File Backup vs Image Backup: How to Choose?

Your backup systems are vital for ensuring business continuity. But how do you know which is better for your company’s data protection efforts? Let’s look at these two approaches and how they can best be applied to your business, starting with definitions:

Per TechTarget, an image-based backup copies your operating system and all associated data, including the system state and application configurations. The backup is saved as a single “image” file. As the name suggests, file-level backups protect individual files, folders, and application data. 

Both backup approaches offer specific benefits, but you must understand how each should be applied to your business.

Fundamentals of File Backup and Image Backup

File-level backups are ideal for protecting specific documents but don’t cover your operating system or application files. This selective process lets you back up user-generated content and is typically configured to run automatically at set intervals to ensure critical documents are regularly backed up. But if a complete system restoration is required, your file backups may not be enough if they don’t include necessary system files or applications.

Image backups provide a holistic approach, creating a complete snapshot of your system and encapsulating files, executables, and OS configurations. This comprehensive backup approach facilitates a full restore to the same hardware, new hardware, or a virtual environment. Image-based backups are a data recovery and restoration process typically used following a catastrophic failure. Also known as a bare metal restore, this normally refers to a computer without a base operating system (OS) or applications.

Image backups provide versatility and support for complex IT infrastructures, whether you want to recover a single file or an entire system.

A Hybrid Backup Approach: Best of Both Worlds

Most mid-size enterprises need file- and image-based backups to meet their needs. File-based backups provide fast, easy recovery of individual files and folders, while image-based backups ensure recovery if a significant disaster strikes.

Arcserve Unified Data Protection (UDP) meets both needs by including:

• Granular file backup that lets you configure your backups to protect essential documents from user error and targeted cyberattacks.

• Comprehensive image backup that captures complete images of system settings and application data for deployment if you suffer a system failure or catastrophic data loss.

• Flexible recovery options let you restore individual files or entire systems to their original location, new hardware, or a virtual machine.

• Automated backups you simply set and forget, ensuring your data is always backed up without manual intervention.

• Secure storage, with data encrypted at rest and in transit, ensures compliance and recovery. This post describes common encryption algorithms and how they are expected to evolve.

Technology Expertise On Call

Arcserve Technology Partners are here to help you implement your business's optimal backup and disaster recovery solution. 

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To learn more about Arcserve UDP, request a demo.