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What files can I delete and keep to make some space on backup disk ?

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Hello,

I am using Acronis True Image as a backup of my OS windows 10 that is on a 500Gb SSD drive that I backup on a NAS.

 

The NAS backup folder is now 3,06To and has some files that start with full anf others with inc like these disk_full_b1_s1_v1.tib (started in june 2017) or disk _inc_b1_s3_v1.tib...

the last full is disk_full_b7_s1_v1.tib on feb 22 2019

I have around 10 or 11 incremental files per number (b1 b2... b7 ) that range from 7Gb to 100Gb files

 

My question is, what files can I delete if I want to save some space ? 

To restore to a new SSD disk (in case of a disk crash or a virus), what files will I need. 

My first guess is I will need a full version with or without some inc files

But I don't know for example if I have to keep b1 b2 etc... or if I can decide for example to erase all files prior to b5

Hope my question is clear enough,

Thanks in advance for your help 

B.

 

 

0 Users found this helpful

B, welcome to these public User Forums.

The best way / recommended way to manage your backup version chains and files is by using the Automatic Cleanup options provided for your backup task in the ATI GUI, where you can use an option such as: 'Store no more than 2 recent version chains' which would only keep the latest 2 chains with identifiers _b7_ and _b6_ in the file names.

If you delete files manually, then you should ensure that you delete complete version chains, i.e. all the files showing the same _b?_ identifier, so _full_b1_... and all _inc_b1_... files.

After doing any manual deletions, you should run a Validation for your backup task in order to reconcile the information that ATI holds in its internal database about files it created.  There will be a pop-up message for each deleted file that you should take the Ignore option for.

 

To add to Steve (use the GUI to set your automatic cleanup rules and/or manually delete backup versions)...

Be aware that incrementals are dependent upon all versions of the backup that came before them.  To use any incremental, you need:

1) The original full that associates with that backup chain...

i.e. full_b1_s1_v1.tib

2) AND All versions of the incremental in the same backup chain that came before the one you want to recover from.

i.e inc_b1_s1_v1.tib,     b1_s2_v1.tib         b1_s3_v1.tib         

 If you delete v1, then v2 and anything after that are useless now.  If you delete v3, then you can still recover v1 or v2 in this b1 chain.  

Best option though, don't manually delete files from version chains in Windows Explorer.  Instead, do this from within the Acronis GUI, or use a good automated cleanup rule in the GUI so you don't have to worry about cleanup.

An example might be a daily backup (1 full + 6 incrementals for a 7-day week).  Keep 3 versions of the chain (3 weeks).  That way, when the 4th full completes, it will automatically delete the entire 1st chain to free up space, leaving you with 2 complete backup chains and an ongoing third one. Your cleanup script really depends on how much data you need to backup, how much space you have to store the backups on and how long you need to keep them for.  The bigger your drive to hold the backups, the more versions you can keep (and/or longer) if you want.