Backup methods
At this point we would like to talk about the different backup methods.
For more information about the retention periods of our backup solution or the server plans, please follow the links below.
Note: For each server plan, the backup and data retention periods are already pre-configured and therefore run automatically. Therefore, as a user, once you have assigned your client to a server plan (Server Plan Allocation), you do not need to take any further steps.
Full backup:
Backups start with a full backup for each client. For agents that do not support full backups, the full backup becomes the base to which subsequent backup types are applied. For example, if an agent supports incremental backups, a full backup must be performed before an incremental backup can be started.
Incremental backup:
Incremental backups contain only data that is new or that has changed since the last backup, regardless of type. Incremental backups use less media on average and are less resource intensive than full backups.
Differential backup:
Differential backups contain only the data that is new or has changed since the last full backup. Like incremental backups, differential backups use less media and are less resource intensive than full backups.
Synthetic full backup:
Synthetic full backups consolidate the data from the last full backup or synthetic full backup along with any subsequent incremental backups, rather than reading and backup the data directly from the client computer. Often, synthetic full backups are confused with a regular backup job, as the action to initiate such a job is the same as for other backup job types. However, it is not a regular backup job, since it does not retrieve data from the client source. Rather, it uses data that already exists on the backup media. Because synthetic full backups do not back up any data to the client computer, these operations do not place a load on the client computer. Typically, an incremental backup job is scheduled in conjunction with a synthetic full backup job to ensure an effective data backup.
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