Due to the nature of Image backup, it can be difficult to reduce the size of the dataset without compromising the chain. The best way to do it is directly in ImageManager, however, that can sometimes have unexpected side effects, and depending on the retention policy, the size is likely to grow before it shrinks.
Above you can see the default retention settings for ImageManager. Reducing the number in the top three categories will reduce the time we keep consolidated images in the local storage, This will reduce the amount of data stored, but will also reduce the number of recovery points you can choose from.
The monthly cleanup is where you need to be careful. When you have been running the backup chain for longer than the number of months specified, ImageManager creates a Consolidated Rolling image file. This is basically one large incremental image that contains all of the changes between the initial full backup, and the oldest monthly image you keep. This means if you had it set to 12 months, and you change it to 3, then ImageManager will consolidate any monthly images older than 3 months into a single file.
This will absolutely save some space locally, but it will have two negative effects on your offsite backup. The first is the upload. If you consolidate 6 months for example, if the monthly backups were 20 GB each, your CR file may be 90GB because there were files that were changed multiple times over the course of those 6 months, and it only retains the most recent changes. That means you've suddenly got a 90GB file to upload, and that can take days, even with a good internet connection.
The second is, as I mentioned before, your online storage will go up before it goes down. By default there is a 60 day retention policy in place, meaning that we don't delete anything off of the cloud until it has been deleted from the local storage for more than 60 days. So if you do save 60GB by decreasing your retention, it won't be removed from the cloud for almost 2 months.
The last option for reducing storage used without starting a new backup chain is to make sure that the "Move all consolidated image files..." box is unchecked. If that box is checked, ImageManager will never delete a single CD, CW, or CM file. They just go into a sub-folder named "Incrementals". If there is anything in the "Incrementals" folder, it can be safely deleted and you need to go uncheck that box to keep it from moving new stuff into it.
The only quick way to reduce the cloud storage would be to start another backup chain. Depending on how much local storage you have, you could simply create a new directory on the same disk/NAS and start backing up into that folder, then change the source folder on your Servosity backup.
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