PackITSuite

Reviewed by Geetesh Bajaj, March 3rd 2007

Introduction
About PackITSuite
Download and Installation
Using PackITSuite
Pricing and Support
Conclusion

Introduction

These days there is an overload of data -- and this data takes a lot of space on hard disks everywhere. It does help that storage technology has kept pace, and that hard discs get larger and cheaper all the time -- yet organizing and cataloging this data can still be a herculean task, if not a nightmare.

And yes, most of us would not want to delete anything as well -- so how can we do something so that the same files take less space?

PackITSuite is the product from I-Logik which helps reduce the size of stored file data without deleting or archiving them. Let us explore further.

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About PackITSuite

PackITSuite is from I-LogiK, a company based in Birmingham, UK. You can learn more about their products, and download a trial version of PackITSuite here...

You can also read a conversation with Simon Turner, Technical Director of i-LogiK here...

PackITSuite is a file server optimizer which allows automatic compression of common file formats without changing the original file format or content. These file formats include: 

• Microsoft PowerPoint presentations (.ppt)
  
• Microsoft Word documents (.doc)
  
• JPEG image files (.jpg)
  
• Outlook Personal Folders Files (.pst)

PackITSuite can be applied on a corporate scale allowing thousands of files to be optimized -- on a server or a network. In fact, the product is available in two editions:

• PackITSuite Server Edition
• PackITSuite Workstation Edition

The difference between the editions is that the Server edition allows compression over a network and on a server.

My contact at I-Logik for this review was Antony Keay- thank you, Antony.

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Download and Installation

Download the installer, run the setup routine and follow the instructions. You'll end up with a I-Logik program group in your Windows Start menu (see Figure 1 below).

Figure 1: I-Logik Start menu Group

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Using PackITSuite

Follow these steps to get started with PackITSuite:

1. Go to your Windows Start menu and choose All Programs | I-Logik | PackITSuite | PackITSuite (see Figure 1 above)
   
   
2. This opens PackITSuite opening screen, as shown in Figure 2
   
   
   Figure 2: PackITSuite opening screen
   
   This is a wizard based interface -- press the Continue button to move to the next step.
   
   
3. This opens the File Search window of the interface as shown in Figure 3. Here you can select the files that need to be optimized -- these can be selected through a search of multiple folders, sub-folders, drives or even the local network. To search, just activate the checkbox of the desired disk, folder, or network location.
   
   
   Figure 3: Search files to optimize
   
   

   The Search window also has the option to only search for files above a certain size. When done, click the Next button.

4. This opens the subsequent window of the application called File Select (see Figure 4). This displays the search results and allows you to select the particular files which need to be optimized.
   
   
   Figure 4: File Select
   
   Select the files, and click on Next button.
   
   
5. This brings up the Compression Setting window, as shown in Figure 5
   
   
   Figure 5: Compression Setting
   
   Here the user can see the files selected with their original sizes. Other than this, the Output File Setting can be customized, for example browse and select the destination folder to save the optimized files. Click Next to continue.
   
   
6. This opens the Compress window (see Figure 6). This displays the progress of the compression, timer indicating the amount of time used for compression process, original size and the compressed sizes of the files.
   
   
   Figure 6: Compress
   
   
7. When done, the Compression completed window appears with an Event Log and a listing of the optimized files.
   
   
   Figure 7: Compression completed
   

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Pricing and Support

The Workstation Edition is for use on a single computer, and costs £50 (Great Britain Pound) for a single user license. Substantial discounts are available for multiple user licenses -- a 200 license pack costs £3000.

The Server Edition costs £3000 for a single server -- annual maintenance charges are £600 -- again, discounted rates are available for multiple server licenses.

Support is through email, online documentation and tutorials.

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Conclusion

Although there are many PowerPoint optimization products available, most of them work on a single machine, and only optimize PowerPoint presentations -- or maybe just one file type.

PackITSuite, on the other hand is a complete solution that's available for both single users or thousands of users on the same network -- or even multiple servers. Pricing is good, and the performance was nice as well.

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