Overview

Overview of the Disk Usage Inspector

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The disk usage inspector tool is designed to help you understand which directories are contributing the most towards your current, historical, and deleted disk usage.

You can start the tool by using the Control Panel page of the Data Protection Software.

The first page of the wizard displays the login page. If you have configured local backups, the server drop down list will also contain selections for the local server or local disk backup destinations. Additionally, you can also select a different filesystem path that contains backup data by using the restore from disk field.

The next page of the wizard displays the disk usage information. This page first downloads the list of all folders contained on the server. Once downloaded, it will display the folders along with several columns of information.

Columns of information:

· Size: The amount of current data in just this directory.

· Total Size: The amount of current data in this directory and all of its subdirectories.

· Deleted Size: The amount of deleted data in this directory and all of its subdirectories.

· Size of Versions: The amount of historical data in this directory and all of its subdirectories.

Types of data:

Current data is information required to store the current versions of all of your files. The results of the estimated disk usage on the Visualize! dialog on the Folders page of the Data Protection Software should roughly match the amount of current data shown on this screen.

Historical data is information required to store the previous versions of files that still exist on your computer. Only the changes between versions are stored. Files that change frequently or large files that are rewritten often (such as very large .zip files) can contribute towards high levels of historical disk usage. Use this tool to quickly identify which directories contain files with the largest historical deltas. You can then customize your backup policies for just these folders or files to store less historical information, if desired.

Deleted data is information required to store the current and historical versions of files that were once backed up but then were subsequently deleted from your computer. Data Protection retains these deleted files in the backup for as long as you have configured it to do so according to the versioning settings on the Options page.