Data backup is crucial for any business or organization for the simple reason being that data is extremely valuable in today’s digital world. With such high importance placed on data itself, losing it can lead to some severe consequences. That’s why business owners need to think beforehand on the best backup strategy that will prevent any data loss in the future.
With so many options on data backups out there, choosing the best one is a tough ask for any business owner. From off-site support to making physical copies, we’re going to run through the most common types of backup and explain which one is the best for your business.
• Full Backup
If the name didn’t give away the meaning, a full backup is a complete backup on all of your data. A full backup is the most common method of backup, but it consumes a lot of resources. This is why a full backup is done only periodically, once a week or so, and there is a risk involved in data loss in the event of a disaster.
• Incremental Backup
Simply said, an incremental backup is a type of backup that only copies the files that have seen a change since the previous backup.
An example of an incremental backup is the following:
If a full backup has been done on a Monday, then Tuesday’s incremental backup will save only the files that have been changed since the last backup (Monday’s backup). Wednesday’s incremental backup will only save the files from Tuesday’s backup, Thursday’s from Wednesday’s, etc., etc.
We’re going to briefly mention the various types of incremental backup, but for more information, make sure to check this article.
There are multiple variations of incremental backup, and some of the most widely used are:
Synthetic Full Backup:
A synthetic full backup is a type of incremental backup that is made by reading the previous full backup, incremental backup, rather than the data from the entire storage.
Block-Level:
Block-level incremental backup is a very common form of backup in which backup software backs up only blocks of written information, rather than files and folders. Block-level incremental backup is considered more efficient because backing up information into blocks is more efficient than entire files.
Byte-Level:
Byte-level incremental backup only monitors system files for individual bytes of information that have changed since the previous backup. This method of an incremental backup is the smallest possible in size.
Incremental Forever Backup:
Incremental forever backup is also known as progressive incremental backup, and it uses a physical disk to backup information. Since this backup is incremental in nature, it only backs up the new modified data. Since the backup is disk-based, it completely removes the need for a full backup.
• Differential Backup
Similar to incremental backup, differential backup is yet another form of secure backup that backs up only the changed information from the last backup. However, unlike incremental backup, this form of backup backs up ALL the changed information from the previous backups. If a full backup is done on a Monday, then Tuesday’s differential backup will backup only the files changed from the previous backup. However, Wednesday’s differential backup will back up the changed files from Tuesday’s and Monday’s backup. Thursday’s differential backup will back up the changed information from Wednesday’s, Tuesday’s, Monday’s, etc., etc.
Backups Ensure Your Business Data is Secured
Any business needs to choose a backup service that will guarantee the safety of data and information. Having a solid plan in case of an emergency can eighter make or break a business. Masking physical backup copies of hard drives is yet another way of securing data.
