How long should the clone or backup take?
The speed at which Carbon Copy Cloner transfers data from one volume to another depends on numerous factors such as: • The interface through which those hard drives are connected to the computer • The speed of the source and destination hard drives (RPMs, seek time) • The method used to transfer data from one volume to another (file-level copy, block-level copy, backup to a disk image) • The chipset in an external hard drive enclosure • Fragmentation of data and how close the source volume is to full capacity • The size distribution of files on the source volume • The health of the source and destination hard drives • The quality of cables that connect the source and destination volumes to your computer • The architecture and speed of the computer’s processor(s) and any CPU or disk-based activity that the backup task must compete with Below we will discuss how these factors affect performance, and what you may (or may not) be able to do to improve the speed of your backup.
