Compression and encryption
Off, Balanced or Max; AES-256 with a password nobody can recover; and the two options that make thousands of small files fast.
On this page
Two choices on the Settings step decide how files are written to the destination. Both are per job: the photo job can be uncompressed, the documents job compressed and encrypted.
Compression#
| Setting | What it does | Use for |
|---|---|---|
| Off | writes each file as it is; fastest, largest | photos, video, music, anything already compressed |
| Balanced (default) | zstd level 3: fast, with a solid saving on documents and code | almost everything |
| Max | zstd level 12: smaller sets, noticeably slower | slow or expensive destinations, rarely run archive jobs |
The run report shows the result, for example 62% of original. Photos and video barely shrink at any level, so Off saves CPU time on a Pictures job.
Encryption#
Encrypt this job with AES-256 encrypts every file's contents before it is written. A USB drive that gets lost, a NAS in a shared office or a bucket at a provider then holds no readable file contents. Encryption is part of Home and Pro.
- Tick Encrypt this job with AES-256.
- Type a Password of at least 8 characters. The meter says Weak, Fair, Good or Strong.
- Type it again in Confirm password.
- Save the job.
The password is kept on this PC in the agent's sealed store, encrypted by Windows for your account (for the PC, in service mode), so scheduled runs need no typing. It is never written into the job file, an export or a saved draft.
When you edit the job later, the password fields are empty and say A password is stored for this job. Leave both empty to keep it, or type a new one in both to replace it.
Caution
There is no way to recover a lost password. Not by Genie9, not by support, not by anyone. Every set of the job needs it to restore. Put it in your password manager the moment you set it.
What encryption covers#
Encryption is AES-256 with a checksum for every file, so a damaged file is found at restore. What stays readable without the password: the job's name and each set's manifest, which lists every file's name, folder, size and date. Only the contents are encrypted.
Changing the password, or switching encryption on or off#
Sets already written keep the password they were made with. The next backup after the change is a full that starts a new chain, so each restore point needs one password: points before the change take the old one, points after it the new one. The Settings step says so when you make the change.
A job whose password is not on this PC#
A job copied or imported from elsewhere, or one whose sealed store could not be read, stops before it starts with E-ENC-003: This job is encrypted, but its password isn't stored on this PC. Open the job and type the password again on the Settings step.
Two options under Advanced#
Pack small files (on). Files under 256 KB are stored together in pack files instead of one file each. Each file is still restored on its own. Measured on a USB 3 hard disk: 20,200 small files took 40 seconds packed and 260 seconds unpacked.
Deduplicate identical files (on). Identical content is stored once per set, however many places it appears in the source.
A set is GBM AI's own format#
Even with compression Off, a set is not a plain copy of your folders: small files are packed and identical files are stored once. Restore through GBM AI, which reads every set in every edition, including Free. Do not rely on opening the destination in File Explorer.