like AV, dynamic compression... Cloud include blocks even if there is no change on the files ?
- How to exclude all moving parts of Windows 10 not useful to backup and that could be source of not useful blocks change ?
Thanks for you support, because 1 to 2 GB of data is absolutely not useful as backup system on the long term.
Cheers,
Renaud
Renata Gubaydullina wrote:Hello everyone,
Ekaterina has forwarded me the request from this thread.
Currently it is not technically possible to know which "file" was placed into the incremental copy of the backup as physical files are not always put there. Acronis True Image sees data as a specific structure of blocks. If a block of data is changed, this block is placed into the incremental copy.
For example, if you have File1 which consists of Block1 and Block2 in your first full backup, then Block2 was changed to Block3, the incremental backup will have Block3 (not Block1+Block3).
We are thinking whether we can provide some more visibility to it but I cannot promise this in the nearest future.
Hello Renaud,
> How do you proceed to exclude files/directories in the configuration ?
You can configure the list of exclusions as follows https://www.acronis.com/en-us/support/documentation/ATI2019/#3488.html
> Cloud include blocks even if there is no change on the files ?
Yes, for example, after defragmentation.
> How to exclude all moving parts of Windows 10 not useful to backup and that could be source of not useful blocks change ?
Such data should be already excluded by default, however I'd recommend checking if the following exclusions are still on the list - pagefile.sys, hiberfil.sys, swapfile.sys, and System Volume Information. I'd also suggest trying to apply the tips from https://forum.acronis.com/forum/acronis-true-image-2016-forum/why-incremental-large
Additionally, make sure you are not backing up in a sector-by-sector mode (there should be a respective warning in the log)
Thank you,
Ekaterina Surkova wrote:Hello Renaud,
> How do you proceed to exclude files/directories in the configuration ?
You can configure the list of exclusions as follows https://www.acronis.com/en-us/support/documentation/ATI2019/#3488.html
> Cloud include blocks even if there is no change on the files ?
Yes, for example, after defragmentation.
> How to exclude all moving parts of Windows 10 not useful to backup and that could be source of not useful blocks change ?
Such data should be already excluded by default, however I'd recommend checking if the following exclusions are still on the list - pagefile.sys, hiberfil.sys, swapfile.sys, and System Volume Information. I'd also suggest trying to apply the tips from https://forum.acronis.com/forum/acronis-true-image-2016-forum/why-incremental-large
Additionally, make sure you are not backing up in a sector-by-sector mode (there should be a respective warning in the log)
Thank you,
Hi,
Thanks for the defragmentation information. Windows 10 do it by default even if you have an SSD. I disabled it, and I'll see if the volume of data transferred decrease.
Coming from OSX and Time Machine approach I'm a bit confused with Acronis method... I hope to be able to find how to reduce the time and network usage needed by your product :)
Renaud