Full, incremental and differential backups

Three ways to back up, with different restore effort.

A full backup copies everything. An incremental backup copies changes since the last backup of any kind: quick to take, slower to restore (you need the full plus every incremental). A differential backup copies changes since the last full backup: restore needs only the full plus the latest differential.

On the exam

Restoring from full plus differentials needs two sets; from full plus incrementals, all of them in order.

Related terms

Recovery point objective (RPO)The most data, measured in time, the business can afford to lose.

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