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99

answers:

3

Does anyone have real world experience of backup compression in Sql 2008, I'd like to know how it performs compared to Sql 2005 + winrar. Currently when I back up a I get a 14G file. Using rar shrinks it to <400M, a massive saving. Most of the data is similar, being figures from the stock market so I guess that makes it easy to compress.

A: 

Time to restore is an important thing for backups. If you compress your backups, you will spent more time to restore it.

Yep, I agree but I back up 100 times for every one off restore that I have to do, unless it's a bad week.
MrTelly
+1  A: 

The figures I have seen suggest compression ratios in the range 3 - 4.5 times smaller, which is not as good as the figures you quoted for rar. See Tuning the Performance of Backup Compression in SQL Server 2008.

On a side note, creating compressed backups is faster.

Mitch Wheat
A: 

I've got one that goes from 200GB down to 50GB, definitely not as compact as WinRar is getting you, but a lot more convenient. As others have noted, backup time is quicker, but restore time is (a bit) longer but still way quicker than SQL2000.

SqlACID