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Backup Job Types and Modes

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Ben
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This article is designed to help alleviate confusion between the different backup types and modes offered in NovaBACKUP.

Types of Backups: 

 

File Backup

Image Backup
Full all selected files Entire partition(s)
Differential files changed since last Full block-level changes since last Full
Incremental files changed since last Incremental/Full block-level changes since last Incremental/Full
Snapshot all selected files, does not mark them as backed up N/A
Microsoft Virtual Drive N/A Full single partition direct to .VHD file
 

Copy Job

There is also a Copy job type with the following settings that work the same as a Windows File copy, these settings are for the destination files if a files exists with the same name at the same location:

Copy Job Modes
Always overwrite If a file exists with the same name,
Always overwrite destination files
and add new files
Never Overwrite If a file exists with the same name,
Never overwrite destination files
and add new files
Overwrite older files only If a file exists with the same name, 
Overwrite older files only
and add new files
 
In addition to the backup job mode, File and Image backups have the "Overwrite" or "Append" Write Modes.
 

Write Mode

Overwrite media: (default)
Overwrite all recognized media.  Automatically format blank or unrecognized media 
This write mode will first remove the existing output media file with the same name and create a new output media file with the same name, in the same location.

D:\Backups\My Media.nbd

Append to media:
Append to recognized media.  Automatically format blank or unrecognized media
This write mode will create a new output media file in the same location with the date and time appended to the filename. (the date and time format may change based on your locality settings and will be all digits, in US-EN YearMonthDayHourMinSec will be appended.

D:\Backups\My Media_YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.nbd

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xSP Note: 

All 4 modes exist in the xSP Client, but they work a bit differently when going to the cloud device (xSP)

Full:

When used with the xSP device, a Full backup is not really a full backup, but rather what we would call a synthetic full.  Meaning that it will check the server as to what files are already on the server and only send new and changed files that the server does not already have.  Once a file is backed up, the archive attribute on a file will be cleared.

 

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File Backup: 

NOTE: Only selected files will be backed up by NovaBACKUP File-Level backup.

File Backups utilize the Archive file attribute to differentiate which files have been backed up already.

New files in a selected folder will always be included if they have not been backed up.

Example Scenario: 
Folder C:\Photos contains seven photos: 

On the first day of full backups, the following files are backed up:

C:\Photos\Img_0001.crw
C:\Photos\Img_0002.crw
C:\Photos\Img_0003.crw
C:\Photos\Img_0004.crw
C:\Photos\Img_0005.crw
C:\Photos\Img_0006.crw
C:\Photos\Img_0007.crw

On Day 2 you edit the following photos:

C:\Photos\Img_0003.crw
C:\Photos\Img_0006.crw

On Day 3 you edit the following photos:

C:\Photos\Img_0001.crw
C:\Photos\Img_0002.crw
C:\Photos\Img_0007.crw 

Full File Backup:

In the NovaBACKUP Client, this option is for a complete backup of all files selected in their entirety and marks them as backed up.

Example: 
Day 1 File - Full backup (Contains all 7 images) 

Differential File Backup:

In the NovaBACKUP Client, this option is for backing up file level changes but the file size keeps growing every day. Files are not marked as backed up.

File Backups utilize the Archive file attribute to differentiate which files have been backed up already.

New files in a selected folder will be included until the next time a Full mode backup runs.

Example: 
With a differential backup you will end up with the following files:

Day 1 File - Full backup (Contains all 7 images)
Day 2 File - Contains all files changed since Day 1 (Img_0003.crw & Img_0006.crw)
Day 3 File - Contains all files changed since Day 1 (Img_0001.crw & Img_0002.crw & Img_0003.crw & Img_0006.crw & Img_0007.crw)

The next time you perform a "Full" backup the "all files changed since Day 1" date will reset. 

For a Full and Differential restore, the user would only need the Full Backup and the last Differential backup.

Incremental File Backup:

In the NovaBACKUP Client, this option is for backing up the changes to the full backup at file level and marks them as backed up.

File Backups utilize the Archive file attribute to differentiate which files have been backed up already.

New files in a selected folder will be backed up the first time an Incremental job runs, once it has been backed up, it will not be included in subsequent Incremental backups.

Example: 
With an incremental backup you will end up with the following files:

Day 1 File - Full backup (Contains all 7 images)
Day 2 File - Contains only files changed since Day 1 (Img_0003.crw & Img_0006.crw)
Day 3 File - Contains only files changed since Day 2 (Img_0001.crw & Img_0002.crw & Img_0007.crw) 

To restore files from Incremental and Full backup, the user would need the Full and every Incremental backup for that period.

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Image Backup: 

Example Scenario: 
Available items to select

☐ Disk 0
    ☐ Recovery (-:)
    ☐ EFI system partition (-:)
    ☐ Microsoft reserved partition (-:)
    ☐ Basic data partition (C:)

☐ Disk 1
    ☐ Basic data partition (D:)

☐ Disk 2
    ☐ Basic data partition (E:)

Full Image: (.NDF)

A Full Image Backup is strongly recommended when performing any Image Backup operation.

In the NovaBACKUP client, this option is for backing up an entire partition or set of partitions (Disk), including system files and boot information. This backup is used in Disaster Recovery situations requiring a Bare Metal restoration of a system, such as a failed hard drive.

NOTE: The partition containing your Operating System is the "C:" partition.

Example: 
Day 1 Image - Full backup of selected disk or partitions

Differential Image: (.NDD)

Incremental and Differential Image Backups will take longer to complete than a Full Image Backup.

In the NovaBACKUP Client, this option is for backing up the changes to the Full Image backup. The Full Image must exist and be available for this backup to function. This will include all changes that have occurred since the last Full Image Backup each time.

Example: 
Day 1 Image - Full backup of selected disk or partitions
Day 2 Image - Contains block-level changes since Day 1
Day 3 Image - Contains block-level changes since Day 1

To restore data from Differential and Full Image backup, the user would need the Full and latest Differential Images.

Incremental Image: (.NDI)

Incremental and Differential Image Backups will take longer to complete than a Full Image Backup.

In the NovaBACKUP Client, this option is for backing up the changes to the previous Full Image or Incremental Image backup. The Full Image and each Incremental Image Backup since must exist and be available for this backup to function. This will include only the changes that have occurred since the last Full or Incremental Image Backup.

Example: 
Day 1 Image - Full backup of selected disk or partitions
Day 2 Image - Contains block-level changes since Day 1
Day 3 Image - Contains block-level changes since Day 2

To restore data from Incremental and Full backup, the user would need the Full and every Incremental backup for that period.

Microsoft Virtual Drive (VHD):

Microsoft Virtual Drive (VHD) Image Backups will take longer to complete than a Full Image Backup.

In the NovaBACKUP Client, this option is for creating a Full Image and storing the information in a Microsoft Virtual Drive (VHD) file for use in Virtual Environments. This backup is restricted to backing up a single partition only.

Example: 
Day 1 Image - Full backup of selected partition

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