Full Backup

Full Backup Explained

In general, creating any backup starts with uploading a full copy of your data to a backup storage which serves as a reference point for subsequent incremental backups. However, it is not reasonable to create and upload a full copy of backup dataset each time any changes are made locally. This is the reason a full backup is always executed with subesequent incremental backups.

An incremental backup is a backup which successive copies contain only the part of backup data that was changed since the preceding backup copy was made.

The way in which a full backup processes your data depends on the kind of backed up data:

• As an image-based backup is created, a full backup uploads a complete backup dataset copy to a target backup storage (and creates a new backup version) each time the backup plan is being executed
• As a file-level backup is created, the backup service re-uploads an entire file only if it has been changed since the last backup date (as in incremental backup), a file is not re-uploaded if its modification date is earlier than the last backup date)

In some cases, for example when there is an issue with running a Synthetic Full backup, forcing a True Full backup which uploads all the data from scratch is required. The following options are available to perform this action:

• Forcing a Full Backup in Management Console
• Forcing a Full Backup in the Local Backup Agent Instance

Force Full Backup in Management Console

1. In Management Console, navigate to the Computers.
2. Click on the computer name to access the side panel.
3. Open the Backup Plans tab.
4. For the backup plan in question, expand the Start control and click Force Full Backup.

Force Full Backup in the Local Backup Agent Instance

1. Open the Backup Plans tab in the local Backup Agent instance.
2. For the backup plan in question, open the drop-down list next to the Play button and click Force Full Backup.