A computer can store a lot of data. And data is one of the most valuable things for computer users. Being a smart user, it should be your primary responsibility to protect your data from being lost due to any reason. Since data loss is an inevitable occurrence, backup plays the role of a lifesaver. Therefore, it’s something to be taken very seriously. Since there are different types of backup, you should choose the correct type. In this article, I’m gonna help you in choosing the correct backup type.
Importance of Backup
Even though we know that backup should regularly be done, many of us don’t do it. Being a smart user, you should truly understand the importance of backup. Performing backups on a regular basis is an essential task. Data is undeniably the most valuable resource these days. Alas, there’s always a risk of data being lost due to various reasons:
A computer system can fail or crash, or it can be lost, stolen, or destroyed
Data becomes invalid due to corruption
You lose the data after a permanent deletion or by a quick disk formatting
Whatever the reason is, you’re likely to face data loss miserably. In order to protect your data from being lost, you should take backup regularly by using a data backup tool. So when anything goes wrong, you can restore your data from the backup file. I hope the “importance of backup” is clear now. Now let’s find out the different types of backup we can use as per the situation or requirement.
Different Types of Backup
It’s really good if you follow a good backup strategy. But it ain’t enough. You should make sure that the backup files are well-maintained. Also, you should choose the correct backup type. Just in case you ain’t aware of the different types of backup, let me help you understand this. Generally, there are three types of backup you can use: Full Backup, Differential Backup, and Incremental Backup.
Backup number
Full Backup
Incremental Backup
Differential Backup
Backup #1
All data
NIL
NIL
Backup #2
All data
Changes from backup #1
Changes from backup #1
Backup #3
All data
Changes from backup #2
Changes from backup #1
Backup #4
All data
Changes from backup #3
Changes from backup #1
Full Backup
A full backup is the most basic and complete type of backup operation. It’s actually the starting point for all other types of backup. The full backup type contains all the data in the files and folders which you select to be backed up. Therefore, full backup results in faster and simpler restore operations, unlike other backup types. Generally, it makes a copy of all your data to another set of media, i.e. tape drive, disk, or CD/DVD. As a result, a single full backup can successfully restore all the files and folders which you back up earlier.
You can run full backups periodically. The full backup offers you the best solution to protect the data, and you can schedule a backup to run automatically. However, there’s a significant security issue. Keep in mind that each full backup contains the entire copy of your data. So if the backup media is being illegally accessed, stolen, or lost, you’re likely to lose the entire copy of your data. Below are advantages and disadvantages of full backup type:
Advantage
The process of restoring data is pretty fast.
Management becomes easy since it backs up the entire data in a single file.
Disadvantage
When you’re taking a backup, it’s pretty slow.
Compared to incremental backup and/or differential backup, it requires more storage space.
Differential Backup
The differential backup (cumulative) type contains all your data that has changed since the last full backup. For example, you took a full backup yesterday. Today the differential backup type backs up all the files changed or added since yesterday’s full backup. So you can say it backs up everything that’s different since the last full backup. The best part of this backup type is that it can shorten the restoration time compared to other backup types.
You should use the differential backup type only if you have ample time to perform backups. In order to perform a complete restoration, it only needs two backup container files, i.e. the latest full backup and the latest differential backup. Below are the advantages and disadvantages of differential backup:
Advantage
Instant data restoration compared to incremental backup.
The process of backing up the data is faster than the full backup.
It requires less storage space than full backup type.
Disadvantage
Compared to the full backup, the restoration process is pretty slow.
Even the process of backing up the data is slower than the incremental backup.
It requires more storage space than the incremental backup.
Incremental Backup
The incremental backup type stores all the files changed since the most recent backup operation of any type, be it full, differential, or incremental. As the name suggests, each backup is an increment for the previous backup. During the data restoration from an incremental backup, you need the full backup (most recent one) and every incremental backup made since the last full backup.
The incremental backup type records all the information in a catalog file to determine whether each file has changed since the most recent backup. Below are the advantages and disadvantages of incremental backup:
Advantage
Since it backs up the increments, it’s the fastest backup type.
It requires less storage space comparate to other types of backup.
Each increment backup stores a different version of a file or folder.
Disadvantage
The complete restoration is time consuming compared to other backup types. First, you need the full backup, and then the increment ones.
Make sure the increment that contains the latest version of an individual file you want to restore should be found first.
Drawback
Although backup is very useful, it ain’t immune to issues and problems. Corruption is the major drawback of a backup file. Just like any other computer file, a backup file (.bkf) is also prone to corruption. There are various reasons for corruption in BKF files. Unluckily, you can’t restore any data until you repair BKF file. Since there’s no way to repair BKF file manually, it’s better to try a professional BKF Recovery solution. The BKF Recovery tool provided by SysInfoTools Software is one such award-winning solutions that can repair BKF file and restore maximum possible data from it. It doesn’t require any prior technical expertise. So any technical or non-technical user can use this software with ease.
I strongly recommend the prior evaluation of a 3rd party tool before purchasing it. BKF Recovery tool is available with the free demo version. You must download the demo version before purchasing the software. By using the demo version, you can scan the BKF file and check the preview of your data which you can actually recover from it.
