My first file and folder backup will take too long over the Internet, how can I upload the data?
Depending on the available bandwidth, below is the guideline on when you would make use of this service. For example, if you have bandwidth of 5 Mbps, and your backup size is greater than 500 GB, it would make sense to use the initial seed service. For accounts under the guideline below it would be faster to backup directly to the cloud.
Bandwidth | Size of Account |
1 Mbps | >100 GB |
5 Mbps | >500 GB |
10 Mbps | >1 TB |
20 Mbps | >2 TB |
An initial seed is the initial full backup of your files and folders placed on a local hard drive and sent to our office for direct upload to our servers. After uploading this data to the servers your backups will be smaller because they will only consist of the Intelliblox changes to the initial upload.
If you are sending us a drive with a files and folders backup on a sub-account that you also are performing SQL, Exchange, Hyper-V or VMware backups with, you may place those on the initial seed. However we do not suggest using the initial seed for sub-accounts only backing up SQL, Exchange, Hyper-V or VMware because once those entities change a certain amount we will need to re-upload the complete backup data over the Internet anyway. It is useful to benchmark the total time it will take to upload the database in full.
We also recommend against choosing to backup shares as part of your initial seed. This will significantly slow down the process of seeding because our software must pull data across network to your temp space and then move it to the drive. Whenever possible, we recommend installing the software on each computer you would like to seed and setting it up as its own sub-account.
Please contact support so that we can create a ticket for your initial seed drive. The initial seed is a feature can be enabled by request from our end. You can email or call us with the specific username and subaccounts you would like to perform the initial seed on. We will also email you the Local Drive Seed form which should be sent to us with your drive.
Initial seed drives must be an external USB 3.0 drive formatted as NTFS prior to seeding data to the drive. This is required to ensure the integrity of the data being copied to the drive. File systems such as FAT32 have restrictions on the number of files in a folder which can cause problems when performing a seed. Drives that are not formatted as NTFS or are flagged by our antivirus software will be returned to the customer for proper initial seed drive processing.
A NAS device can be used before transferring data across the network to a USB drive, but our tests have found that these devices can operate up to four times slower in transfer than USB devices. Bare-metal internal drives utilizing SATA are not compatible with the initial seed process; drives used must be USB 2.0 or 3.0 compatible.
Configure your backup set the way it will run normally over the web. After we have enabled the initial seed from our side, we recommend restarting the BackupAgent service on your computer.
Running the Seed from the Management Portal
For example, if you are using the H: drive, your username is mycompany, and the ComputerID is 0000 you should have this path: H:\Intronis\mycompany\0000
After the seed has been completed, you may resume normal automatic backups – the Intelliblox changes to your data will be pushed up to our server while the seed is en route to our servers. It is important to note that until we receive the initial seed data and it is uploaded to our servers that we will not be able to perform restores on that data should you need to restore it. In an effort to ensure data integrity please make sure all drives arrive within 30 days of completion of the seed.
Once the local backup is complete, complete the Local Drive Seed Form and send the form, along with the hard drive, to:
Intronis Technologies
ATTN: Client Services
100 Apollo Drive, Suite 205
Chelmsford, MA 01824
Is there a charge for this service?
The initial seed drive service comes free of charge. Drives are returned by UPS Ground Shipping.
What happens if my account has been reset?
If for any reason your account needs to be reset after you have performed initial seed backups, after the account has been reset, the data should be deleted from the drive before sending backups to it again.
My backups failed, can I delete the data from the initial seed drive?
Please do not delete data from the seed drive without performing a reset of your account, because the software will still think the data is backed up but will not have the physical data associated with its records.
Can I use the Local Vault during an Initial Seed backup?
Yes. This did not used to be the case, but as of version 5 of the software you can run the initial and also have your Local Vault enabled.
Can I put more than one seed on a seed drive?
Yes, just follow the instructions below for starting seeds from the Management portal vs the local software.
The initial seed has been successfully uploaded once you receive an email from support confirming that the data has been verified and available to be restored.