I've now converted from Ghost 9 to 14.

Configured to make monthly base backups, with daily incrementals. But, the behavior is really peculiar. The base performance, so far one time each on two partitions, is fine.

But, the incremental performance is really peculiar. The image size is as follows:
Base:    48.7GB
1st Inc: 37.9GB
2nd Inc:74.7MB
3rd Inc: 163MB
4th Inc: 39GB
5th Inc: Running, going to be big

On the small images, the performance is fast. On the big images, Ghost is saying that it is reconciling volumes, and comparing the last image to the volume. This takes about an hour.

Ghost 9 never behaved like this. An image took at most a few minutes total. My volume data is a data partition. Not a lot of changes from day to day.

Could someone please explain what is going on and how to fix it?

Thanks,

Dave

Dave,

Are you imaging two partitions? What are the image sizes for each partition? Are you using Diskeeper? I assume nothing else has changed since swapping from Ghost 9 to 14.

Edit... Any defragging app running in the background?

One partition per job. Not had problem (yet) with other job since there is only one increment per week for that one. Image size for this one is 48.7GB. Not using Diskeeper. No defragging apps or anything similar.

Yes, some changes, sort of. New HDs.

I have very little experience with ghost 14. Is this typical to do a reconcile/compare?

Thanks for the reply.

Dave

Dave,

Those figures are a disaster. I can't tell you why Ghost 14 is doing that as the incrementals should be the same size as the Ghost 9 ones.

As you know, incrementals represent changed sectors. But you would need a massive change in sectors to produce a 39 GB incremental. I'm stumped.

Maybe you could try this experiment. Download and install the trial version of PerfectDisk. Don't defrag with it but every day prior to your incremental, perform an "Analyze".  Create a screenshot of the Drive Map and save it. After a few days you can compare the screenshots and see if the large incrementals are related to spontaneous data shifting.

OK. I'll try that.

Thanks,

Dave

Dave,

A few years ago I was using Ghost 10 and Diskeeper but Diskeeper wasn't set to defrag the partition. It was just installed and doing nothing. Once or twice a week I'd get a large incremental (but not like yours). I looked at the Diskeeper Map everyday and I saw a large block of data shifting on the day of the large incremental. There was no defragging, just data shifting. Uninstalling Diskeeper fixed it. I'm interested to hear if you are experiencing something similar.

Haven't had DK for many years. It was too hard on resources so I uninstalled it. Did a manual defrag once every few months, and kept the partition unused portion plentiful.

PerfectDisk is doing something in the background; I think on the boot/system partition. Not sure what. Tonight the analysis map and incremental should give a hint. The incremental images grow from day to day until it does a really big one, then they get reasonable again. At least that is the pattern so far.

dbird wrote on Mar 20^th, 2012 at 6:36pm:

PerfectDisk is doing something in the background

Make sure you have OptiWrite and Auto-Optimization turned OFF.

Whoops! I should have been more curious. They are now off. Thanks.

Dave

The bad behavior has not re-appeared. PD is still installed, but I haven't done an analysis since the 24th. Thinking back, the only meaningful change, other than PD, has been in my response to the G14 messages.

I get a message asking if I want to use the dedicated USB drive for backup every time I turn it on. Also, a message asking if I want to do the scheduled backup. Maybe responding "yes" to these messages was causing G14 to do extra stuff? Doesn't make sense...

Dave

For what it's worth, you can get a free (legal) PerfectDisk from here.

ftp://ftp.raxco.com/pub/download/PDFree/win32/setup.exe
ftp://ftp.raxco.com/pub/download/PDFree/x64/setup.exe

In some ways I prefer it to the Pro version as it doesn't contain background defragging. It does have scheduled defragging but you can turn it off.

@ Brian


Quote:

you can get a free (legal) PerfectDisk from here

What version do you get--the most recent--or something older?

@ dbird


Quote:

The incremental images grow from day to day until it does a really big one, then they get reasonable again.

I'm not a Ghost 14 user.  But, based on other posts over the years, that sounds like *normal* behavior for Ghost.

I'm trying to remember back to Ghost 9 or 10--seems one of those had a similar pattern.  If the amount of change reached some unspecified amount, Ghost would do a *full* backup--not an incremental.  I can't remember if Ghost changed the image extension when it went from an incremental to a full backup--so I'm not sure if that's part of the behavior or not.  Have you looked at the incrementals' full name with the *dot* three extension to see if that large incremental is still ID'd as an incremental?

Are you able to look at the data in the incrementals to see what is being identified as *changed sectors*?  Would that give you any clues as to why Ghost thinks large changes are occurring to the data on the HDD?

@ NightOwl

It doesn't have an equivalent version number but it looks and performs a defrag just like the most recent full version.

Thanks. Is there a way to turn off the dumb notifications w/o turning off the useful ones?

dbird wrote on Apr 1^st, 2012 at 3:19pm:

Is there a way to turn off the dumb notifications

Which ones?

@ Brian


Quote:

It doesn't have an equivalent version number but it looks and performs a defrag just like the most recent full version.

Thanks, Brian.

I wonder what the motivation is for this free version?  I've not seen or heard of it being advertised as available before this.

@ Brian


Quote:

If the amount of change reached some unspecified amount, Ghost would do a *full* backup--not an incremental.  I can't remember if Ghost changed the image extension when it went from an incremental to a full backup--so I'm not sure if that's part of the behavior or not.

Am I remembering that Ghost *behavior* correctly?  And does Ghost change the extension naming if it does a full backup instead of an incremental?

@ NightOwl

Incrementals have this extension .iv2i
Full images have this extension .v2i

I don't think Dave has the issue we used to see where Ghost creates a full image instead of an incremental. In his first post his full image was 49 GB and a subsequent incremental was 39 GB.

@ Brian


Quote:

I don't think Dave has the issue we used to see where Ghost creates a full image instead of an incremental. In his first post his full image was 49 GB and a subsequent incremental was 39 GB.

Thanks for the response.  I failed to focus in on that important information  :( ! 

I'd still be interested to know exactly what Ghost is doing--i.e. what's in those large incrementals (or, perhaps what Ghost is leaving out--as *unchanged*!), and what naming convention is occurring for those incrementals--being as it is not doing what one would expect.

Can one *browse* what's in each incremental to look for what's changing?

@ NightOwl

Dave hasn't experienced the problem since installing PerfectDisk. We were hoping PerfectDisk would demonstrate block sector shift. Maybe later?