Differential Backup
A differential backup is a backup of every file on a file system which has changed since the last full backup.
The alternatives to a differential backup are incremental backup and full backup.
A differential backup can be an optimal middle-ground between a full backup and an incremental backup.
A differential backup is not as fast as an incremental backup, but it is faster than a full backup. A differential backup requires more storage space than an incremental backup, but less than a full backup.
A differential backup requires more time to restore than a full backup, but not as much time to restore as an incremental backup.
If you perform a full backup on Sunday and a differential every night, and the system crashes on Thursday, you will only need to restore the full backup from Sunday and the differential backup from Wednesday.
In contrast, if you perform a full backup on Sunday and incremental backups every night, when the system crashes on Thursday, you will need to restore the full backup from Sunday along with the incremental backups from Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
A differential backup should be performed daily on production systems.
|
|
Comments (2)
Leave a Reply
- Incremental Backup
An incremental backup is a backup of every file on a file system which has changed since the last backup. The alternatives to an incremental backup are differential backup and full backup. An incremental backup is the fastest backup and requires the least storage space on the backup media. However, incremental backups also require the [...]...
- Full Backup
A full backup is a backup of every file on a file system, whether that file has changed or not. The alternatives to a full backup are incremental backup and differential backup. A full backup takes longer to accomplish and requires the most storage space on the backup media, but it also provides the quickest [...]...
- How to Backup and Restore a WINS Database
If you are unable to repair a corrupt database that has been caused by a system failure, a virus attach, a power failure, or a similar disaster, you can first delete the WINS database and then entirely restore it from a backup. The WINS management console is a comprehensive tool which can be used to [...]...
- How to Backup Active Directory
Backing up Active Directory is essential to maintaining an Active Directory database. Users can back up Active Directory with the Graphical User Interface (GUI) and command-line tools that the Windows Server 2003 family provides. Users should frequently backup the system state data on domain controllers so that they can restore the most current data. By [...]...
- Network Backup
Network backup is any backup system where the data to be backed up traverses the network to reach the backup media. Network backup typically requires a client-server software architecture. The backup server resides on a centralized server and the backup clients reside on every system to be backed up. Advanced network backup systems can manage [...]...
I’m using a Kingston USB stick. I have a backup utility, and have backed up files and settings for practice having suffered a crash recently.
However I’m finding that whilst I can backup, I have been unable to include recent changes say, to word docuements. Why is this.
Whenever I have added documents, they don’t show up in the backup unless I manually add them.
Can you help?
Thank you.
Chris:
That sounds like an issue with the design of the specific backup utility you are using. Which one is it?