Incremental vs. Differential Backups: A Breakdown of Key Differences

 Incremental vs. Differential Backups

The main difference between incremental and differential backups lies in what data they back up and how they handle changes:

Incremental Backup

What it Backs Up: only the data that has changed since the last backup (whether full or incremental).

Backup Speed: Generally faster because it only backs up the most recent changes.

Storage Space: Requires less storage space since each backup contains only the changes made since the last backup.

The restore process is slower and more complex. It requires the last full backup and all subsequent incremental backups to restore the data.

Differential Backup

What it Backs Up: All the data has changed since the last full backup.

Backup Speed: Slower than incremental backups because it backs up more data each time.

Storage Space: Requires more storage space over time as each differential backup grows larger until the next full backup.

Restore Process: This process is faster and simpler, as it only requires the last full backup and the most recent differential backup to restore the data.

Summary

Incremental backups are more efficient regarding backup time and storage space but can be slower to restore.

Differential backups take more time and space for backups but offer quicker and simpler restoration.