Acronis very slow

Broadback · Nov 28, 2019, 13:58:34

I had cause to use Acronis restore. It is very slow, is this normal? I took 30 hours to restore, annoyingly the "time left" function is a waste of space. I alters from nine hours to almost everything in between almost constantly, up and down more often than a beggarmans drawers on a Saturday night! Is this usul?

nowster · Nov 28, 2019, 14:45:29

How much data and from what storage?

Broadback · Nov 28, 2019, 15:59:42

664 gb, back onto the same drive ST1000DM003 -1SB102.

nowster · Nov 28, 2019, 20:26:17

From one partition to another on the same drive (a Seagate Barracuda)? A nasty amount of seeking back and forth will be killing throughput. At an optimistic 30MB/s it would take about 6.5 hours to copy 664GB.

Broadback · Nov 29, 2019, 11:29:04

thnans Newster, fair enough. But why does the time to go keep changing apparently at random?

nowster · Nov 29, 2019, 14:33:35

Quote from: Broadback on Nov 29, 2019, 11:29:04
But why does the time to go keep changing apparently at random?

Because some bits of data will be randomly scattered on the disc, especially if no defrag has ever been done.

Broadback · Nov 29, 2019, 15:00:41

Thanks nowster, I should've guessed it would be my fault. Cheers

zappaDPJ · Nov 30, 2019, 02:03:39

When I'm converting between music file formats or simply making a backup of my ripped music collection the time left usually starts in hours and increases to days as the process progresses. I imagine the algorithm employed adjusts by time taken rather than relying entirely on time left to go.

If it's any consolation it now takes me well over a week to backup my music library and convert all my files to Apple's ALAC file format. In fact I'm starting to consider swapping my iPhone to an Android based device just to avoid the conversion.

nowster · Nov 30, 2019, 11:19:42

I'd suggest using the open specification lossless FLAC format, rather than an Apple lock-in.

Simon · Nov 30, 2019, 14:29:02

Quote from: zappaDPJ on Nov 30, 2019, 02:03:39
When I'm converting between music file formats or simply making a backup of my ripped music collection the time left usually starts in hours and increases to days as the process progresses. I imagine the algorithm employed adjusts by time taken rather than relying entirely on time left to go.

If it's any consolation it now takes me well over a week to backup my music library and convert all my files to Apple's ALAC file format. In fact I'm starting to consider swapping my iPhone to an Android based device just to avoid the conversion.

Just curious, but that reads as though you keep having to convert your music files to ALAC. Surely, once they're converted, they're converted?

I have approximately 500Gb of music files, which I tend to backup fully about once every three months but in between will do weekly incremental backups. The full backup takes round about 11 hours with Acronis. I have nowhere near got round to converting all my CDs to digital format. I don't actually intend to do so, because I don't listen to half of them anyway.

zappaDPJ · Nov 30, 2019, 15:27:36

Quote from: nowster on Nov 30, 2019, 11:19:42
I'd suggest using the open specification lossless FLAC format, rather than an Apple lock-in.

I do initially RIP to FLAC but I have a lot of iOS based audio equipment hence the need to convert. I'm contemplating switching to a Windows/Android solution sometime soon because I think Apple have out-priced themselves.

Quote from: Simon on Nov 30, 2019, 14:29:02
Just curious, but that reads as though you keep having to convert your music files to ALAC. Surely, once they're converted, they're converted?

It's easier to tick four drives and press go than search through a list over a quarter of a million files. Other options are hampered by capacity issues which I'll soon need to address.

I've ripped everything I own including vinyl but I'm filling a few gaps buying second-hand CDs from charity shops which sell locally from between a penny and a pound.

nowster · Nov 30, 2019, 18:58:03

Quote from: zappaDPJ on Nov 30, 2019, 15:27:36
I do initially RIP to FLAC but I have a lot of iOS based audio equipment hence the need to convert. I'm contemplating switching to a Windows/Android solution sometime soon because I think Apple have out-priced themselves.

Apple has a big "Not Invented Here" attitude. They don't implement Opus either.

Opus is an existing IETF "WEBM" standard, extensively used by YouTube. https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6716

FLAC is an upcoming IETF standard, despite being around for years. https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-cellar-flac-00