Configure Performance Settings (Windows)

The Backblaze application estimates how much data can back up in a single day, based on the most recent speed test. This estimation also assumes the computer is powered on, awake, and connected to the internet for 24 hours.

Threading and Throttling

If you need to re-upload your backup to Backblaze, you can toggle both the Automatic Throttle and the Maximum Number of Backup Threads for your backup. Increasing one or both of those options allows you to, in some cases, dramatically increase your upload capacity (while using more of your available bandwidth).

The Automatic Throttle setting attempts to limit the rate at which the Backblaze software uploads files to 70%-90% of your total connection speed to the Backblaze data center. This limit is intended to allow your backups to upload as quickly as possible and other web-based activities to continue unimpeded. The portion of your upload bandwidth that is used is recalculated once per hour. 

Disabling the Automatic Throttle option enables Manual Throttle and reveals a slider to manually adjust the rate at which files are uploaded.

When Manual Throttle is enabled and the slider is adjusted all the way to the right, you can configure the number of upload threads. This is useful if you have latency or other network conditions, and you are not able to maximize your upload connection to Backblaze. Typically, Backblaze uses a single connection at a time to upload the data from your computer to the Backblaze data center. Increasing the number of threads means more connections are running in parallel.

If there is a major discrepancy between your total available upload bandwidth and the speed at which you are currently uploading files to Backblaze, increasing the number of threads may improve performance. Backblaze generally recommends increasing the number of threads incrementally by one and taking note of the amount of data (not the number of files, but the total number of megabytes) uploaded in a 12- or 24-hour period. Most connections will see little to no performance gains with more than eight threads. It is also worth noting that each additional thread above one increases the system resources that are used by the Backblaze software while uploads are in progress.

Running on Battery Power

If Backblaze is running on a Mac OS X computer that has a battery, the option to disable backups when running on battery power is displayed. Disabling backups on battery power may increase battery life. Desktop computers do not include this option.

Wi-Fi Network Block List

Lastly, the WiFi network block list section allows you to add specific wireless internet connections. After a network is added to the list, backup data is not transmitted if your computer is connected to that network. For more information, click here.