True
incremental
A special type of Direct or Network Partial Cumulative Incremental
Backup. A True incremental backup will only backup the files that
have been modified or created since the most recent backup from
the client. Note: The last client backup could be at any level.
These graphs were generated using backup statistics gathered from a production backup server. It should be noted that that the True incremental Backup consists of both new and changed data. It is also important to notice that on large systems even very busy days will typically see only a 1% - 3% average daily change rate when compared to the total full data. The graph below illustrates this using the same data gathered for the production of all of these charts.
| True incremental Backup |
Percentage (%) of FULL Backup Data
Note the Percentage of the Full Backup volume in each daily True incremental Backup. With synthetic backup consolidation, this is the only data that must be transferred on a daily basis from the clients across the network! |
 |
| |
Days Since Last Full Backup |
See Also: New Teradactyl white paper on new advancements in synthetic backup consolidation of partial cumulative incremental backups entitled "Partial Cumulative Incremental Backups Offer Unique Advantages to Customers."
NOTE: Alternative Uses of Terminology Explained
Some vendors may refer to the term “cumulative incremental backup” when describing their level 1, Differential Backup, capability. We use the term more generally to describe the behavior of a backup at any incremental level (any level except 0) that accumulates data changes since any previous lower level backup (including level 0). Our ability to generate multiple levels of synthetic backups (not just full or differential) provides our customers with a synthetic backup technology that is far more flexible and advanced.
Some vendors may use the term “differential incremental backup” when describing their True incremental Backup capability. We believe this terminology to be confusing, especially when used in conjunction with the term differential backup, which is also considered a form of incremental backup. Additionally, some vendors may require the use of several available backup levels to implement differential incremental backup. For example, levels 4 through 9 may be needed to configure differential incremental backups on a Monday through Saturday schedule. With only three remaining non-zero backup levels, this may limit the number of ways that other lower level backups can be configured. Our True incremental Backup is implemented as a single PCI Backup level and any number of backup levels that may be configured with TiBS.
