Aller au contenu principal

Behavior of differential backups

Thread needs solution

Hi,

I want to create differential backups of my system drive. To do this I have set the settings to creating a full backup after 5 differential versions. The cleanup rule is set to keep two chains only.

Basically it works, but not as expected.

What I get is a backup list like this:
Backup File ------------------ File Size
BAK_full_b1_s1_v1.tib 55GB
BAK_diff_b1_s2_v1.tib 1.2 GB
BAK_diff_b1_s3_v1.tib 2.4 GB
BAK_diff_b1_s4_v1.tib 2.6 GB
BAK_diff_b1_s5_v1.tib 2.9 GB
BAK_diff_b1_s6_v1.tib 2.9 GB
BAK_full_b2_s1_v1.tib 16.2 GB
BAK_full_b2_s1_v1-2.tib 15.7 GB
BAK_full_b2_s1_v1-3.tib 15.8 GB
BAK_full_b2_s1_v1-4.tib 15.9 GB

If I interpret this list correctly the first of the b2 backups is not a full backup but maybe a full diff to the first b1. All the other b2 backups seem full diff backups to the first b1 as well.

I expected the first b2 backup to have a size of roundabout 55 GB (like the first b1) and all other b2's around 2 or 3 GB.

Apart from the size the naming is not what I expected. I expected something like b2_s1_v1, b2_s2_v1, and so on.

Could you tell me what I'm doing wrong? Or is this the behavior one should expect?

Regards
Thomas

0 Users found this helpful

Something is obviously wrong with b2. It appears that some type of consolidation is happening.
Do you have an limitations set on how much storage space the program can use?
This behavior could be caused by your backup scheme settings.
Would you consider posting a screen capture of your current backup scheme? I am assuming that you have not edited your original settings and have not restored your system during the time of these backups???

Consider changing your current backup task to "not scheduled" and cease to use this task for a while.

GH1. How to change a backup task from scheduled to "Do Not Schedule".
-------------------------------------
Next, create a new backup task pointing the storage to a new and empty sub-folder. Set it up like this next link except change the 2 diff to the 5 diff you want to keep. Assign a different name to each task so no two tasks ever have the exactly same name.

GH13. Create Custom Differential Backup Scheme. 2 Diff, Keep 2 chains.

The link below can give you an idea of how the storage folder should link except yours should show on 2 chains being kept.
With the setting set to keep 5 diff and keep 2 chains (6 backups per chain) you can expect after backup #13 which is 3rd full backup, chain 1 (6 files) will be deleted leaving all 6 of backup b2 and only the full of b3. The backup will continue to add the 5 diff until the next full where it all will repeat. You really will never have two full chains but for a short time but will always have the two full.

You might want to keep the original (optional) or keep more chains. Keep as many as your storage space will allow. One mistake often made is the too quick deletion of old backups because restore needs may not occur until months later.

GH14. Example:Custom Differential Backup Scheme . 6 Diff, Keep 4 chains. & folder

I have attached a screenshot of my settings. I had the same problem with the 2013 version as well. I hoped to solve it by upgrading.
The system has not been restored and I'm not aware to have set any consolidation or compression options.

The task has been re-created at least two times because I thought I might have messed something up with the old tasks.

As you can see from the second screenshot the backup is scheduled to be created on shutdown.

The system I'm running is Win7 64bit.

I will try to create a new backup task as described in the link you posted and set it to two backups. That way I don't have to wait 6 days for the results.

Thanks for your help Thomas.

Fichier attaché Taille
174133-112612.png 44.84 Ko
174133-112615.png 38.02 Ko

Hmm, interesting. I just deleted the old task and told TRue Image to delete the files as well. TI did only delete the b1 files not the b2 files. Somethings really strange.

check the log files for on the dates the b2 versions were created. There may be some info there.

here is the best method of deleting the backups from within the program.
GH5. How to delete backup files using Acronis Backup 'Explorer'

I uninstalled TI using the clean up tool. Afterwards I created a full+2 differential backup task with a maximum of 2 chains.

Instead of triggering the task through an event I chose manual execution and simply created backups in short succession.
That had the expected result. Now I'm trying to execute the task on shutdown again. Hopefully that will work now as well.

I'll keep you informed. Again, thanks for helping.