File Backup vs Image Backup

[qowner]

hi all

(sorry for the lengthy post, but hopefully it has all the info needed broken down easily to read)

I'm in the process of deciding which software to use for my Back-up workflow configuration. However, I've hit another item I need to consider on which type of back-ups to perform.

Without reading the above thread, here is my intended usage/configuration summary:

• Perform scheduled periodic Windows/C drive image backups to the NAS [will likely use Macrium Reflect to perform this task.]

• Perform scheduled periodic back-ups of my Data drive and files to the NAS

• I want to protect my back-ups from ransomware

• Perform separate backups from the NAS to an external HDD [daily end of day? But this means the HDD needs to always be connected?]

• I will intend on rotating the external HDD backups offsite possibly weekly

• No plans to perform cloud back-up. In the future ideally buy another NAS and store offsite and perform NAS-NAS over internet with HBS

I do intend on taking an image back-up of my C/Windows drive so I can perform a restore without having to reinstall and reconfigure everything.
However for my data files (which sit on a separate drive), I'm now at a point where I need to decide if I want to perform an image based back-up (.bak or .mrbak compressed file) or a file based back-up (equivalent of Copy+Paste in file explorer).

I have done some research on this and I can't really find a conclusive answer (I appreciate it depends on each personal use-case) but I'm hoping to get some views/thoughts on this.

The 2 software options I have identified are:

• NetBak replicator [FILE BACKUP]

• Macrium Reflect (Home edition) [currently using trial version to access and test the File & Folder backup option] [IMAGE BACKUP]

Based on my understanding, the pros and cons are:

File Backup

Pros

• Access the data without needing to install 3rd party software to restore

• Can perform simple Copy/Paste to select the file you want to restore/recover

Cons

• Cannot perform versioning, will only have the 1 copy of the file you have copied across

Image Backup

Pros

• Compressed file (smaller size?)

• Can perform versioning

• Ransomware protection [Macrium has Image Guardian?]

Cons

• proprietary compressed file used (.bak or .mrbak compressed file)

• need 3rd party software to access the contents of the back-up

• what if image becomes corrupted or the software is not maintained in the future

Initial questions

• 1. Is there a best practice when it comes to deciding on which one to use? How does the usage determine which one to use?

• 2. Is there an issue to using both methods? Or is that overkill? I imagine space will be the biggest issue here

thanks!

[oyvindo]

I have used Veeam Backup on all my Windows PC's to to automated incremental filebackup to my QNAP NAS. This SW is free for personal use, and 100% stable. I've never had any issues with it.
Then I use QNAP's own Hybrid Backup Sync to backup critical folders from the NAS to an external giant USB HDD. And last but not least, these critical folders are also copied to a cloud storage using the provider's own backup SW (Windows based)

[PeterT1959]

I'm simply using Macriun for backups of a couple of PCs. Backups are set to run nightly with
* Full backups first Monday of month
* Differential backups every Monday
* Incremental backups every night

Full backups are retained for 26 weeks, Differentials 4 weeks and Incrementals 2 weeks.

All backups are Macriun image backups.

I've done both file and full disk restoration; file is simply done within the Macriun client and basically mounts the correct backup sets as a drive letter and you can then copy whatever files are needed.

Full disk recovery was done by booting the Windows recovery USB stick or CD drive built within Macriun and indicating which backup set to use.

Backup sets are a blend of the full / differential / incremental backups.

[qowner]

I have used Veeam Backup on all my Windows PC's to to automated incremental filebackup to my QNAP NAS. This SW is free for personal use, and 100% stable. I've never had any issues with it.
Then I use QNAP's own Hybrid Backup Sync to backup critical folders from the NAS to an external giant USB HDD. And last but not least, these critical folders are also copied to a cloud storage using the provider's own backup SW (Windows based)

hi oyvindo. thanks for the reply. May I ask what made you choose to select 'file backup' rather than 'image backup'? Did it come down to the software only having that option available? Or did you actively decide that you did not want your backup's stored as a .bak (or similar) image format?

[qowner]

I'm simply using Macriun for backups of a couple of PCs. Backups are set to run nightly with
* Full backups first Monday of month
* Differential backups every Monday
* Incremental backups every night

Full backups are retained for 26 weeks, Differentials 4 weeks and Incrementals 2 weeks.

All backups are Macriun image backups.

I've done both file and full disk restoration; file is simply done within the Macriun client and basically mounts the correct backup sets as a drive letter and you can then copy whatever files are needed.

Full disk recovery was done by booting the Windows recovery USB stick or CD drive built within Macriun and indicating which backup set to use.

Backup sets are a blend of the full / differential / incremental backups.

hi Peter, thanks for the reply.

And thanks for sharing your backup schedule, that actually does help me further down the line with other questions I had.

