Backup Compression: SQLZip vs SQLLiteSpeed
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Once again, we find ourselves needing to make a decision in a hurry. The problem this time is the lack of disk space available for making real database dumps. Consequently, we need a solution that creates compressed dumps.
The choices seem to be:
- SQLZip (http://www.sqlzip.com)
- SQLLiteSpeed (http://www.sqllitespeed.com)
I see very little discussion about these products here, beyond a couple of reviews. Is this because nobody's using them, or because nobody's asking questions?
So does anyone have any experience of these products? Or, better, does anyone have experience of both, and can compare the two?
Thomas Rushton
blog: https://thelonedba.wordpress.com -
I use SQL Litespeed at work and love it. Minimal load on the system, good compression. I run it on the level2, there is a level 3 and I believe 4, but they start to impose a resource load on the system.
As far as a direct comparison, we don't do that here on the site. If someone wants to answer you, that's fine, but we avoid head to head comparisons for a variety of reasons.
Steve Jones
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/columnists/sjones
The Best of SQL Server Central.com 2002 - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/bestof/
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I use SQL Litespeed at work and love it. Minimal load on the system, good compression.I saw your review of it here. Looks good. One question -- does it build temporary files as it goes, or does it compress on the fly? The main reason I'm looking into this is, as indicated, the lack of disk space on that server.
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As far as a direct comparison, we don't do that here on the site. If someone wants to answer you, that's fine, but we avoid head to head comparisons for a variety of reasons.So there are no plans for "As recommended by SQLServerCentral.com"!
Thomas Rushton
blog: https://thelonedba.wordpress.com -
And a big "Hello" to Alex, from SQLLiteSpeed, who reads these pages and has contacted me already...
Thomas Rushton
blog: https://thelonedba.wordpress.com -
Don't mess around. If you have a need to compress backups do it with sqllitespeed I've been running it on several boxes now and I love it. Much faster than doing a standard backup then zipping it. It is worth every penny.
Wes
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I use SQLLiteSpeed in my shop and highly recommend it as well. Our database backup file is normally around 35 Gb, but is compressed down to 8 Gb when backed up with SQLLiteSpeed. I haven't seen any temporary files used during the backup, but I haven't really monitored it that closely when it's run. Another plus is that it takes about 1/3 of the time to create the backup as well. So I can backup my production db in approximately 30 minutes, versus 1 1/2 hours with a normal SQL Server backup. The only thing that I wish for as an improvement, is that error messages would be a little more descriptive when a failure occurs. I agree with the others though, this product is well worth the money. I'm sorry that I can't compare it to SQLZip, but perhaps someone can offer some info about that product as well.
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I also use sqllitespeed. Very satisfied with the product.
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I downloaded and tested both.
Litespeed was faster, more user friendly, easier to schedule.
sqlzip had better reporting and compression capabilities whilst sacrificing speed if needed.
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My databases are smaller and my biggest backup file is under 3G. I backup some databases directly to a W2K compressed folder. It is SLOWER than backing up to a regular folder and you have to leave enough space to uncompress it to access it.
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From what I understand LiteSpeed compresses on the fly and does not write an intermediate file to disk.
Andy
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Also, a low budget solution is to mark your backup folder as compressed using the NT attributes. It's slow - I saw about a 350% increase in the time required to backup, but it works. I don't like to, but another option is to backup directly to tape.
Andy
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Also, a low budget solution is to mark your backup folder as compressed using the NT attributes. It's slow - I saw about a 350% increase in the time required to backup, but it works. I don't like to, but another option is to backup directly to tape.We're already doing that.
Andy, there's a short review of SQLZip here with your name on it. It looks like you did a quick evaluation of the product. Did you get any further with it?
Thomas Rushton
blog: https://thelonedba.wordpress.com -
Didnt have a need to at the time. In my eval, everything worked. Biggest complaint I had about both products (which may have changed) was the lack of integration into EM. Steve did the eval on Litespeed and decided to implement here on the site, we've had no problems.
Andy
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Thanks for your help.
I shall do some evaluations of my own in a couple of weeks' time. The problem itself has been relieved slightly by clearing out a few old logs, and some other odds and ends (why was Pinball installed on a server?!)
Thomas Rushton
blog: https://thelonedba.wordpress.com -
We're using SQLLiteSPeed 3.0 in our shop, and we've fallen in love with it in a matter of days. We've compressed our 198 GB database backups to 26.9 GB, and the time taken to do those backups went from 8 1/2 hours to 2 1/2 hours. Plus, this version has a management console built very much like EM, with some handy features that EM could learn from. Plus, it's an MMC snap-in, so you can add it to your EM and customize it. Just another satisified customer testimonial.
Joshua Jones
Director, Global Database Services
PGi
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