Number of DVDs for Complete PC Backup ?

I just performed a Complete Backup to DVD of a Raid 0 with 65 GB of files (1 TB total space), and a standard drive with nothing on it (500 GB total space), on Ultimate x64. When I started it warned that it would take 8-14 disks, yet it stopped after only two regular DVDs saying it was complete. Is this an error or does it actually have this level of compression?

Thanks!

Joe Black said:

I just performed a Complete Backup to DVD of a Raid 0 with 65 GB of files (1 TB total space), and a standard drive with nothing on it (500 GB total space), on Ultimate x64. When I started it warned that it would take 8-14 disks, yet it stopped after only two regular DVDs saying it was complete. Is this an error or does it actually have this level of compression?

Thanks!

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As far as I can tell, there is no form of compression that can squeze 65GB into a 8GB space.

But this is besides the point, really, When you're talking about this amount of data, DVD is not the best medium to use for backup, unless you use Nero to create standard data DVDs and you're very specific about what you include in the backup.

When using Complete PC Backup, the best choice is to have a standalone harddisk connected via a spare SATA port, or an eSATA port. I have a total of 1.2TB of storage on my computer, filled to about 800GB or so. When I perform a backup, I connect a 1TB harddisk to my eSATA port and then use Acronis True Image to backup all 8 of my hard disks. When the backup is complete, I disconnect the eSATA hard disk, and keep it locked away until the next backup. Once a week, I perform an incremental backup that only writes changes, and once a month I format my backup drive and redo a full backup.

Using an external hard disk like this has two advantages

1) Backups go a lot quicker, because user intervention is not required to insert a new blank DVD every few minutes.

2) Backups are more reliable

I thought as much, though 7-Zip with .dds files can hit 10:1.

After browsing around for another hour I discovered that Vista's Backup fails yet reports success. I went out and picked up Acronis and imaged the boot drive to my spare.

Thanks!

Pictures, Movies, and most game construction files don't compress. they can actually do the opposite. I can get 0.9 : 1 on movies.

My tape drives at home and work get about 1.35 : 1 compression. A word or excel file can compress 10 : 1 sometimes. Most files don't get more than 3 : 1.