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Synthetic Full Backup

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    In some situations, running active full backups periodically may not be an option. Full backups are very resource-intensive and consume considerable amount of network bandwidth. As an alternative, you can create synthetic full backups.

    In terms of data, the synthetic full backup is identical to a regular full backup. The synthetic full backup is a .vbk file that contains data of the whole VM. The difference between these two backup types lies in the way how VM data is retrieved:

    • When you perform full backup, Veeam Backup & Replication retrieves VM data from the source datastore (volume) where the VM resides, compresses and deduplicates it and writes it to the VBK file in the backup repository.
    • When you perform synthetic full backup, Veeam Backup & Replication does not retrieve VM data from the source datastore (volume). Instead, it “synthesizes” a full backup from data you already have in the backup repository. Veeam Backup & Replication accesses the previous full backup file and a chain of subsequent increments in the backup repository, consolidates VM data from these files and writes consolidated data into a new full backup file. As a result, the created synthetic full backup file contains the same data you would have if you created a full backup in a regular manner.

    Veeam Backup & Replication treats a synthetic full backup as a regular full backup. As well as any other full backup, the synthetic full backup resets the chain of increments. All subsequent increments use the created synthetic full backup as a new starting point. A previously used full backup file remains on disk until it is automatically deleted according to the backup retention policy.

    The synthetic full backup has a number of advantages:

    • The synthetic full backup does not use network resources: it is created from backup files you already have on disk.
    • The synthetic full backup imposes less load on the production environment: it is created right in the backup repository.

    With Veeam Backup & Replication, you can schedule creation of synthetic full backups on specific days.

    Related Topics

    How Synthetic Full Backup Works