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How the Backup Process Works

Arcserve UDP Agent (Windows) lets you perform frequent and periodic block level backups of your entire machine. These backups can be stored on either an internal drive, an external drive, on a remote network share, or a data store on a Recovery Point Server (RPS), depending on the type of installation (Arcserve Unified Data Protection - Full or Arcserve Unified Data Protection - Agent). The Arcserve UDP Agent (Windows) provides the capability to perform Full, Incremental, or Verify type backups.

The basic process for how Arcserve UDP Agent (Windows) performs a backup is simple. When you initiate a backup (either as scheduled or manually launched), Arcserve UDP Agent (Windows) captures a full VSS snapshot, and then backs up only those blocks that have been changed since the previous successful backup. (If it is a Full backup, all blocks are backed up). This block-level incremental backup process significantly reduces the amount of backup data. For example, if you have a large file and only change a small portion of this file, Arcserve UDP Agent (Windows) backs up only the changed portion to the incremental backup and not back up the entire file.

During this block-level incremental backup process, Arcserve UDP Agent (Windows) not only captures the data, but also creates a catalog containing all information related to the operating system, installed applications (Microsoft SQL and Microsoft Exchange only), configuration settings, necessary drivers, and so on. If necessary, you can then restore this backed-up image to recover your data or your entire machine. If the backup destination volume is also selected as the backup source volume, a never ending backup is not executed. During the backup, the backup destination volume is excluded and an entry is added to the Activity log.

Note: You can submit a faster backup job (catalog-less backup), since a catalog is not required after a backup job is complete. The backup settings option "Generate File System catalog for faster search after each backup" by default is unchecked, indicating it will perform a faster backup.

The details of what is being backed up, how it is being backed up, when it is being backed up, and so on, are controlled by the various backup configuration settings that you specify. These settings are applied to each backup job, regardless of how you initiate the backup (automatically or manually).

Arcserve Unified Data Protection - Full:

Arcserve Unified Data Protection - Agent: