This article covers the following topics:
How inSync implements de-duplication?
How to view the de-duplication Statistics?
Why multiple instances of inSyncWorker.exe run on a Server?
How to handle backup interruptions?
Where are the Server and Client log files located?
How inSync generates alerts?
How inSync implements de-duplication?
Data de-duplication, also called as "intelligent compression" or "single-instance storage", is a method of reducing storage needs by eliminating redundant data. Only one unique instance of the data is retained on the storage. Redundant data is replaced with a pointer or reference to the unique data copy.
De-duplication in inSync
inSync uses application-aware data de-duplication and advanced file-fingerprinting technology to save only a single copy of content (documents/emails/attachments) duplicated across users. inSync uses source based de-duplication which saves over 90% backup time, bandwidth and storage.
Example of App-aware De-duplication in inSync
A typical e-mail system might contain 100 instances of the same 1 megabyte (MB) file attachment. If the e-mail platform is backed up or archived, all 100 instances are saved, requiring 100 MB storage space. With data de-duplication, only one instance of the attachment is actually stored; each subsequent instance is just referenced back to the one saved copy. In this example, a 100 MB storage demand could be reduced to only 1MB.
For more information on Global Source-Based and Application Aware Data De-duplication provided by inSync, refer to this link:
How to view the de-duplication statistics?
inSync displays the de-duplication (de-dupe) ratio achieved during backup on the Web GUI.
Viewing the De-duplication Ratio
De-duplication is calculated as a ratio of "Total Data size" vs "Total Disk space used".
The de-duplication ratio achieved for a storage can be found in the inSync Server Management Console on the Dashboard, as well as in the Storage Details screen.
To see the de-duplication ratio for a particular storage navigate to:
1. inSync Server Management Console --> Dashboard --> Diskspace Savings bar graph
2. inSync Server Management Console --> Manage Storages --> 'Storage Name' --> Usage Statistics. Usage Statistics have the De-duplication Ratio.
Interpretation of the Graph
Interpretation of the disk space graph:
Dark Blue Bar - Total Data size: Represents the total data size for all users (Without Compression or De-Duplication)
Light Blue Bar - Total Disk Space used : Represents De-duplicated and Compressed data size (actual space used on the disk to save all the backed up data).
Why multiple instances of inSyncWorker.exe run on a Server?
The inSync Server has a multi-process architecture. It serves multiple clients at the same time by creating many inSyncWorker.exe processes to perform multiple backup and restore related operations simultaneously.
An 'inSyncWorker.exe*32' process is spawned to serve an incoming client sync or restore request. Once the request is completed the inSyncWorker.exe is not killed, but it is made available to next sync or restore request.
Some instances of inSyncworker.exe are initiated at the time of inSync server startup and are always alive.
📝 Note
There is an upper limit on the number of inSyncWorker.exe instances that can run per storage and it is limited to the maximumnumber of parallel connections to the storage.
How to handle backup interruptions?
An inSync client will automatically resume backup if it gets interrupted due to any reasons like a network disconnection or a laptop shutting down. The backup will resume from where it left last time (it will not start from scratch). Only incremental or new data will be backed up after resuming.
The inSync client maintains information about the backed up data or state of the backup in the C:\inSync4 directory. This information helps inSync client resume synchronization after re-connecting.
The inSync client will try to back up again after 2 minutes if it disconnects due to network issues and after 10 minutes if the backup is canceled by Administrator from the server’s Live Activities list.
Where are the Server and Client log files located?
Please refer the below mentioned link:
How inSync generates Alerts?
Alerts Overview
Alerts are sent depending on the type: for Warnings, the first e-mail is sent after 6 hrs and the second e-mail after 3 days, if alert is still not resolved.
Alert processing happens every 10 minutes and once a new alert is generated, it is updated for future e-mails until it is resolved.
New alerts for same condition - situation that caused the alert generation in the first place - are not generated every time when the same situation is encountered.
The original alert which was generated in the first instance is updated with new information and sent.
A total of two emails are sent as per the severity level OR notification interval guide lines mentioned below in case the alert is not resolved before that time (+/- 10 minutes time difference may be present).
The table has a list of alert notification times for various alert severity levels:
Severity | 1st Alert | 2nd Alert |
CRITICAL | Immediate | 6 hrs after 1 st alert |
ERROR | 1 hr | 1 day after 2st alert |
WARNING | 6 hr | 3 days after 1st alert |
ALERT2 | Immediate |
|
NOTICE |
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|
SEVERE |
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Alert Categories
Severity | Alert |
CRITICAL | Ping to server backup port failed |
ERROR | Low Database Storage Available |
WARNING | User Backup Inactivity |
ALERT2 | Client backup operation appears to have stalled |
NOTICE |
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SEVERE |
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If a network is disconnected while performing a manual or scheduled backup what is the behavior in inSync Client?
The following behavior is observed:
If the network disconnects while performing manual or interactive backup, the backup will fail and will not be retired. It will wait for the next scheduled backup to trigger the backup.
If the network disconnects while performing a scheduled backup, the backup will resume once the connection to the server is restored.