Compress backup file: compressing and encrypting backup files

 

Accessing compression options

To access the Compression options shown above:

  1. Click Jobs in the navigation bar
  2. Select the job to be edited and click Edit at the bottom of the window.
  3. Click NTBackup options on the left menu.
  4. Click Compress backup file to expand the section.
  5. Check Compress backup file after NTBackup has completed to enable compression.
Introduction

The Microsoft Backup Format .BKF does not natively support software compression when backing up to disk (External HDD, REV drive, NAS, Local Drive, etc). BackupAssist, however, provides the option to have your backup file compressed and encrypted with a password. Compression is an additional step in the backup process and occurs after NTBackup has finished writing the .BKF backup file to disk. Once the original backup file (.BKF format) has been added to the new compressed archive the original uncompressed backup is removed from the disk.

Advantages of using compression:

Disadvantages of using compression:

Recommended when:

Setting the type of compression

BackupAssist offers different types of compression that you can choose from:

To select the type of compression:

  1. Use the Compression type drop-down menu.
Setting the compression ratio

BackupAssist can be configured to use different levels of compression depending on your requirements. A smaller compression ratio means that compression does not take as long but because data is not compressed as much backup file sizes are larger. A greater compression ratio reduces backup file sizes but increases the compression time.

To set the compression ratio:

  1. Use the Compression ratio slider to specify a level of compression. Move the slider left for faster compression but larger backup files, and right for longer compression times but smaller backup files.
Creating a compressed self-extracting executable

Depending on the compression type selected you may need an additional utility, such as 7-zip, to extract data from a compressed backup file before being able to restore actual backup data. To remove the hassle of needing an additional utility to decompressed backup files you can choose to have your compressed backup files saved as self-extracting executables. This means that you can double-click a compressed backup to extract the .BKF backup file on any machine without requiring additional software.

  1. Check Create self extracting executable to have compressed backup files stored as self-extracting executables.
Encrypting the backup file with a password

BackupAssist compression includes the option to have your backup file encrypted with a password. This is useful if you need to ensure the security of the data backed up. 7-zip, for example, applies 256-bit AES encryption to a compressed backup file. Once encrypted, a password is required in order to extract backup files and restore data so it is essential that you use a password that can be easily remembered.

  1. Check Encrypt backup file to enable encryption.
  2. Enter and confirm a password for encryption in the available fields.
Specifying a working directory

The working directory is where the compressed backup file is created before being moved to the backup destination (external hdd, REV drive, etc). In general, if compression is enabled, the backup process is as follows:

  1. Backup file in .BKF format is written to the backup destination (REV drive, local directory, NAS, etc).
  2. Compressed backup file is written to the working directory if one was specified, or to the backup destination where the .BKF file was written to, if no working directory was specified.
  3. Once compression completes the original .BKF file is removed from the backup destination.
  4. If a working directory was specified the compressed backup file is moved from this location to the backup destination.
    • Note: if backing up to FTP the compressed file will be then uploaded to the FTP server

If a working directory is not specified BackupAssist will create the compressed backup in the same location as the backup destination; this means that your backup destination must have enough free space to temporarily accommodate both the uncompressed .BKF file and the compressed file. If this amount of free space cannot be ensured you should specify a working directory with enough free space to store the compressed backup file. Specifying a different drive as the working directory is especially useful when backing up to removable disk cartridge devices, such as REV and QuikStor drives, where storage capacities are not upgradeable.

To specify a working directory:

  1. Check Specify a working directory and either input or browse for a directory where the compressed back file can be stored temporarily before being copied to the backup destination.
Uncompressing your backup file

Different methods can be used to uncompress a compressed backup file depending on the type of compression that was used: