File fragmentation and slow backups

[bjorn_b]

I raised a discussion some time ago where I was looking for other people's experience with different ways of setting up the B2D default settings (i.e. number of backup sets pr. file or whether to allocate maximum space or not.)

However, this discussion didn't solve the problems I see a lot regarding file fragmentation rates (99% is quite common) and slow backup and duplication rates. 

What do people out there do with these challenges?

/bjorn

[ZeRoC00L]

What I do is schedule a defrag during off-business and off-backup hours.
First time will take pretty long to defrag.

[Ken_Putnam · Accepted solution]

Once you get your disks in good shape, allocate maximum space will help a lot in reducing future fragmentation

[bjorn_b]

I know that for sure, but in the linked thread, I was adviced not to do that. 

As for now, I see that as the most convenient solution

[Ken_Putnam]

As long as you don't set a huge Max File Size  (50 or 100GB) - Allocate Max should not do any harm or waste too much space.  The one drawback worth mentioning is that the first time a BKF is used, the job has to stop while it is formatted.  Reused files are not affected this way