FAQ and Knowledge Base

NEW: Real-Time, Super-Fast, No Rescanning Execution. Monitor source and/or target folders for changes at file or subfolder level, and then backup, synchronize, replicate files without folder rescanning. Essential over slow connections and for real-time execution with a large amount of files. Plus VVEngine keeps track of all the changes happening so they can be reviewed.

*** Requires VVEngine 2.1 or newer, Server Premium Edition or Client Edition ***

 How to setup Real-Time execution in VVEngine.pdf
 

Overview of the New VVEngine Real-Time Functionality

In the standard backup / replication / synchronization routine, Source and Target folders are analyzed to look for file changes. The folders are scanned, their content is compared file-by-file and a list of file changes is built based on timestamps and/or size. Then the new files, or the files that have changed, are copied or deleted, as needed.

This process works well, but it is suboptimal in some circumstances where repetitive rescanning of source and target folders takes a long time. For example:

1. Over slow network connections.

2. Handling a large amount of files.

3. If backup, replication or synchronization must be real-time or as fast as possible.

For improving performance in the above situations, VVEngine 2.1 now offers some new capabilities which are described below.

The first time the profile runs, source and target folders are fully scanned and analyzed. However, after the first run VVEngine no longer scans source and target. Instead, it monitors source and target and keeps track of all file changes. Then, when the profile runs, VVEngine and ViceVersa use this information to apply the changes without the need to re-analyze the entire file set. This means that the total amount of files to backup, replicate or synchronize is no longer a factor, as changes are detected in “real-time”. Plus all of this happens without using extra computer resources: the file monitoring relies entirely on the standard Windows functionality and does not need any new file system driver or special service to be installed.

This new “real-time” capability is implemented as a new option in the VVEngine scheduling settings. The option is called "Monitoring Level". Monitoring level can be set to one of the following values:

Full Rescan: When a file change is detected, a profile run is initiated. The source and target folders are fully rescanned to find out which files have changed since the last run. This is the standard change detection functionality: source and target are fully rescanned on change detection.

Subfolder Level: Changes are detected and tracked at subfolder level. When a file change is detected, a profile run is initiated. However only the sub-folders where the file changes have occurred are rescanned which significantly improves performance. This is part of the new real-time capability of VVEngine.

File Level: Changes are detected and tracked at file level. When a file change is detected, a profile run is initiated. However only the files with changes are rescanned. This speeds up the profile execution significantly. This is part of the new real-time capability of VVEngine.

The new Subfolder Level and File Level monitoring do not require full rescanning of source or target like Full Rescan. This speeds up execution substantially especially over slow connections or when dealing with a large amount of files.
The difference between Subfolder Level and File Level is that File Level monitoring is more detailed, detecting changes at file level instead of just at subfolder level. However, because of the level of detail, it may result in more Overflow situations. Overflow situations force a full rescan if some changes are missed. For most applications, Subfolder Level monitoring will suffice.

Note: Subfolder Level and File Level detection options are only available in the VVEngine Server Premium edition or in VVEngine for Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP, 2000. They are not available in the VVEngine Server edition.

The following PDF document contains detailed instructions on how to setup Real-Time backup for Continuous Data Protection, replication or synchronization in VVEngine: 
 How to setup Real-Time execution in VVEngine.pdf