Incremental or Differential Backup May Not Be the Best Strategy for Your IT Operations (2025 Update)

This blog updates: https://www.n-able.com/blog/incremental-backup-and-differential-backup

As an MSP or IT professional, choosing the right backup method is more critical than ever. With cyberattacks, human error, and system failures posing ongoing threats, the ability to recover data efficiently can make all the difference in a critical data incident.

This updated guide breaks down the key differences between incremental and differential backups, their advantages and disadvantages, and offers guidance on when to use each strategy in today’s environments.

Data Backup – Understanding the Basic Options

While a good backup plan often involves multiple layers, three main backup types form the foundation: full, incremental, and differential. Each has its strengths and trade-offs, and understanding these is vital for creating robust, efficient, and cost-effective data protection.

• Full Backups: Take a complete snapshot of all your data. Because of their size and time requirements, full backups are usually run periodically and serve as the baseline for incremental and differential backups.

• Incremental Backups: Store only data changed since the last backup of any kind (full or incremental). They are fast and storage-efficient but require careful management of backup chains for successful restores.

• Differential Backups: Store all data changed since the last full backup. While they grow larger over time, they offer simpler and faster restore operations.

How Incremental Backups Work

Incremental backups kick in after a full backup is taken. Each incremental run captures only the changes made since the last backup, making them fast and using minimal storage. Here’s a typical workflow:

• Sunday: Full backup

• Monday: Incremental (changes since Sunday)

• Tuesday: Incremental (changes since Monday)

• Wednesday: Incremental (changes since Tuesday)

Pros of Incremental Backups

• Minimal Storage Needs: Each backup is small.

• Fast Daily Backups: Quick to run, light on network resources.

• Cost-Effective Scaling: Great for growing or distributed environments.

Cons of Incremental Backups

• Complex Recovery: You’ll need the full backup plus every incremental since, making restore chains longer and more prone to failure if any piece is missing.

• Longer Restore Times: Restores require reassembling the full chain.

How Differential Backups Work

Differential backups also start with a full backup, but each run after that captures everything that’s changed since that last full backup. So, Monday’s differential includes the past day’s changes; Tuesday’s includes changes since Sunday, and so on.

• Sunday: Full backup

• Monday: Differential (changes since Sunday)

• Tuesday: Differential (changes since Sunday)

• Wednesday: Differential (changes since Sunday)

Pros of Differential Backups

• Simple Recovery: Just two files needed – the full and the latest differential.

• Quick Restores: Fewer files, less complexity, faster recovery.

Cons of Differential Backups

• Storage Use Increases Over Time: Each day’s differential gets larger.

• Longer Backup Windows as the Week Progresses: Backup times grow each day.

Key Differences: Incremental vs Differential

Understanding how incremental and differential backups differ helps you choose the right approach for your environment. The table below breaks down their key differences.

Making the Right Choice

The best strategy depends on your clients’ needs, infrastructure, and resources:

• Incremental Backups work well for:

• • Dynamic, fast-changing environments

• • Sites with limited storage or network resources

• • Long retention and archiving requirements

• Differential Backups are ideal for:

• • Critical systems needing fast, reliable restores

• • Environments with strict compliance or RTO/RPO targets

• • Smaller teams wanting a simpler recovery process

Modern Approaches: Synthetic Full, Hybrid, and True Delta Strategies

More modern backup solutions may use a mixture of these core principals to create a Synthetic Full Backup that combines full, incremental or differential backups into a new full back up without the overhead of re-scanning and re-copying all the original data. This boosts recovery reliability and flexibility, while saving time and storage.

You can combine daily incrementals for efficiency with weekly differentials for ease of recovery – tailoring a Hybrid plan to meet the needs of your business.

N‑able Cove Data Protection uses a proprietary True Delta methodology to identify, track and capture only the delta changes since the last backup. This combined the benefits of a synthetic full backup, with the speed of an incremental backup, while eliminating backup chains and long run times.

Best Practices

• Plan Your Schedule: Base backup frequency and type on your SLAs and compliance requirements.

• Monitor Storage Growth: Incremental needs stay steady; differential backups require more as time goes on.

• Test Restores Regularly: Validate your backup chains and recovery process often.

Conclusion: There’s No Single “Best” – Only What’s Best for You

A robust backup and recovery plan is critical for business continuity and data protection. By understanding the trade-offs between incremental and differential strategies, and leveraging modern backup software, MSPs and IT teams can deliver faster, more reliable recoveries for their clients.

For flexible, streamlined, cloud-first backup management, consider Cove Data Protection, which is designed to help you mix and match strategies to fit every client and system.

Eric Harless is the Head Backup Nerd at N‑able. Eric has worked with N‑able Backup since 2013 and has 25+ years of data protection industry experience in sales, support, marketing, systems engineering, and product management. You can follow Eric on:

• Reddit at u/Backup_Nerd
• LinkedIn at In/BackupNerd