---
title: "Several vs. Multiple"
description: "When referring to a number of items, take into account the following difference between several and multiple: You can instruct Veeam Backup & Replication to retry a job several times if the initial job pass fails."
canonical: "https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/styleguide/tw/several_multiple.html"
breadcrumb: "Style Guide > Tips and Tricks > Several vs. Multiple"
dateModified: "2026-09-03"
---

# Several vs. Multiple

When referring to a number of items, take into account the following difference between **several** and **multiple**:

<table style="width:60%;" class="Blue_Table">
  <tr style="vertical-align:top">
    <th style="width:50%;">
      <p>Several</p>
    </th>
    <th style="width:50%;">
      <p>Multiple</p>
    </th>
  </tr>
  <tr style="vertical-align:top">
    <td style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;">
      <p style="text-align:left;">Equals <span class="T_Controls">more than two</span></p>
    </td>
    <td style="width:50%;">
      <p>Equals <span class="T_Controls">more than one</span></p>
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="vertical-align:top">
    <td style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;">
      <p style="text-align:left;">Refers to a small number of items (usually, between 3 and 10) </p>
    </td>
    <td style="width:50%;">
      <p>Refers to numerous items</p>
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="vertical-align:top">
    <td style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;">
      <p>Is a synonym for <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/some" target="_blank">some</a> and <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/few" target="_blank">a few</a></p>
    </td>
    <td style="width:50%;">
      <p>Is an antonym for <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/only" target="_blank">only one</a></p>
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>

### Examples

1. You can instruct Veeam Backup & Replication to retry a job [several]{.mdhl-correct} times if the initial job pass fails. 
2. With backup copy, you can create [several]{.mdhl-correct} instances of the same backup file and copy them to secondary backup repositories for long-term storage.
3. Depending on the size of the Veeam ONE database, the upgrade procedure may take [several]{.mdhl-correct} hours.
4. This approach simplifies tracking license usage and license updates across [multiple]{.mdhl-correct} backup servers.
5. For each VM, Veeam Backup & Replication starts a separate restore job. However, you can select [multiple]{.mdhl-correct} VMs to restore — in this case, Veeam Backup & Replication will queue the restore jobs and run them one after another.
6. If the network capacity is not sufficient to support [multiple]{.mdhl-correct} data transfer connections, you can disable multithreaded data transfer or change the number of TCP/IP connections.