9. Managing Backups

Full Backup

• Backup everything

– All operating system and user files

• This is usually the longest

backup process

– It’s everything in one backup

• Might be impractical every day

– Long backup times

– Lots of storage space

Incremental Backup

• A full backup is taken first

• Subsequent backups contain

data changed since the last full

backup and last incremental backup

– These are usually smaller

than the full backup

• A restoration requires the full backup

and all of the incremental backups

Differential backup

• A full backup is taken first

– Subsequent backups contain data

changed since the last full backup

– These usually grow larger as

data is changed

• A restoration requires the full backup

and the last differential backup

Synthetic backup

• Create a full backup

– Without actually performing a full backup

• Synthetic backup

– The first full backup copies every file

– Subsequent full backups are created from

previous backups

• Can be faster and less bandwidth intensive

– The advantage of a full backup

– The efficiency of an incremental backup

Grandfather-father-son (GFS)

• Three separate backup rotations

– Monthly, weekly, daily

• Twelve monthly full backups (grandfather)

– A good choice for offsite storage

• Four (or five) weekly full backups (father)

– Depends on which day of the month is selected

• Thirty-one daily incremental or differential backups (son)

– Backup any daily changes

3-2-1 backup rule

• 3 copies of data should always be available

– One primary copy and two backups

• 2 different types of media should be used

– Local drive, tape backup, NAS

• 1 copy of the backup should be offsite

– Offsite storage, cloud backup