new, synthetic full backup. This can be repeated indefinitely, with no need to run a full backup again.
In terms of restore speed, a synthetic full backup is equivalent to a conventional full backup. The restore chain consists of only one element, so a restore is as quick and simple as possible.
Synthetic backup benefits
Synthetic backup brings the following benefits:
•It eliminates the need for full backups. After the initial full backup, only incrementals are performed, which significantly reduces the time needed for the backup.
•Consolidation of backed up objects is performed on the device server, putting no stress on either the production servers or the network.
•A type of synthetic backup, called virtual full backup, is even more efficient. Virtual full backup consolidates data using pointers, which eliminates unnecessary duplication of data.
•A restore from a synthetic full backup is as fast as from a conventional full backup, as there is no need to retrieve data from incremental backups. This eliminates the reading of each incremental backup in the restore chain, and if tape devices are used, also loading and unloading of several media and seeking for object versions.
How Data Protector synthetic backup works
Data Protector synthetic backup enables you to merge a full backup and any number of incremental backups into a new, synthetic full backup.
To enable synthetic backup, the use of enhanced incremental backup is required. Enhanced incremental backup must be turned on before the full backup and the incremental backups are performed.
A synthetic full backup can be created from a full backup that is written to a disk or tape device and incremental backups that are written to a
If all the backups, full and incremental, are written to the same file library that uses distributed file media format, an even more efficient type of synthetic backup is available, called virtual full backup. This solution uses pointers to consolidate data rather than copy the data. As a result, the consolidation takes less time and avoids unnecessary duplication of data.
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