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What Is Incremental Backup?<\/h2>\n
This is a type of backup that copies only data that has changed since the previous backup. Unlike a full backup, where the whole data set is copied to the backup storage with every backup job, it allows you to perform a full backup only once in a while.
\nThat is how this backup type gets its name: each backup is an increment for a previous backup.<\/p>\n
Further reading<\/span> Incremental and Differential Backup Comparison<\/a><\/p>\n To demonstrate the backup process, let\u2019s assume you have made a full backup and that now you would like to to do a weekly backup of any added or changed files:<\/p>\n This backup type requires less storage space and network load<\/strong> and can be run more often since there are usually a lot of small everyday changes in the data set that should be backed up.<\/p>\n However, with each subsequent backup, the chain of incremental backups becomes larger. As a result, it takes more time and computing capacity for backup software to analyze the full backup and all increments so as to determine the difference between the data on your server\/workstation and the data in your backup repository.<\/p>\n This backup type reduces recovery reliability. It also becomes harder and takes longer to recover the whole data set, as it takes time to analyze and recover each backup in the chain.<\/p>\n That is why periodical full backups are highly recommended, in order to start a new sequence of incremental backups. The frequency of full backups depends on your business needs. You may want to conduct it weekly, monthly, or once every couple of months. There is an advanced backup technique to simulate full backups, called a synthetic full backup.<\/p>\n Further reading<\/span> Synthetic full backup<\/a><\/p>\n Backup software vendors usually let users set the number of versions of data they would like to keep. Incremental backup implies a full backup and a chain of subsequent increments and, in terms of versioning, every subsequent backup (full or incremental) is a version.<\/p>\n To provide data consistency, you cannot eliminate individual elements of this chain, only the entire series of the full backup and all the increments up to the next full backup. This is why we strongly recommend performing full backups periodically.<\/p>\n Block-level retention policy example<\/p><\/div>\n There are different backup types that are determined by the size of changes that the software adds to the repository at every subsequent backup.\u00a0 We will overview incremental file-level backup and incremental block-level backup in detail.<\/p>\n In an incremental file-level backup, if a file has been modified, it will be sent to the backup repository to create a new version of it. This backup type is simple to perform and works well for a small data set. However, this method might take longer, because, if the changed files are large, the backup will also be large, which will extend the duration of the backup job and require more storage space.<\/p>\n In a block-level approach, the backup software performs a more in-depth file analysis and copies only the modified portions of files, making it much faster to upload than using a file-level backup.<\/p>\n Further reading<\/span> Block-Level Backup Explained<\/a><\/p>\n Compared to the full backup, an incremental type uploads only changed and new files, which allows the reduction of:<\/p>\n Let\u2019s consider several different scenarios to back up a 5 GB dataset with a 3% daily change rate for one month and see how effective they are and how much storage space you need.<\/p>\n Further reading<\/span> RTO vs. RPO: Two Means toward the Same End<\/a><\/p>\n However, this approach has several drawbacks:<\/p>\n To make your recovery easier, here are a few tips:<\/p>\nHow Incremental Backup Works<\/h2>\n
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![\"CTA\"](\"https:\/\/no-cache.hubspot.com\/cta\/default\/5442029\/64dcb3ac-a304-4fdc-a704-c1242185e7c4.png\")
<\/a><\/span><\/span>\n<\/div>\n![\"WP](\"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Full-System-Backup-WP-icon.png\"){kind=icon}
<\/div>\n<\/div>\nForever Incremental Backup<\/h3>\n
![\"Forever](\"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Forever-Incremental-Backup.png\")
It implies that you want incremental backups to be done at regular intervals after the initial full backup was performed. It is very helpful that you don\u2019t need to worry about full backups afterward.<\/p>\n![\"CTA\"](\"https:\/\/no-cache.hubspot.com\/cta\/default\/5442029\/aa07fdb8-7776-46a5-9fa0-ec6e93f0f0a6.png\")
<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/div>\nVersioning<\/h3>\n
![\"Incremental](\"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Incremental-Backup-and-Versioning.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"Block-level](\"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Block-level-retention-policy.gif\")
Types of Incremental Backup<\/h2>\n
Incremental File-Level Backup<\/h3>\n
Incremental Block-Level Backup<\/h3>\n
![\"Incremental](\"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Incremental-File-Level-Backup.png\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"Incremental](\"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Incremental-Block-Level-Backup.png\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nUsing an Incremental Backup<\/h2>\n
Advantages<\/h3>\n
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![\"Incremental](\"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/5-GB-dataset.png\")
<\/strong><\/p>\nDisadvantages<\/h3>\n
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Incremental Backup Best Practices<\/h3>\n
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