How it works

How does NXPowerLite reduce file size so significantly without affecting visual content integrity?

Files are often much larger than they need to be. This 'file bloat' is most often caused by inappropriate choice of image formats, excessive image resolution or large blocks of data unnecessary for normal use of the file.

Some of the worst file bloat offenders are Microsoft Office and JPEG files, which are among the biggest contributors to storage consumption.

File bloat is most noticeable when files are combined or embedded. For example, if a JPEG image is inserted within a PowerPoint presentation, it is almost always stored with much too high a resolution. Or pasting part of an Excel spreadsheet into a PowerPoint presentation actually results in attaching the entire spreadsheet instead of just the visible portion. Both these examples result in extensive file bloat.

File optimization attacks file bloat by eliminating any excess baggage and converting graphics to the most efficient file format and resolution. You're left with a file that looks and feels identical to the original, but is much smaller.

Optimized files remain in their original format, retaining all their attributes and visual content integrity. They don't need to be unzipped and there's no need for special viewing software - so they can be opened and edited by anybody. This makes file optimization the perfect solution for primary storage reduction.

“Doesn’t exactly compress files, it wrings them out shaking unneeded bytes out of graphics and included objects to radically reduce their size without affecting their appearance.”

Information Week

What NXPowerLite does

File optimization is 'lossy' by design - trimming bloated elements is the only way to permanently reduce file sizes. NXPowerLite removes gratuitous, excess data from your files and makes a number of additional adjustments to optimize them:

PowerPoint, Word & Excel files
  • Removes unnecessary metadata
  • Removes “fast save” information
  • Converts inserted images to the most efficient file format
  • Adjusts the JPEG quality of images
  • Resizes inserted images to the most appropriate size
  • Removes cropped areas of inserted images (older files only)
  • Flattens embedded documents (older files only)
JPEG files
  • Adjusts the JPEG quality of images
  • Downsamples chroma information
  • Uses Huffman tables that are optimized for each specific image
“A unique file optimization solution that eliminates unessential data, converts graphics to the most efficient format and resolution, dramatically reduces the size of content-rich files, and increases efficiency and bottom line cost savings, all while keeping the file basically intact.”

Terri McClure, Senior Analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group

Visual quality of optimized files

Visual content integrity

'Visual content integrity' means optimized files look identical to the originals in every way. They also retain all of their original attributes and functionality.

Using NXPowerLite's default settings, there is no visible difference between the original and optimized version of a file. The optimized version is just much smaller.

Neuxpower's primary development focus is to ensure the visual content integrity of all files. Our testers optimize many thousands of files and carefully check the results – so you can confidently reduce file sizes without concern for impairment.

Average file size reductions

  • Microsoft PowerPoint presentations: 88%*
  • Microsoft Word documents: 84%*
  • Microsoft Excel spreadsheets: 76%*
  • NXPowerLite can also optimize JPEG images.

* Source: NXPowerLite Trident Warrior Experimentation and Results, FORCEnet

Example files

Other storage reduction methods

The problem with data compression

The main problem with zipping a file is that it has to be unzipped. Decompressing files on-the-fly can significantly slow down system performance. This makes normal compression particularly ineffective for primary storage reduction.

Also, compression can have very little effect on the files that are most in need of reduction – such as large Microsoft Office or JPEG files. Zipping an image-heavy PowerPoint presentation will typically result in a compression rate of just 10-15%. Optimizing the same presentation can reduce its file size by 90% or more.

The problem with data deduplication

Deduplication is only effective on duplicate files or data blocks. These most often occur on backup data sets. Primary storage has far less duplicates, which makes dedupe far less effective for primary storage reduction.

Utilizing dedupe on primary storage can also lead to problematic side effects. These include noticeably slower reads and writes, much slower system performance and a higher probability of undetected data corruption.

Using NXPowerLite with compression/dedupe

Because NXPowerLite is most effective on primary storage, and compression/deduplication are most effective on secondary storage, NXPowerLite can be scheduled to work in conjunction with your existing compression/deduplication solutions to provide even greater storage savings.