How Long Does a 100GB Backup Take?

I have roughly 100GB of data on my Windows 10 computer, and I want to back up this data. However, I worry it will take a long time to back it up. How long does a 100GB backup take? Any suggestions will be appreciated.

It is hard to give you a precise time about how long a 100GB backup takes.

Depending on the maximum speed and connection bandwidth of your storage device. It also relies on the kinds of files stored on the disk. The disk is speed-limited and will operate closer to 1 MB/s if you have many small files. Cloning the partition is quicker if you have many little files like this. Instead of attempting to locate and read each file, the disk does a raw sequential read of every sector on the drive.

Assuming you are backing up your data from one hard drive to another and that both are SATA drives running at 3Gb/s:

3Gb = 3GB/s / 8 = roughly 375MB/s.

Without worrying about overheads:

100GB / 375MB/s = 266 seconds = 4 minutes, 26 seconds.

What backup tool are you employing? The one that comes with Windows is awful. A 200 GB system has taken 2-3 days, in my experience. Check out Easus Todo Backup. Additionally, only the initial backup must be a full backup (recurring about once a month). After that, you can use incremental backups for your daily and weekly backups.

It is hard to give you a precise time about how long a 100GB backup takes. But if you use professional backup software, your waiting time will be reduced.

Related article: How Long Does it Take to Backup a Computer?