500 GB at 100 Mbps
- Time ≈ 40,000 seconds
- ≈ 11.1 hours
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Backup Time Calculator
Estimate backup time from data size and throughput to plan transfers or backups.
Results
- Time (seconds)
- 40000.00
- Time (hours)
- 11.11
How to use this calculator
- Enter data size and choose the unit.
- Enter effective throughput in Mbps.
- See estimated time in seconds and hours.
Inputs explained
- Data size
- Amount of data to transfer/backup.
- Data unit
- KB, MB, GB, or TB.
- Throughput (Mbps)
- Effective speed—use measured speed for accuracy.
How it works
Convert data to bits, divide by throughput (Mbps) to get seconds; hours = seconds ÷ 3600.
Formula
Seconds = (Data bits) ÷ (Throughput bits/sec) Hours = Seconds ÷ 3600
When to use it
- Planning backup windows for servers or NAS.
- Estimating upload/download time for large datasets.
- Checking if a maintenance window is sufficient for transfers.
Tips & cautions
- Use measured throughput, not advertised speeds; account for overhead/congestion.
- Add buffer time for verification or retries.
- If speeds are in MB/s, convert to Mbps (MB/s × 8).
- Assumes steady throughput; real networks fluctuate.
- Does not include overhead, latency, or throttling impacts.
Worked examples
2 TB at 250 Mbps
- Time ≈ 64,000 seconds
- ≈ 17.8 hours
Deep dive
This backup time calculator converts data size and throughput into an estimated duration so you can plan backups and large transfers.
Use effective speeds from real tests for the most accurate estimate.
FAQs
- Advertised vs real speeds?
- Use measured throughput for accuracy; advertised speeds are often higher.
- Overhead?
- Not included—add buffer for protocol/verification overhead.
- Why Mbps?
- Network links are commonly rated in Mbps; convert MB/s to Mbps by ×8.
- Uploads vs backups?
- Use effective upload speed for cloud backups; download for restores.
- Parallel streams?
- Not modeled; if throughput scales, enter the effective combined throughput.
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