f. Pay attention to the restic tags in the script. When the script runs the forget and prune commands, it will run that against the entire repo. So you want to ensure the tags in that command match the backups you want it to actually affect. I would suggest, after running the initial backup in step 7 and then have the script ready, run it and then run the verification steps from step 8 again. Just to be sure you have it right. And if you have multiple sources going to the same repo, do the same. You can also perform [dry runs](https://restic.readthedocs.io/en/latest/060_forget.html#removing-snapshots-according-to-a-policy) on removal polices (and [on backups](https://restic.readthedocs.io/en/latest/040_backup.html#dry-runs) too, btw) to sanity check yourself before accidentally nuking your repo. See the disclaimer at the start of this README.
g. Regarding the compression level of the restic backup, you can choose `off`, `auto`, or `max`. I ran a super scientific one run each on my backup source and got the following results:
g. Regarding the [compression level](https://restic.readthedocs.io/en/latest/047_tuning_backup_parameters.html?highlight=compress#compression) of the restic backup, you can choose `off`, `auto`, or `max`. I ran a super scientific one run each on my backup source and got the following results:
Raw Data: 255 GB to Backup <br>
All levels of compression also deduplicate files <br>
I did not note the time it took, but I want to say it was about an hour when set to `off`, and about an hour and a half for both `auto` and `max`. I personally use the `max` setting, as it didn't take much longer. And while it didn't really compress that much more, I feel like as I add more sources to the repo, it will slowly add up to better gains. But you can decide as you like for your own backups.
I did not note the time it took, but I want to say it was about an hour when set to `off`, and about an hour and a half for both `auto` and `max`. I personally leave it at the default of `auto`, as `max` didn't make much of a difference. But you can decide as you like for your own backups.
