Incremental Backup - drive is full and .tib files are not deleting themselves
I'm using an Incremental method to backup my media drive to an external drive. The media drive and the external drive are the same size. I have "Create a full version after every 10 incremental versions" checked and it looks like today was day 11 and I was supposed to have a new full version when I woke up but instead I got an error message that my backup drive was full - this is because none of the old .tib files were removed.
I just want to turn this on and forget about it but I'm not sure I can do that. Here are my questions:
- Do I have to manually delete the .tib files every 10 days so I have enough room for the next full backup? Wouldn't this leave me backupless as the new full backup ran?
- Do I have to buy a backup drive twice as big as the media drive I'm trying to backup and then delete the .tib files manually every 10 days?
- Is there any way to use the Incremental method for 2 drives that are the same size and have Acronis handle the removal of old files so I don't have to babysit it?
This is so much more complicated than using Carbon Copy Cloner and I'm really trying to make it work but I can't help but wonder why it has to be? Any and all help is appreciated. Let me know if you need clarification on anything.
For anyone curious about what I mean by "much more complicated than using CCC" here's a link to what I used to do with CCC that Acronis can't: https://forum.acronis.com/forum/acronis-true-image-2018-forum/simple-drive-clone-incremental-updates
Thanks again Steve! Ugh, I was really hoping there'd be a way to do this without having to double the size of my backup drives (especially because I already bought the backups). It's crazy that I can't buy 2 drives that are exactly the same size and use one as a backup. I have to assume it's Windows' fault that no backup app can work the way I need because these issues are nonexistant on Mac.
Dustin, this may be a case where you need to modify your backup strategy to better fit how you want to do things.
For example, I have tended to partition my drives over the years so that my C: OS drive only has my Windows OS and all my main applications, but not my data (documents, music, pictures etc).
Data is always stored on a separate partition, away from the OS, so that as / when I have needed to recover from a failed Windows Update etc, none of my data has been involved or lost.
I then do separate backups of the OS & applications partition and of my data partition(s) - I have also tended to keep music in a partition of its own too! The backups can then reflect the degree of change that is happening for the computer rather than being a 'catch-all' for everything. This has the added benefit of allowing different destinations for the backups where needed, plus also using different frequency of schedules for backing up.
A further approach I use is to 'mirror' my more important data using the Cloud Drive synchronisation tools provided by my Synology NAS, where this is kept on both the NAS and on several different computers for redundancy.
Form many years I have taken the same approach as Steve, using separate partitions, preferably on separate disks, for OS and various types of data. The frequency of the backup is the matched to how often the content of the partition changes.
Ian
I do something similar but instead of partitioning my drives I just use each drive for a different purpose. My OS drive (C:) is just for the OS and applications and my media drives are for my work (motion graphics). Since I've already had to recover Windows once and didn't have a problem with the current setup I don't think I'm going to start partitioning my OS drive to backup applications separately - in fact, I don't even care if my OS drive is backed up because I can re-download any application I use.
The problems I'm running into are specifically about backing up my media drives which is why I assumed it would be easier than it is (it's video files, no need to make the drive bootable or anything like that). More than anything, I feel the problem is with my expectations. I assumed that I could find a backup program that worked like the one I used to use (Carbon Copy Cloner) but after looking at Macrium Reflect, Acronis, and EaseUs it's apparent that either Windows is incapable of allowing incremental backups with two drives of the exact same size or the developers of these programs can't figure out how to do that. Either way, it seems I now need to buy some 4TB drives to backup my 2TB media drives and try this again.
Thanks for help again Steve! I don't know if Acronis is paying you but I feel like they should lol!
Dustin, thanks for sharing how your backup approach is setup, which sounds fine as you have it.
Perhaps part of the issue here is in how backup software works which as you have correctly pointed out, requires more space than being able to achieve a more 1:1 relationship between the source and target data locations.
This may be a case where a different solution would better meet your needs than using backup software does?
I have a Synology NAS which provides its own built-in applications for data protection, one of which is the Synology Cloud Station Server, which allows for file versioning and retention. The server application runs on the NAS server but interacts with Cloud Station Drive application which run on my Windows computers and automatically synchronises the files / folders that I have configured.
See the screen shots below of these Synology applications.
