How does # of backups affect file storage space?

[patricks]

I think the default number of backup/rollback points for workset files is 20, and we usually change it to 4 or 5, because we thought that it took up alot of space on the server (like non-workset files which just creates duplicate files with number suffixes). Is that actually the case? Is there any benefit from reducing the number of backup points it keeps track of?

I recently had a need to roll back a file to an older version but it didn't have enough restore points available, so I'm just wondering if we should keep it at the default of 20.

[m20roxxers]

I think it should be set to more, the way workset file backups is different to standard files. So less space is taken up, the biggesst issue I find is if you have 5 people saving 3 times a day thats 15 saves giving you one day, which isn't enough if things go wrong.

Space really isn't the issue I'm not exactly who the file structure breaks it down but I believe it backs up the specific changes then the whole file. Someone much more aligned with the file structuring would give a better technical answer but it's nothing like normal file backups.

[patricks]

Well we usually only have 2 people working in a file at once, and never more than 3 (as we only have 3 Revit users in our office).

[aaronrumple]

Space is dirt cheap. Better to spend a few dollars on storage than not have adequate backup. 4 backups seems way to little.

[chodosh]

You're correct that for normal files and families, etc. keeping it smaller is good, however worksharing is a fluid state, directly proportional to the amount of user activity at any given point. 10 could be wiped out by one user neurotically Saving to Central every 1/2 hour in one day, so it's all variable. Very variable, but the further back your database backup can reach in time, the better off you'll be in order to restore a file or data from an older version. I like to keep my backup folders around for a week or two, creating new local files every day with new names (date does this sufficiently in sequence). I've been able to restore from a backup folder from a month previous to regain something that needed to be resurrected.

The size on the server is also fluid. It can swell dramatically with more staff working at once or just a few staff working frenetically. The file size will bloat when worksharing is engaged and staff are working, and shrink back when static again. The backup folder contents follow the same trend.

HTH,
LC

[Elmo]

As far as I am aware the worksets backup takes up a lot less space than the normal way. I will have to double check and today seems like a good to ask since I will be seeing one of my clients that uses worksets extensively.