20-9LESSON 1 USING THE BACKUP UTILITYDAILY DURING A DAILY BACKUP, ALL...

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Lesson 1

Using the Backup Utility

Daily During a daily backup, all the selected files and folders that have changed dur-ing the day are backed up. This backup neither looks for nor clears markers. Ifyou want to back up all files and folders that change during the day, use a dailybackup.Combining Backup TypesAn effective backup strategy is likely to combine different backup types. Some backuptypes require more time to back up data but less time to restore data. Conversely, otherbackup types require less time to back up data but more time to restore data. If youcombine backup types, markers are critical. Incremental and differential backupscheck for and rely on the markers.The following are some examples of combining different backup types:Normal and differential backups On Monday, a normal backup is performed; onTuesday through Friday, differential backups are performed. Differential backupsdo not clear markers, which means that each backup includes all changes sinceMonday. If data becomes corrupt on Friday, you need only to restore the normalbackup from Monday and the differential backup from Thursday. This strategytakes more time to back up but less time to restore.Normal and incremental backups On Monday, a normal backup is performed; onTuesday through Friday, incremental backups are performed. Incremental back-ups clear markers, which means that each backup includes only the files thatchanged since the previous backup. If data becomes corrupt on Friday, you needto restore the normal backup from Monday and all incremental backups, fromTuesday through Friday. This strategy takes less time to back up but more time torestore.Off the Record Although you should remember for the exam that differential backups have the quickest restore time, and incremental backups have the quickest backup time, this is sometimes not true in practice. Because users tend to work on the same files each day for extended periods (particular documents or spreadsheets for a project, for example), differen-tial and incremental backups end up backing up the same files. If this is the case for a partic-ular user, you might as well save time during the restore and simply use differential backups.Normal, differential, and copy backups This strategy is the same as the first exam-ple that used normal and differential backups except that on Wednesday you per-form a copy backup. Copy backups include all selected files and do not clearmarkers or interrupt the usual backup schedule. Therefore, each differential backupincludes all changes since Monday. The copy backup done on Wednesday is notpart of the Friday restore. Copy backups are helpful when you need to create asnapshot of your data and do not want to interrupt the normal backup routine.

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Exam Tip Performing regular normal backups takes the most time during the backup phase but the least time and effort during the restore phase. Using a normal backup and incremental backups takes the least time during the backup phase but takes the most time and effort during the restore phase. Using a normal backup plus differential backups takes more time to back up than using incremental backups (although less than using only normal backups) but takes less time during the restore phase than using incremental backups.

How to Change Default Backup Options

Backup allows you to change the default settings for all backup-and-restore jobs.These default settings are on the tabs in the Options dialog box. To access the Optionsdialog box, on the Welcome To The Backup Or Restore Wizard page, click AdvancedMode; then, on the Tools menu, click Options.The following list provides an overview of the settings for the Backup Utility:General tab These settings affect data verification, the status information forbackup-and-restore jobs, alert messages, and what is backed up. Figure 20-4shows the default settings for the options on the General tab. You should selectthe Verify Data After The Backup Completes check box because it is critical thatyour backup data not be corrupt.

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Figure 20-4 Change backup options on the General tab of the Options dialog box.