Data loss can have catastrophic consequences for a company, such as : Loss of time,  decrease in productivity , heavy financial impact etc.. 

Like they say “ Prevention is better than cure”  .. But how to get there? 

Data backup consists of copying or archiving data so that it can be restored in the event of loss. It is essential to think carefully about the chosen solution to secure data , but also its type. 

Among the types of backups, we find : full backup ; differential backup and incremental backup . 

In this article, we are going to cover incremental backup, how it works, and what are its types  to prevent loss of your data

What is Incremental backup?

This method of computer backup copies data only if a file or directory has been modified or created since the previous full system backup. Incremental backups thus save storage space. This type of backup makes it easier to restore hard drives, a server , folders or files in the event of a computer or computer network failure. 

This resource saving makes incrementing a common strategy for online backup.

Let’s learn more about Incremental backup and how it works.  

How it works?

Incremental backup first requires a first complete or “Full backup” of its computer, hard drives or installation. Once the first backup is performed, incremental backups are performed at regular intervals over a period of time.

As the full initial backup may take some time, companies opt for a run usually on the weekend. This makes the data less likely to be used and manipulated. 

To be able to perform an up-to-date data restore or a full copy, each incremental backup performed since the last backup must be applied to that initial full backup. Some time may be required to restore a complete backup for disaster recovery. But the overall process to restore its installation is still faster and more efficient than a complete daily backup strategy.

Let’s take an example, to better understand Incremental Backup : 

Let’s say a company does a full backup every sunday, as this is not enough, it also makes a daily backup, which can be differential or incremental. 

With differential backup, files created or modified from the full backup are copied daily . On Saturday, we will have six backups, all based on the Sunday backup. 

With incremental backup , on the other hand, only files created or modified each day are saved. For example, the Wednesday backup only contains the data changed on Wednesday, not all the data changed since Sunday.

Types of Incremental backup

There are several types of incremental backups and different scenarios for updating data or creating a new full backup.

• Synthetic full backup : it is performed by analyzing the previous full backup, and subsequent incremental backups. It thus avoids another complete backup that would require reading and copying all the data from the main storage. This method avoids traditional full backups, especially when the amount of data is too large. This saves server resources in the case of an online backup, while avoiding disrupting business activity. 
• Incremental backup at the file level : is it performed as its name indicates at the file level and works with small datasets. When an item is created or updated, it is sent to a backup repository .
• Backup at block level : It consists of saving only the blocks of the file after modification instead of the entire element . Thanks to a reduced volume of data to be backed up and reduced processing time , block-type incremental backup facilitates the backup of large databases to data centers.
• Saving at the byte level : Incremental backups at the byte level are even more granular than incremental backups at the block level. With this type of backup, each file directory is monitored to detect individual bytes that have changed. These bytes are then saved incrementally, allowing to obtain the backups whose size is reduced to the maximum.

Conclusion

Incremental backup has the advantage of gaining speed; you can also restore files or directories modified or deleted before the last backup. However, data restoration is longer and more time consuming than with full backup. To find the best compromise between speed and efficiency , it is advisable to couple full backup with incremental backup . 

It is essential that businesses become aware of this trend that has been anchored in our society for some years. It seems necessary for companies to be accompanied in the protection and possible recovery of their data. 

In this way, they will be able to keep their hands on valuable information and thus meet the requirements of the new regulations.  

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