How long have you been using Macrium reflect for? Have you ever had issues where you thought it would have been better to be able to directly access the files on your NAS (either directly on the NAS or via file explorer on the client) and not have to install Macrium and then load the image file?

I guess I'm just curious to see if in practice the .bak/.mrbak file types make things more difficult if you need quick and easy access to the files on your NAS.

thanks!

[PeterT1959]

I've been doing backups this way since late 2018. Never had the need to access any of the files directly on the QNAP. I find it works quite nicely.

Having the recovery media built does simplify bare metal recovery. When I have used it stuff was recovered back to the last backup, and of course no need to reinstall Macrium since it was restored

I originally made use of a Windows Homes Server solution but that product line was killed off by Microsoft. I enjoyed the deduplication that WHS provided but it was a slow backup / restore.

[spile]

I use a mixed approach...
Veeam for a Volume BU of my clients incl OS saved on NAS.
QSync duplicates documents on NAS
NAS shares are backed up weekly to Google Drive
I also have a drive on my client pc used for restore functionality

[qowner]

I use a mixed approach...
Veeam for a Volume BU of my clients incl OS saved on NAS.
QSync duplicates documents on NAS
NAS shares are backed up weekly to Google Drive
I also have a drive on my client pc used for restore functionality

hi @Spile, thanks for the info.

I think I will also incorporate a similar/mixed approach. There are some files which i don't really need multiple copies of so I will just use a similar QSync approach for these.
But look like I will adopt an image style back-up approach for core files/documents.

Are you able to elaborate a bit more on what you mean by "I also have a drive on my client pc used for restore functionality" please?
Do you mean it's an empty drive that is always on standby if you need to restore a Windows image or data/files restore? So it's normally not used?

Apologies if it's a common term that I am unfamiliar with.

thanks!

[qowner]

I've been doing backups this way since late 2018. Never had the need to access any of the files directly on the QNAP. I find it works quite nicely.

Having the recovery media built does simplify bare metal recovery. When I have used it stuff was recovered back to the last backup, and of course no need to reinstall Macrium since it was restored

I originally made use of a Windows Homes Server solution but that product line was killed off by Microsoft. I enjoyed the deduplication that WHS provided but it was a slow backup / restore.

Hi Peter, thanks for the additional information.

I think I will go down the image back-up route for core documents/files. Macrium seems to have good features and does the main items I'll need. (will likely have questions when it comes to setting it up properly later).

I'm keen to get some more information from you on your current backup process:

I'm simply using Macriun for backups of a couple of PCs. Backups are set to run nightly with
* Full backups first Monday of month
* Differential backups every Monday
* Incremental backups every night

Full backups are retained for 26 weeks, Differentials 4 weeks and Incrementals 2 weeks

I can see that Macrium has a template that seems very similar called "Grandfather, Father, Son", is that the template you selected to create it?

Macrium_GFS.png

It then provides the backup schedule as follows:

Macrium_GFS_schedule.png

Is this pretty much the setting you have applied?

many thanks!

[PeterT1959]

Yes. I used that template. It's possible I've made some changes to it (at one point I was low on diskspace on my NAS and had to reduce the retention periods until I upgraded the drives).

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

[spile]

Are you able to elaborate a bit more on what you mean by "I also have a drive on my client pc used for restore functionality" please?
Do you mean it's an empty drive that is always on standby if you need to restore a Windows image or data/files restore? So it's normally not used?

Apologies if it's a common term that I am unfamiliar with.

thanks!

It was a spare drive that was empty. I fitted it to my Windows PC and set it up as per "Restoring previous versions"

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/win ... cf51cc8bfc

Also known as File History.

[oyvindo]

May I ask what made you choose to select 'file backup' rather than 'image backup'? Did it come down to the software only having that option available? Or did you actively decide that you did not want your backup's stored as a .bak (or similar) image format?

The terminology differs between developers of backup SW. Veeam actually call this "Volume Backup which is their proprietary image format with support for individual file restore.
The actual image file is named *.vbm with incremental files named *.vib
So I cannot use windows explorer or QNAP File Station to restore individual files. I have to use the Veeam Windows client to do that. I could alternatively opt for a full workstation backup, including the Windows OS and everything. That would allow me to restore on bare metal in case of a full workstation crash, but I dont' need that.

[Big Screen]

by PeterT1959 » Sun Mar 14, 2021 5:05 pm
I'm simply using Macriun for backups of a couple of PCs. Backups are set to run nightly with
* Full backups first Monday of month
* Differential backups every Monday
* Incremental backups every night

The 3rd. option: "Incremental backups ever night" appears to be only available for paid versions. PeterT1959: are you using a paid version rather than the free one? If so, which one would that be? I'm having difficulty determining the best paid route for multiple PC's in a home enviornement. The family has 4 (& perhaps 5) PC's that need backups. Does anyone know which version of Macrium would be most economical for my needs, if I choose not to use the free version?