Sorry for the slow response. It seems our latest update have caused some performance issue. We have identified the problem. Hopefully it will be much better tomorrow.

Over the past year, our user base has grown a lot. We experienced a lot more traffic recently, thus causing the slow connection. We are now working on a major upgrade to our system to support a lot more users. It will be finished in about 1-2 weeks.

Please also note when uploading / downloading small files, it has huge overhead on the network, the storage system and the database server. Copying small files (e.g. <50KB) tends to be more than 10 times slower than copying large files (e.g. >4MB). The same is true when uploading / downloading small files. If you have a lot of small files that you don't change them often (e.g., C++, Java, HTML, C#, image thumbnails, etc.), it is recommended to zip them locally and then upload the zip file - it will be much faster.

We have already upgraded the system a couple weeks ago. We have increased the capacity by over 3 times. If the performance is still slow, then it is unlikely to be our problem.

Please understand that upload / download small files can be many times slower; uploading small images files can be particularly slow because: (1) Small file overhead; (2) file cannot be compressed because they are already compressed; (3) DriveHQ creates thumbnail / preview images for all uploaded image files.

If you use DSL or Cable Modem, the max upload speed is usually 10 times slower than download speed.

Also, some other software uses Kb/s or Mb/s or Kbps / Mbps, which is different from KB/s and MB/s DriveHQ uses. Note: 1B = 8 b.

Every so often, a few customers will report slow upload speed. DriveHQ has over one million customers around the world, and with such a large user base, it is normal that some users may experience slow upload speed at certain times. Usually it is not a DriveHQ server related issue. We have very fast servers and virtually unlimited network bandwidth. There are several reasons why you might be getting slow upload speed:

(1) Connection type: A lot of Internet connections (e.g. ADSL/Cable Modem) are asymmetric. The download bandwidth is much bigger than upload bandwidth.

(2) Misunderstanding of bps and B/sec: 1Byte=8bits. In reality, 100KB/sec is about 800Kbps-1Mbps. DriveHQ client software displays upload speed as KB/sec. Other companies' software might display transfer speed as bps.

(3) Your file type and file size: Smaller files have more overhead. If you upload a lot of small files, the speed is usually slower. Also, if you upload image files, DriveHQ’s server will automatically create thumbnails and preview images, causing slower transfers.

(4) The biggest factor affecting transfer speed is the "slowest link" between your computer and DriveHQ’s data center. The connection from your computer to DriveHQ’s server goes through many links (similar to the highway system). Each link is operated by a different telecom backbone operator. The slowest link determines the actual connection speed. Please note the speed usually changes from time to time, so you will get different transfer rates at different times of the day. If you experience very slow connection speeds often, contact your ISP and ask them to troubleshoot your connection to DriveHQ’s server or change the routing to DriveHQ server.

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Solutions:

While the above problems are generic and affect all companies, DriveHQ has developed many technologies to mitigate the problem.

(1) Incremental upload/download: when you upload a large folder, DriveHQ’s client software (FileManager and Online Backup) automatically skip files that have not been changed, i.e. it only uploads and downloads new files or modified files. Your initial uploads may take some time, but subsequent uploads/downloads will be much faster.

(2) Data compression: File Manager and Online Backup automatically compress data for faster uploading/downloading. If your files are compressible, such as Microsoft Office documents and database files, upload speed can be 3-7 times faster. (.Zip, .JPG, .MP3, .mov, .wmv files are already compressed and cannot be compressed further).

(3) Local caching: When you use File Manager to open a remote file, it is automatically downloaded and cached in a local cache folder. If you open the file later, it will open immediately.

(4) Automatic resuming: when you have a slow connection speed, the connection tends to be less reliable. If upload/download is interrupted, DriveHQ client software can automatically resume when the connection is good again. This way, you can leave the software to run in the background while you work on other projects. It will finish uploading eventually.

(5) Magic Upload: In certain cases when "Magic Upload" can be used, upload speeds can be exponentially faster.
 

if you need to upload/backup a lot of data and if the connection speed is too slow,

. We can upload your data from our data center, which is much faster. Normally, we charge $49.99 for this service. But please feel free to contact us if you feel your upload speeds are unacceptable.

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