Question of backup organization with Acronis 2013

There aren't actually any "intermediate" backups when using the Differential method. You may be confusing that with Incremental.

A task for Incremental or Differential will always begin with a full backup. That is necessary, as that becomes the baseline.

For an Incremental task, after the first full backup, subsequent backups will be incremental, each one based on changes since the previous Incremental backup, all the way back to the second backup being incremental based on changes since the full backup. As such, you need all links in the chain, all incremental backups right back to and including the first full backup, in order to Restore.

For a Differential task, after the first full backup, subsequent backups will be differential, each one based on changes since the first full backup. To restore, you would need just any Differential and the Full backup on which it is based.

You should not allow an incremental chain to become too long. An incremental restore depends upon every incremental in the chain being valid, including the original full. It's better to limit each chain to just a few incrementals, followed by a fresh full backup to start a new chain.

You should validate backups periodically. That would alert you much if the full backup were missing or unreadable.

Thank you very much for your reply.

We are using the differential method to backup our data. I confirm that we do not use the Incremental method.
We have for each backup a name containing the word "full". Then every week a new file created with the word "diff" and a number incremented in the name.
For one backup, we deleted all the old differential files except the last one. Impossible to restore the backup. We have a message saying that a differental file is missing. Do you think it is normal? What do we do wrong? Is there a special way to restore a differential backup?

Regards

Hello Again,

maybe I can simplify my question.
If we want to save weekly on an external hard drive our data located on two NAS, what is the best method knowing that it takes 24 h to create the full backups. We also would like to keep the intial backups and delete intermediate files to avoid to fill the external hard drive.
This is exactly what we want to do. What do you recommend?

We appreciate your help
Thanks
Regards

Amar,
Over the last few versions, any deletion of differential backup pieces has resulted in error message of missing backups but the completion of the restore has been possible after the error messages or "clicked as ignore".

So if past history holds true, then the answer would be yes--depending.
However, I would not want to base a backup strategy on something that has not been tested.
You should test what you plan.

How many diff backups are we talking about? You should use the program to perform any deletion.

The below is the Acronis Backup Explorer view. It has many options, one of which is the DELETE opton for tib backups.
The user can select the most recent newest backup for deletion; or if some earlier backups are selected for deletion, then all the newer backups must be deleted as well. One good feature about this DELETE option, is that the program will tell you how many files willl be deleted and the user must confirm the DELETE as wanting to be done.

Note: this deletion of backup relates only to those created by this specific task. If you have other tib backup tasks with tib backup files to be deleted, you will need to open each task individually and delete that group using the same procedure as detailed in the prior paragraph. There is no one single DELETE OPTION that will delete all backup files as any deletion by the program is done at TASK LEVEL.

Hello GroverH,

thank you very much for your clear explanations. I did not know that command to delete a diff file version. It is very helpful.

Yesterday night, I changed the way to create our backups. We have decided to keep just two one diff file on our USB drive for each backup.
I attached a copy of the settings I defined by default. Does it seem correct to you?

You are very helpful
Thank you
Amar

My recommendation differs from your example. Consolidation is like fitting a thousand word puzzle together and hope all the pieces fit. Your choice of consolidation of data is something I avoid and recommend others do the same.

My suggestion for a backup scheme involves the "automatic cleanup" option. User sets how many diff they want in each chain and then sets how many chains they wish to keep based on their storage availabilitiy. After this goal of backups is reached, the program will perform its own automatic deletion so you have a revolving group of backups based on the number of chains you keep. You do need to provide extra storage space for one extra full backup as the program will not delete the old until AFTER its replacment has been created.

Adjust the number of chains you wish to keep to fit your own needs but try to avoid any edits to the backup task once you begin using the task.

Hello GroverH,

I would like to thank you very much again.
You are very helpful. Your explanations are perfectly clear. I have set up all the backup tasks you have suggested and it works.
Acronis a great product but not easy to understand and set up. I guess that all companies have different needs but some examples would be appreciated in help.
Anyway, fortunately you are here. I appreciate what you do.

Thanks
Amar Guillen

Your comments are appreciated. As a elderly senior citizen, I know how important the "how to's" can be which is why I try to illustrate the instructions. A picture is worth a thousand words.

When you have some reading time, if you were to review some of the postings by me at this link,
these can help to explain more of the settings used by TrueImage.

http://forum.acronis.com/forums/other-home-home-office-products-discuss…