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Synthetic Full Backups

A synthetic full backup is created by consolidating existing incremental or differential backups with the previous full backup image. This is sometimes called an 'Incremental Forever Backup'. Unlike traditional full backups, synthetic full backups are not transferred from the local server to the offsite server. Instead, after the first full backup is transferred, only the incremental or differential files are transferred to the offsite server. A synthetic backup component on the offsite server recreates the next full synthetic backup in parallel with the local server. This eliminates the need to transfer full backups between the local server and offsite server. With synthetic full backups, bandwidth requirements for transferring full backups are eliminated, but the offsite server's access to its own file server may need to be enhanced to handle the processing of its synthetic full backups.

Configuring synthetic full backups involves the following steps:

These first three steps apply to ANY Offsite Server.

  1. Install an agent on a local server. Typically the backup image locations of machine IDs being backed up point to the local server.

    Note: You do not have to install the backup client to either a local server or an offsite server.

  2. Install an agent on the offsite server.
  3. Define a machine ID as an offsite server using Backup > Offsite Servers.

    These steps apply to Offsite Servers using Synthetic Full Backups.

  4. Click the Schedule Install hyperlink on the Backup > Offsite Servers page for the machine ID you want to schedule synthetic support on. A dialog box displays. Schedule the installation of synthetic support components to the offsite server.
  5. When using Backup > Schedule Volumes to create backups for machine IDs, ensure the Synthetic Full checkbox is checked. These are machine IDs that store backups on local servers that transfer backups to the offsite server you defined above.

Local vs. Network Consolidation and Synthetic Full Backup Retry Counts

Alt+clicking the Synthetic Full backup icon in the header panel of Schedule Volumes or Schedule Folders sets the consolidation and retry count options for synthetic full backups. If synthetic full backups are being used on a BUDR managed machine and the Image Location or Offsite Servers' local directory is a UNC path, such as \\server\share, then local consolidation is enabled by default instead of consolidation over the network. To use this robust consolidation option effectively, appropriate hard disk space is required on the managed machine. See Kaseya KB articles 311677 and 311678 for more information.

Dynamic Disks

Dynamic storage involves dividing a physical disk into multiple volumes or combining a physical disk with other physical disks to form volumes that are greater in size than any one physical disk. A traditional disk volume is called a "basic" disk volume. BUDR supports the following basic and dynamic backup and restore combinations:

  • backup basic disks
  • backup dynamic disks
  • restore basic volumes to basic disks
  • restore basic volumes to dynamic disks
  • restore dynamic volumes to basic disks
  • restore dynamic volumes to dynamic disks

Note: While Universal Restore supports restoration of dynamic disks to similar hardware, it does not support restoration of dynamics disks to different hardware platforms that require new drivers. To restore to different hardware platforms, you must restore the dynamic disk backup to a basic disk.