Fulls & Incrementals using Backup Locations?

I read and understand CATFAN432's explanation for managing multiple Full Backups without overwriting an old backup using "Backup Locations" (below) and its a good feature.

I use a backup strategy of 1 Full/month and then 30 daily incrementals and repeat on a external USB drive. How do I manage this with the "Backup Location" feature?

Is it?........
Create a folder for "Full" and a seperate Folder for "Incrementals".
Set up Full Backup Location as described below (by CATFAN432) for Monthly Fulls with limit of 2.

Now Im stuck.......
How do I set up the Incrementals?
How do I reference the incrementals to the Full backup in the other "Full" Folder?
Do I have to wait for the Full to be complete before setting up the Incrementals since I would not know the file name?

Any additional help to get me moving forward is appreciated

Thanks again!

From CATFAN432:
To create and configure a Backup Location, in this example, to back up, as an image, Partition C to a folder, D:\Backups, to keep five full backups on file. This is specific for the example, but should be a reasonable guide for incremental or differential backups, as well as a “data” backup for less than a complete partition.

* Using Explorer or similar tool, create the folder “Backups” on Partition D
* On the main True Image screen, select "Create and configure a Backup Location"
* Select "Create Backup Location"
* On the welcome screen click "Next"
* Select the folder D:\Backups for the backup location, then click "Next"
* Uncheck, or enter your limit choice, for "Location size quota"
* Select "5" for "maximum number of backups"
* Uncheck, or enter your limit choice, for "storage period limits" and then click "Next"
* On the next screen, click "Proceed"
* Click "OK" in* "Operation completed successfully"

Then, to set up the backup job, do the following:
* Select "Tasks" from the main screen (note: for the Backup Location to work, the tasks must be set up in Scheduled Tasks, even if you plan to start them manually)
* Click "Create" and then click "Next" on the welcome screen that pops up
* Select "My Computer", and click "Next"
* Select "Drive C" and click "Next"
* Select the folder D:\Backups under "Backup Locations", near the top of the directory tree. Do not select it under Partition D. It should say "no name is required in this location" in the Folder dialog box near the bottom of the screen. (If you don’t see the “no name is required in this location”, you know you’re in the wrong place.) Click "Next"
* Select "Create Full Backups"
* Select "Set the Options Manually" and click "Next"
* Under "Additional Settings" make sure "Validate backup archive upon its creation completion" is checked, then click "Next" (Note that this will validate all the files in the folder, every time)
* Enter comments or not, then click "Next"
* Select "Do not start automatically" or set up the schedule you want, then click "Next
* Click "Finish" and assign a name to the backup job, such as "Drive C Image"

After the backup is done, your image file should be in D:\Backups with a name in this basic format: 2006_11_28_14_18_43_453D.TIB

 

rkruz,
To be brief, the incrementals will be in the same folder as the parent full backup, with the same file name except for a counter at the very end of the file name. Once you reach the limit on the number of backups you specify, the incrementals will start to consolidate. IMO, the backup strategy you propose could cause you some grief on a couple of levels. That’s a very long string of incremental files to string together, just more chances for problems. Also, if your incremental backups are of any size at all, when they start to consolidate you will find it’s a very lengthy process, unless there has been a drastic improvement from build 4871. There are several posts in this forum from users very frustrated with the behavior of large incremental files.

You might post back with the size of a full backup image on your system. Is all your data on a single partition?

In this thread, https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=162859, post #6, there is a text file attached dealing with differentials, the setup is the same for incrementals. I suggest that you set up a test backup scenario with not a great deal of data and run it a few times to see what you’re dealing with.

Also, please note that I’ve looked at incremental backups just out of curiosity; my comfort level is with full backups only. Hopefully you’ll get a reply from a member who has a somewhat similar setup.

Regards, CatFan

 

Thank you CatFan.
My image backup is 84G. My daily incrementals are usually <1G. I do this strategy to save space on the backup drive, and to reduce the CPU overhead if I happen to be wanting to use the PC if a backup is occuring. I also backup up 2 PCs to the same 250G network drive. (Using TI10)

Here is my confusion still.

When setting up a folder using the "Backup Locations" feature, for a Full backup, doesnt TI assign it own name based on a date? If so, how do I assign the incrementals backup before a Full is complete?

An your saying I should assign the incrementals to the same folder? If so, does the "Backup Location" feature parameters not apply to incrementals and if it does, does TI10 then recognize some seperate setup parameters for incrementals inside the same folder that has Full "Backup Location parameters?
Thanks again!

 

rkruz,
Using the Backup Location, file naming is automatic, incrementals are by default placed in the same folder, with the same name, as the parent.

With absolutely no intention of being short or rude, at this point the best thing for you to do is set up some test scenarios and learn what the program does.

Regards, CatFan

 

OK...ILL GIVE IT A GO.
THANKS