author avatar
17 May 2024  John Weaver  Senior Program Developer
 

Summary
Master the art of performing incremental backups for your crucial files without overwhelming your storage capacity. Understand how incremental backups differ from differential backups. Continue delving deeper for insightful knowledge.



Table of contents

table iconI. About incremental backup
table iconII. How to perform incremental backup?
incremental backup

I. About incremental backup

1. What is incremental backup

Incremental backup represents a strategic approach to storing data, which exclusively saves changes made since the last backup operation, irrespective of whether the previous backup was full, differential, or incremental. For example, let’s consider a scenario where a full backup takes place on Monday followed by an incremental backup on Wednesday. Here, the Wednesday backup will only capture data alterations that occurred post the Monday full backup. Similarly, if another incremental backup proceeds on Friday, it will only record data that has been modified since Wednesday’s incremental backup.

2. The difference between incremental backup, full backup and differential backup

A full backup involves creating a mirror image of all selected data and storing it on a different hard disk partition. A differential backup, on the other hand, only backs up data that has changed since the initial full backup, with each subsequent differential backup compared to the first full backup.
Comparison of Incremental Backup, Full Backup, and Differential Backup
Comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of incremental backup, full backup and differential backup:
backup modeadvantageshortcoming
full backupThe backup data is the most comprehensive. If one of the full backups is lost after multiple full backups, restoring the data through other full backups will not lose too many files.It takes up a lot of storage space and takes a long time to backup and restore.
incremental backupOnly the parts that are different from the last backup are backed up each time, which takes up less space and takes less time to back up.When restoring all data, you need to restore each backup file, which takes a long time to restore
differential backupEach time, only the parts that are different from the first full backup are backed up, which takes up less space than the full backup, and the backup time is also shorter than the full backup. When restoring all data, you only need to restore the first full backup file and the last differential backup file, and the restoration time is shorter than incremental backup.The backup time is longer than incremental backup, and it takes up more space than incremental backup.

II. How to perform incremental backup?

1. Software that supports incremental backup: Renee Becca

Renee Becca is an advanced tool dedicated to the backup and restoration of system/hard disk data. It provides a comprehensive solution to safeguard your crucial computer data, including programs, system configuration, emails, photos, videos, documents, bookmarks, and more. By leveraging advanced incremental/differential backup technology, Renee Becca ensures efficient use of time and disk space. It offers a wide range of features such as system backup, partition backup, hard disk backup, file backup, and disk cloning, thereby addressing all your backup requirements.
Renee Becca - Reliable Data Backup & Restore Software

Quick Backup files at up to 3,000MB/min.

Fullfill different backup needs Supports system backup, disk / partition backup, file backup and disk clone.

Intelligent Automatically analyze the differences between source and backup data.

Convenient Support VSS, allowing to freely view webpages when backing up system.

Highly compatible Supports various files and storage devices.

Quick Backup files at up to 3,000MB/min.

Fullfill different backup needs Backup for disk, partition and system. Save disk space by backing up incremental /differential data.

Highly compatible Supports various files and storage devices.

Free TrialFree Trial 2000 users have downloaded and enjoy Renee Becca!

2. Incremental backup using Renee Becca

Incremental backup with the help of Renee Becca is very simple, the following will take (file backup) as an example to explain, the specific operation steps are as follows:
Step 1: Download, install and run Renee Becca on the computer, and select the (File Backup) option in the main interface (Backup) column.
File backup of Renee Becca
Step 2: Next, select all the files that need to be backed up in (source file (device)), and select the partition(Volume) to store the backup data in (destination).
backup files
Additionally, you can set up an automatic backup plan on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis in the ‘Schedule’ section. After configuring the parameters, click ‘OK’ to activate the automatic backup feature.
file backup schedule on Renee Becca
In the Backup Scheme section, under Scheme Type, select a backup mode that aligns with your requirements. Renee Becca provides five choices: version chain mode, single version mode, overall mode, incremental mode, and diff mode. For the Incremental Mode, decide between creating an incremental backup after the initial full backup, based on your actual needs, or creating a full backup after a certain number of incremental backups. Establish automatic cleanup and select ‘Keep the first backup version’. While this option might require more storage, it guarantees a comprehensive backup file that can be fully restored even if there’s damage or loss of intermediate data.
backup mode of file backup on Renee Becca
Renee Becca provides five distinct backup options:

Version Chain Mode: This mode keeps the most recent five versions, automatically removing outdated versions after backup.

Single Version Mode: This mode keeps only the latest version, automatically deleting the previous version after backup.

Overall Pattern: This mode performs a thorough backup.

Incremental Mode: This mode generates incremental backups following the initial full backup.

Differential Mode: This mode creates differential backups after the first full backup.

Step 3: Click the “Backup Now” button to initiate the file backup as per your settings. Keep an eye on the task bar to monitor the progress. Upon completion, use the “Restore” button for retrieving files to the specified hard disk if required.
recover backup files from renee becca
Step 4: Then select the location where the files are to be restored, and click the (Restore) button.
files recovery location