24 Barracuda Backup Service Administrator’s Guide
Step 5: Modify Your Back Up Rate Limit (Optional)
Rate limits control the data replication rate to the Barracuda Cloud Storage or other offsite storage
locations. You can limit Internet bandwidth consumption during peak usage times, and schedule
backups for non-peak hours.
Your initial offsite backup may take on the order of days to complete but all of the data is backed up
locally on the Barracuda Backup Server during this period. After the initial large transfer is complete,
replicating your data offsite should complete with only a few hours of transfer each day. By default,
the Barracuda Backup Service is configured to run full speed data transfers at night so that bandwidth
is not affected while most people are at work. An alternate rate limit allows you to adjust the limit
speed and time interval.
The length of transfer time it will take to get your data offsite is impacted by the compression and de-
duplication rates on your data, the uplink speed of your Internet connection, the amount of data that
changes every day, and any speed limits you apply to the Barracuda Backup Service.
To adjust the backup rate limit:
1. On the BACKUP > Rate Limit page, select a Barracuda Backup Server on the left menu and
create or edit the rate limit.
2. You can specify a default rate limit and an alternate rate limit which is maintained only during
the specified time periods.
The following table shows typical amounts of data that various Internet connection speeds support
based on average storage efficiency and data change rates.
Step 6: Exclude Files from a Backup (Optional)
You can create exclusion rules that use pattern matching to identify directory or file names that are
not to be backed up. Files which are typically excluded from backups include temporary files, music,
movies and other files which are not essential for business needs. You can add exclusion rules using
the
BACKUP > Exclusions page.
Table 4.1: Length of time to perform backup
Data Amount Uplink Speed Normal Initial Sync Daily Change Sync
20 GB - 100 GB 200 Kbps
(entry DSL, cable)
1-20 days ~ 1-8 hours
100 GB - 250 GB 512 Kbps
(mid-range DSL, cable)
1-20 days ~ 1-8 hours
250 GB - 500 GB 768 Kbps
(premium DSL, cable)
1-20 days ~ 1-8 hours
500 GB - 1 TB 1.54 Mbps
(T1 or equivalent)
1-20 days ~ 1-8 hours
2 TB and up 1 + #TB/2 Mbps
(fiber, DS3, etc.)
1-20 days ~ 1-8 hours