News and Reviews > Mini-Reviews by Members

Not-so-mini review of CrashPlan backup software

<< < (10/12) > >>

jaden:
Thanks for the referral code. I'm hesitant to jump into iDrive due to the cost and the issues you wrote about, but I'm not seeing much else out there.

I would have thought someone would have seen this need and filled it, but there doesn't seem to be a really good solution for our storage needs at a reasonable price point.

I keep hoping CrashPlan will improve their client when I see an update, but so far I've been disappointed.

JavaJones:
I was with CrashPlan for years, like you, and client improvements seemed to be minimal. I think they might have to transition off of Java entirely in order to fix the memory use issue, for one thing. And for me it was really starting to be unacceptable, 2GB+ at all times with CrashPlan in the background!

In my relatively short time using iDrive I have at least seen one bug fixed, which had to do with automatic updates not working on some people's machines (including mine). On the other hand perusing their forums you see a lot of unsatisfying answers to questions, a lot of "contact us directly for support" diversion (and you never know how the issue was resolved then, if at all), and a number of complaints about similar issues. In fact, I would suggest browsing the support forum of *any* backup application you are considering. It can be eye-opening. :D

- Oshyan

f0dder:
Using Amazon Glacier or Google Nearline is cost prohibitive, but they're getting there. I would love to see a service using Nearline with some deduplication and a lean client. I have nothing against Java per se, but CrashPlan clearly hasn't optimized their client for memory usage.-jaden (July 29, 2015, 01:18 PM)
--- End quote ---
Kinda impossible to do for Java. You need to reserve a heap that's large enough to handle your largest theoretical load, plus some extra for garbage collection bookkeeping. This can be grown dynamically, but I don't think the JVM ever shrinks the operating system allocated heap. Makes sense for server loads, isn't always a nice feature on client machines though.

jaden:
Kinda impossible to do for Java. You need to reserve a heap that's large enough to handle your largest theoretical load, plus some extra for garbage collection bookkeeping. This can be grown dynamically, but I don't think the JVM ever shrinks the operating system allocated heap. Makes sense for server loads, isn't always a nice feature on client machines though.
-f0dder (July 31, 2015, 06:13 AM)
--- End quote ---

You're right, Java memory usage does tend to go up and to the right, but there has been some experimental efforts such as DeallocateHeapPages. A fellow coworker of mine was able to vastly reduce memory usage in a Java app he had written after profiling it to find the main problem points.

dr_andus:
Hey JavaJones and other iDrive users,

sorry for resurrecting this old thread, but what's your verdict on iDrive now, with the benefit of hindsight? Has it worked out for you?

P.S. Does any of you use the iDrive Wi-Fi device as well by any chance? Is it worth the $89.99, or can that function be emulated with a cheaper alternative?

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page