--- title: "Differential backup — ZEBR.ai" description: "A differential backup, also known as a difference backup, is a backup that contains only the data that has changed since the full backup. Unlike an…" url: "https://zebr.ai/en/knowledge-base/differential-backup" markdown_url: "https://zebr.ai/en/knowledge-base/differential-backup.md" language: "en" alternates: cs: "https://zebr.ai/cs/knowledge-base/differential-backup.md" sl: "https://zebr.ai/sl/knowledge-base/differential-backup.md" sk: "https://zebr.ai/sk/knowledge-base/differential-backup.md" hr: "https://zebr.ai/hr/knowledge-base/differential-backup.md" sr-Latn: "https://zebr.ai/sr-latn/knowledge-base/differential-backup.md" bs: "https://zebr.ai/bs/knowledge-base/differential-backup.md" sq: "https://zebr.ai/sq/knowledge-base/differential-backup.md" fr: "https://zebr.ai/fr/knowledge-base/differential-backup.md" es: "https://zebr.ai/es/knowledge-base/differential-backup.md" de: "https://zebr.ai/de/knowledge-base/differential-backup.md" pt-BR: "https://zebr.ai/pt-br/knowledge-base/differential-backup.md" pl: "https://zebr.ai/pl/knowledge-base/differential-backup.md" it: "https://zebr.ai/it/knowledge-base/differential-backup.md" nl: "https://zebr.ai/nl/knowledge-base/differential-backup.md" hu: "https://zebr.ai/hu/knowledge-base/differential-backup.md" ro: "https://zebr.ai/ro/knowledge-base/differential-backup.md" tr: "https://zebr.ai/tr/knowledge-base/differential-backup.md" id: "https://zebr.ai/id/knowledge-base/differential-backup.md" --- [Home](https://zebr.ai/en/) [Knowledge base](https://zebr.ai/en/knowledge-base) Differential backup # Differential backup A differential backup, also known as a difference backup, is a backup that contains only the data that has changed since the full backup. Unlike an incremental backup, where each created backup file is part of a "chain," a differential backup creates an independent file containing all changes since the original full backup was created. In general, a differential backup should restore faster than an incremental backup because it does not need to process a long chain of previous backups. **Full backup**\ \+ Each full backup is standalone and independent\ – A full backup takes up the most space **Incremental backup**\ \+ Incremental backups take up minimal space. An incremental backup records changes that have occurred since the previous incremental backup.\ – The entire backup chain must be available for restoration\ – If one incremental backup is damaged, backups following that damaged backup cannot be restored either **Differential backup (difference backup)**\ Differential backups do not take up much space. A differential backup records changes that have occurred since the full backup.\ The relevant differential and full backup are required for restoration. Differential backups are not dependent on each other.\ If one of the differential backups becomes damaged, it does not affect any other differential backup. **Fig.: Diagram of different backup types** Please note in the image that if incremental backup no. 2 is damaged, incremental backup no. 3 cannot be restored either. In contrast, if differential backup no. 2 is damaged, this has no effect on the other differential backups. ![4639v0_rozdilova_prirustkova_zaloha_1](https://www.acronis.cz/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/4639v0_rozdilova_prirustkova_zaloha_1.jpg) - Features · Software - [Acronis True Image](https://www.acronis.cz/produkt/true-image/) · [Acronis Backup](https://www.acronis.cz/produkt/acronis-backup/) · [Acronis Disk Director](https://www.acronis.cz/produkt/acronis-disk-director/) · [Acronis Disk Director (Workstation, Server, Technician licence)](https://www.acronis.cz/produkt/acronis-disk-director-advanced/) - Which environments the product is suitable for - For households · Yes · Yes - For organizations of all sizes · Yes · Yes - Which types of machines are supported - Computers with Windows OS (Windows 7, 8, 10) · Yes · Yes · Yes · Yes - Computers with Mac OS (Apple computers) · Yes · Yes - Physical Windows and Linux servers · Yes · Yes - Virtual machines (VMware, Hyper-V, RHEV, Citrix, KVM) · Yes · Yes - Cloud machines (Azure, Amazon EC2) · Yes · Yes - Mobile devices based on iOS and Android · Yes · Yes - What can be backed up - Entire machine backups (disk, volume, partition images) · Yes · Yes - Data backups (files and directories) · Yes · Yes - Database backups (Exchange, SQL, SharePoint, AD, Oracle) · Yes - How backup is controlled - Backup is controlled directly from the backed-up machine · Yes - Backup and recovery are managed centrally, from one location · Yes - Remote installation of agents on backed-up machines · Yes - Backup can be started manually at any time · Yes · Yes - Backup can be scheduled to run automatically · Yes · Yes - Backed-up machines can be organized into groups · Yes - Backup can be managed by delegated administrators · Yes - Option to set up email backup notifications · Yes - Backup options - Full, incremental and differential backups · Yes · Yes - Always incremental scheme, GFS scheme, custom scheme · Yes · Yes - Backups can be encrypted with a custom password (AES 256 standard) · Yes · Yes - Backups are compressed automatically · Yes · Yes - Backups can be deduplicated · Yes - Backups can be stored in multiple repositories simultaneously · Yes - Where backups can be stored - Local disks, external disks, USB disks · Yes · Yes - Network storage including NAS · Yes · Yes - Tape drives and tape libraries · Yes - FTP servers · Yes - SFTP servers · Yes - Acronis cloud storage (for an additional fee) · Yes · Yes - How recovery from backups can be performed - From the operating system – if the machine is working · Yes · Yes - From bootable media that can be created (CD/DVD, USB) · Yes · Yes - A machine without a functioning OS can also be restored · Yes · Yes - Recovery can be performed to a machine with different hardware · Yes · Yes - Recovery can be started remotely from central management · Yes - Recovery can be performed to a larger or smaller disk · Yes · Yes - Partition sizes can be changed during recovery · Yes · Yes - Recovery from HDD to SSD and vice versa is possible · Yes · Yes - What can be recovered from a backup - Entire disk, volume, partition · Yes · Yes - Required data (files and directories) from both data and image backups · Yes · Yes - Entire databases or individual database components · Yes - Virtual environment backup - Machines can be replicated to a replacement ESXi host · Yes - Backups can be automatically converted into ready-to-use virtual machines · Yes - Backups can be started as virtual machines · Yes - Backups can be restored as ready-to-use virtual machines · Yes - Backups can be restored into virtual machines · Yes - Virtual machines can be backed up without an agent inside (Hyper-V and VMware) · Yes - Virtual machines can be backed up with agents inside the virtual machines · Yes - Support for granular recovery of virtual machines · Yes - Hard disk operations - Support for both HDD and SSD disks · Yes · Yes · Yes · Yes - MBR disks can be cloned using the Disk to Disk method · Yes · Yes - MBR and GPT disks can be cloned using the Disk to Backup to Disk method · Yes · Yes - Option to create new disk partitions · Yes · Yes - Option to delete a disk partition · Yes · Yes - Option to enlarge or shrink a disk partition without data loss · Yes · Yes - Option to format disk partitions · Yes · Yes - Option to merge disk partitions without data loss · Yes · Yes - Additional software information --- - Source: - Site overview for AI agents: