The Difference Between Incremental and Differential Backup

Dec.21, 2009 in Technology and Gadgets

When comparing different types of backup systems that will be adequate for safeguarding your data, you should be know about the different backup options available. These backup systems include full backups, differential backups and incremental backups. All three of the backup options just mentioned are detailed here and information is also included about how to combine the different backup options for optimal performance.

The first line of action regarding any type of backup plan is to do a full backup of your data. When a full backup is performed, all data that is selected gets backed up and archived. It takes a long time to to a full back up but there is no way around it as it is a vital element of your backup system.

A backup system that backs up only the data that has changed in the time that has passed since the previous backup was done is called a differential backup. As an example, if a full backup of your data was last completed on Wednesday then when the backup starts its process on Thursday it will only back up the data that changed since the full backup that was completed on Wednesday. The benefit of this kind of backup system is that when you do a complete restore of your data only the last differential backup needs to be restored which saves a lot of time.

Windows Backup Software

By contrast, a backup system which saves multiple backups is called an incremental backup. Contrary to a differential backup, an incremental backup does not only save the last one. Each unique data set that gets backed up is only stored once. Successive backups are made up of merely the data files that underwent change since the preceding backup will carried out.

Disaster Recovery Software

If you are planning on using either a differential or an incremental backup system the best suggestion is to choose one of the following choices. You always back up all of your data whether or not any of your data has changed. You do full backups plus incremental backups. The meaning of this is to fully backup your data on a periodic basis but perform incremental backups on a regular basis. The last option is fully backing up your data on a periodic basis but regularly carry out differential backups. Differential backups preserve all the data that has been altered during the period in between your previous full back and your existing differential backup.

Continuous Data Protection

To summarize, there are three basic type of data backup and they include, incremental, differential and full backups. Although it is very time intensive, a full backup is a mandatory function that needs to be carried out. The system called differential backup is based on the premise of solely backing up only data that changed between backups. Lastly, an incremental backup saves multiple backups and not only the last one. By choosing a combination of these backups as outlined above, you can leverage the benefits of each to create a back up plan to best secure your computer data.