Documentation
Duration of Backups and Downloads
Article Reference ID: 000273595
During backups, both initial and routine, your files are uploaded to the Mozy cloud. When you download or restore your files, they are downloaded to your computer from the Mozy cloud. Mozy receives and sends files as fast as your connection permits.
During installation of the backup software, your Internet speed is tested to ensure that your connection is fast enough for backups. You can get a rough estimate of your transfer speed before you begin your initial backup by using a test site such as Speakeasy or Speedtest. You can search online for other testing tools or use tools made available by your Internet service provider.
The speed of your Internet connection can vary widely, and is influenced by things that Mozy does not control. Repeating Internet speed tests will often give you varied results due to the amount of congestion on the Internet, applications on your computer, and more. However, your numbers should not change by more than 50%.
Initial backups can take a long time to complete if you have a large amount of files. Approximate backup times are provided to help you roughly understand what to expect.
| Data/Speed | 56 Kbps | 256 Kbps | 1.5 Mbps | 10 Mbps | 100 Mbps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 MB | 4 hours | 1 hour | 10 minutes | 2 minutes | 9 seconds |
| 500 MB | 21 hours | 5 hours | 45 minutes | 7 minutes | 42 seconds |
| 1 GB | 2 days | 10 hours | 2 hours | 15 minutes | 2 minutes |
| 5 GB | 9 days | 2 days | 8 hours | 1 hour | 8 minutes |
| 10 GB | 18 days | 4 days | 16 hours | 3 hours | 15 minutes |
| 30 GB | 54 days | 12 days | 2 days | 7 hours | 43 minutes |
Ideally, you would be able to back up at the maximum rate of your Internet connection, but other factors can affect how long it takes. Because of these factors, Mozy cannot provide a specific estimate for how long backups take.
| Factor | Details |
|---|---|
| Amount of data | The more data you have to back up, the more time it takes. |
| Number of files | The backup software must prepare each file individually for backup. The more files you have, the more preparation time is needed. |
| Size of files | Large files can take longer to back up, especially if the backup is interrupted and resumes numerous times. |
| Internet connection speed | Internet connection speeds can fluctuate greatly. Speeds, especially for home users, can sometimes drop to a small fraction of the maximum speed. As speeds slow down, backup times increase. |
| Network access by other applications on your computer | If other applications on your computer, such as a Web browser or email program, are accessing the Internet at the same time you are backing up data, the backup time increases. |
| Network access by others on your network | If you are on a network with others also accessing the Internet, the backup time increases. |
| Changes in the state of the computer | If your computer is shut down or goes into sleep, hibernation, or stand by mode, the backup stops. When the computer is active again and a backup session begins (either manually, or according to schedule or automatic settings), it resumes where it left off. |
| Computer usage | If your computer's processing resources are heavily used, such as accessing files or processing data, fewer resources are available for use by the backup software to transfer files. This can result in slower backups. |
| Performance settings in the backup software | You can determine how much of the available Internet connection is used by the backup software. When using Windows, you can also determine how much of the computer's processing resources are available to the backup software. If performance for the backup software is set low, backups are slow and possibly even stopped. |
| Whether your computer has an Internet connection | If your computer loses its Internet connection your backup is interrupted. It should automatically resume at the next opportunity. |
After your initial backup, subsequent backups are relatively quick. Chances are that you won't even notice them. This is possible because the backup software performs what are called differential backups, which means that only the portions of your files which changed since the last time those files were backed up are uploaded, along with any new files selected for backup. This saves significantly on time, bandwidth and storage space.
If you have many files, restoring or downloading them can take a long time for all the same reasons as uploading them. However, many Internet service providers much higher speeds for downloads than for uploads. This means that restoring or downloading files can be much faster than backing them up.