System Backup Software: Why Consolidation Is Important

So you will absolutely want to take time to research the various features available in your solution to ensure you choose a software program that offers you the features you truly need. You may have stumbled across various solutions that offer consolidation as a feature and wondered if this is an important feature to have.

The fact is that consolidation is an important feature to have in your system backup software solution for so many different reasons. Essentially, this is a feature that consolidates your image files that are being backed up, removing duplicates to minimize the space required to store your files. Consolidation is often combined with a compression feature that also serves to shrink the files to save storage space, too. Some of the more advanced software solutions allow you to specify how often consolidation of your files takes place.

So just why is consolidation so important with your system backup software solution? You may be wondering why it matters how much space your backed-up files and images take up. If you are storing your backup files and images in a virtual environment, you are almost certainly paying a fee for how much space you use, so there is a cost-saving benefit to condensing and compressing your files down. If you are using tape or disks for data storage, condensing files will save space on those media types, too. Additional benefits include de-duplication and speedier recovery processes, too.

There are quite a few very important features that you will want to have access to in any system backup software solution. Consolidation may not be a feature that readily comes to mind as a necessity. However, the ability to save space, whether in a virtual environment or in a physical media format, truly has some significant benefits that you need to consider fully. Often, consolidation is an advanced feature but also a feature that doesn't add a significant amount to the overall price of the software. Consider fully what this feature can do for you as you search for the right software program for your needs.