Immaterial of the devices you have – desktops, laptops, and smartphones, you probably store tons of data. Knowing the fact that devices are far from perfect, they can crash or get hit by a malicious threat. In such a scenario, you risk losing your precious data. Even if you put such adverse scenarios on the side, you might accidentally and permanently delete your files yourself. It is, therefore, important that you have a backup strategy in place. Your device’s data backup will ensure that should an emergency arise and if you lose your data, you will at least have a backup that you can later restore.
Not saying, that you would save every ounce of data that you have, but, at least you won’t have to start from scratch and quite possibly, you may be able to save some very precious data, losing which otherwise might cost you considerably.
As a Windows user, you can refer to this post and get an insight on how to backup Windows PC automatically. As for Android, you can opt from a variety of backup apps. Here we are going to delve even deeper and know the common types of backups.
Example of A Great Backup Tool
Before diving into the common types of data backups, let’s talk about one of the best data backup tools and that is Right Backup. It is a highly secure cloud-based backup service, where you can safely keep a backup of all your files – your documents, photos, videos or music, or whatever data it is that you want to backup.
How To Backup Files Using Right Backup?
Getting Started With Right-Backup Is As Easy As 1-2-3
Features At A Glance
- Schedule backup as per your needs
- You’re backed up data is protected by AES -256 encryption
- Sharing large files was never this easy and fun
- Multiple device support
- Smart Restore functionality gives you the power to restore selective folders in a snap
What are The Different Data Backup Types?
There are majorly 3 different kinds of backup namely –
- Full backup
- Incremental backup
- Differential backup
We’ll now discuss each of these backups in greater detail –
1. Full Backup
Is the complete backup of all your data. This means that you are making a backup of all the data you have – files, folders, objects, or anything else for that matter. For the same reason, it consumes more time than any other kind of backup. However, since every piece of data is in one place, a full backup is the easiest to restore.
In case you or your organization is opting for full backup, it is recommended to encrypt it so that even if someone gains unauthorized access, they won’t be able to bypass the encryption and access your data.
| FULL BACKUP DEMONSTRATION | |
|---|---|
| DAY 1 | DAY 2 |
| You have files A, B, C, and D . You opt for a full backup, with each file weighing 2 GBs each and taking 20 mins each. You will now have a backup worth 8 GBs and the total time taken will be 80 mins or 1 hour 20 mins. | On day 2, you delete A, make changes to B (let’s say you name it B2), and instead of 2 GB it becomes 3 GB, C stays the same, and D also becomes D2 and acquired 1 GB space. After a full backup, you now have B2, C, and D2. You now have backed up B2 (3GB), C (no change in storage), D2 (1GB) i.e. 6 GB storage space acquired. |
Pros
- Managing full backup is simple as everything is stored in a single version
- A full backup offers the quickest restore time because all the data that you need is stored in the same backup set
- File search is easy
Cons
- For a full backup, you’ll need higher storage space as compared to incremental and differential backups
- Riskiest in an event of data loss since all of your data is stored or backed up in one place
- At some instances, a full backup may also prove to be expensive and hence you may have to adopt a combination of other two forms of backup and not full backup alone to backup data
- Chances of duplicates is high
- Time taken to backup data is high
- High network bandwidth consumption
2. Incremental Backup
An incremental backup backs up only what was modified since the last backup. In the case of an incremental backup, the first incremental backup is always a full backup.
Subsequently, the next backups will only be storing the changes there were made to the preceding backup. Hence, this kind of backup saves up a lot of storage space. Having said that, the restoration here is trickier. Because you first have to restore the latest full backup and then you have to restore each incremental backup. If any of the backup sets become corrupt or are missing, you might not be able to perform a complete restoration.
| INCREMENTAL BACKUP DEMONSTRATION | |
|---|---|
| DAY 1 | DAY 2 |
| There are 4 files namely – A, B, C, D. Here first, you have taken a full backup of all the four files. | The next day, you remove A and make changes to B and C. You leave D as it is. With an incremental backup in place, the changes in b and C will be incorporated |
Pros
- Less storage space has consumed
- The speed at which backup is taken
- No duplication of files
Cons
- Tricky restoration
- Full restoration is not possible in case one of the incremental backups is missing
3. Differential Backup
Differential backup is inclusive of changes or additions you have made since the most recent full backup. More specifically, you first take the full backup and post that all the subsequent backups are taken where all the changes to further increments are incorporated. Here the restoration is better than an incremental backup. The restoration speed is faster than the full backup.
| DIFFERENTIAL BACKUP DEMONSTRATION | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| DAY 1 | DAY 2 | DAY 3 | DAY 4 |
| Full backup | Changes made to files and folders on Day 1. This also includes any additions and deletions | Changes made to files and folders on Day 1 and Day 2 | Changes made to files and folders on Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 |
Pros
- Less space-consuming than full backups
- Restoration faster than incremental backups
- Less bandwidth consumption than full backups
Cons
- More space-consuming than incremental backups
- Restoration slower than full backups
- More bandwidth consumption than incremental backups
Which Backup Type Would You Choose?
While a full backup can help you save and restore all of your data but it is recommended that it is done once or maybe twice a week. On these lines what kind of backup strategy would you recommend personally or for your business – an Incremental backup or a Differential backup, do let us know in the comments section below. For more such information, keep reading WeTheGeek.