What is the difference between incremental and differential backups?
Nowadays it is essential for the company to have backups that allow it to recover and restore documents and files of all kinds. But there are different methods to perform these backups, which may be more or less useful depending on our needs.
Some can be clearly inconvenient, since they accumulate unnecessary data that we will not reuse. Others can be highly useful, for example when the company wants to access the history of changes and modifications of the same file.
To understand how backup methods work, we must distinguish the difference between full backups (full copy), incremental and differential.
The “full copy” method
This is the most basic form of backup. It consists of making a copy of the files and directories that you want to store. Depending on the amount of files that we want to store, it can be a more or less long process. Generally, the “full copy” is performed sporadically, for example when we are going to format the hard disk or change the operating system.
Differential copy
Differential copying is another backup method, which can be useful when we do not want to re-copy all the files on a disk, since we already have copies of those files. This method consists of making a copy of new or changed files since the last full backup was made. This avoids data redundancy and saves space on our storage system.
Incremental backup
This method consists of storing all the changes that have occurred since the last backup was performed. To be able to be carried out, therefore, it needs to be able to access other backups from the same file to recover the data. This is useful to be able to go back to a previous saved state or there have been few changes with respect to the total saved data.
They are less reliable than full backups. However, if you need access to previous saved versions, this may be the best option.
This just summarizes the backup methods that can be used. But, first and foremost, what any company or individual needs is to have a system in place. according to their needs. Perhaps you do not need access to previous versions of a file, and you want the new backup to replace the old file, i.e. to have access only to the latest version.
If you have doubts about which option is more advisable for you, we invite you to contact us and tell us what you want to save and how you would need to recover or restore it.