Which backup strategy backs up changes since the last backup of any type and is usually the smallest in size?

Which backup strategy backs up changes since the last backup of any type and is usually the smallest in size?

• A. Full backups
• B. Differential backups
• C. Incremental backups
• D. Mirror backups

Answer: (C)

Understanding how backup strategies handle changes over time helps you see why incremental backups fit this description. Incremental backups capture only what has changed since the last backup of any type. After you’ve done an initial full backup, each new backup stores only the new or modified data since the previous backup, whether that previous one was a full or another incremental. That keeps each backup small and storage-efficient because you’re not duplicating unchanged data. For restoring, you would start with the original full backup and then apply all subsequent incremental backups in order to reconstruct the latest state. In contrast, a full backup copies everything, so it’s the largest; a differential backup copies changes since the last full backup (which can grow larger over time), and a mirror backup is an exact copy of the current data, not a delta-based scheme.

Understanding how backup strategies handle changes over time helps you see why incremental backups fit this description. Incremental backups capture only what has changed since the last backup of any type. After you’ve done an initial full backup, each new backup stores only the new or modified data since the previous backup, whether that previous one was a full or another incremental. That keeps each backup small and storage-efficient because you’re not duplicating unchanged data.

For restoring, you would start with the original full backup and then apply all subsequent incremental backups in order to reconstruct the latest state. In contrast, a full backup copies everything, so it’s the largest; a differential backup copies changes since the last full backup (which can grow larger over time), and a mirror backup is an exact copy of the current data, not a delta-based scheme.