A differential backup is a type of backup that copies all the data that's been changed since the last full backup. The size of a differential backup grows throughout the week and becomes progressively larger until the next full backup. A full restore from this type of backup only requires the last full backup and the last differential.
See also: incremental backup, cloud backup
Here is a comparison of different backup operations
|
Type/Backup number |
Full |
Incremental |
Differential |
| Backup 1 | All data |
--
|
--
|
| 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 |
This was last updated in January 2011
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