incremental safeguards
at the end of how much incremental safeguards TI2017 remade it a complete safeguard?
There is no limitation of the # of incrementals you can make/have.
HOWEVER, each incremental is dependent on the associated full backup + each and every incremental that came before it. If there are any problems with one incremental file, everything that comes after that one will be no good either.
From a purely IT backup perspective, only having one full backup followed by numerous (or neverending) incrementals is a bad idea. Depending on how much space you have to store backups, how long you intend to keep backups, and how much data you have to backup in a full, I would strongly consider at least one of these options:
1) In addition to a backup that only has one full backup followed by only recurring incrementals (which would mean there would never be any cleanup - so be aware it will eventually fill up the disk if given enough time), create a seperate backup task that does only a full at certain times: weekly or monthly - however long you feel comfortable you could go without backing up if you had to resort to the oldest full available, should there be an issue with your first incremental backup plan.
or
2) Take a full offline backup from time to time. Again, doing so whenever you need/want to, knowing that if your first incremental backup plan fails you for some reason, and you have to revert to a full backup, you can live with losing whatever changes and/or data were made after that point in time when the full was created.
Basically, the more often you can perform a full backup, the more likely you are to have a current, workign recovery point. Incrementals are good for saving space, but have their own problems from time to time (this is the case with any backup application and/or scheme. The longer you wait between fulls, the more risk of data loss in the event you have to revert to the most recent full).
Also, consider using the rule of 3-2-1 as a minimum backup plan if you have the space available. Having a minimum of 2 backup schemes (whatever they may be), will at least give you some different recovery options/chances in case anything goes wrong with one (don't put all your eggs in one basket). Better yet, if you have multiple backup schemes, create those backups or store them on different media too. Otherwise, if you only have a few different backups being written to the same destination drive and that one drive fails, is lost, stolen, or damaged, you can revert to the backups on the second disk so that you don't lose everything at teh same time (hopefully).